The July Column, or Colonne de Juillet, rises at the center of the Place de la Bastille in this albumen silver CDV, printed on a buff-toned mount with a blue deckled edge visible along the card's border. The reverse bears a faint vertical stamp, partially legible, consistent with a Parisian studio imprint; no photographer's name can be confirmed from the visible impression. The image dates to approximately the 1860s–1870s based on the card stock format and albumen printing technique.

The bronze column, standing roughly 154 feet on a stone pedestal, is surmounted by the gilded "Génie de la Liberté," sculpted by Augustin-Alexandre Dumont, rendered here with striking tonal clarity against an open sky. The square base of the column displays relief decorations including flanking lion figures, garland moldings, and a decorative frieze band, while iron railings encircle the pedestal platform. Haussmann-era apartment blocks line the background on both the left and right flanks, and a gas street lamp is visible at lower left.

The column was commissioned to honor the victims of the "Trois Glorieuses," the three revolutionary days of July 1830, with construction beginning in 1833 and completed in 1840. The vaults beneath the column contain the remains of fighters killed in both the Revolution of 1830 and the Revolution of 1848. This CDV captures the monument in its mid-nineteenth-century urban context, before later Haussmannian development fully transformed the surrounding square.

Inscribed in ink on the recto below the image: "Bastille." Dealer notations in pencil on the verso read: "DOLB2 11/12/06 MOC1."