  Parallel analysis of the large-scale morphology and local environment of
matched active and control galaxy samples plays an important role in studies of
the fueling of active galactic nuclei. We carry out a detailed morphological
characterization of a sample of 35 Seyfert galaxies and a matched sample of
inactive galaxies in order to compare the evidence of non-axisymmetric
perturbation of the potential and, in the second part of this paper, to be able
to perform a multicomponent photometric decomposition of the Seyfert galaxies.
We constructed contour maps, BVRcIc profiles of the surface brightness,
ellipticity, and position angle, as well as colour index profiles. We further
used colour index images, residual images, and structure maps, which helped
clarify the morphology of the galaxies. We studied the presence of close
companions using literature data. By straightening out the morphological status
of some of the objects, we derived an improved morphological classification and
built a solid basis for a further multicomponent decomposition of the Seyfert
sample. We report hitherto undetected (to our knowledge) structural components
in some Seyfert galaxies - a bar (Ark 479), an oval/lens (Mrk 595), rings (Ark
120, Mrk 376), a nuclear bar and ring (Mrk 352), and nuclear dust lanes (Mrk
590). We compared the large-scale morphology and local environment of the
Seyfert sample to those of the control one and found that (1) the two samples
show similar incidences of bars, rings, asymmetries, and close companions; (2)
the Seyfert bars are generally weaker than the bars of the control galaxies;
(3) the bulk of the two samples shows morphological evidence of
non-axisymmetric perturbations of the potential or close companions; (4) the
fueling of Seyfert nuclei is not directly related to the large-scale morphology
and local environment of their host galaxies.
