Traité des pierres gravées par P.J. Mariette. Recueil des pierres gravées du Cabinet du Roy. Paris: de l'imprimerie de l'Auteur, 1750.

SUMPTUOUSLY ILLUSTRATED, FROM A CONNOISSEUR'S LIBRARY

I. Engraved title page, engraved dedication to Louis XV, two engraved plates (1 folding). II. Engraved title page, 132 engraved plates (half-page, one to a page with accompanying text), 125 plates (two to a page except one full-page, over 63ff (unnumb.)), both volumes with numerous engraved headpieces and figures in text, Vol. I with additional engraved portrait of French poet Pierre de Brach by De Leu pasted to front endpaper.

I. [5]ff. 468 (with two add. ff. engraved plates), [2]pp. II. [2]ff. [xii]pp. [2], 135 (i.e. 132 with 47*, 86*, 107*), [2], [63]ff. 

2 vols. Folio (330x210mm). Contemporary green morocco, gilt with triple fillet on covers, spine with five raised bands, gilt in compartments, contrasting red morocco labels in second and third with title and volume, inside gilt dentelles, a.e.g. 

Paris: de l'imprimerie de l'Auteur, 1750.

An extremely handsome copy of the first edition of 'the earliest analytical work on engraved gems' by connoisseur and collector Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694-1774), which provides a description of the practice of engraving, and a summary of scholarship on the subject (Volume I) and an illustrated catalogue of those in the collection of Louis XV (Volume II). Among the plates in the first volume is a foldout engraving of a gem engraver in his workshop, with labelled diagrams of his tools; the second volume is lavishly illustrated with over 250 engraved full- and half-page depictions of gems in the Royal cabinet, all of superb, crisp impression, as well as numerous engraved headpieces and vignettes.  

 

"The two volumes are actually two distinct works combined together for the author's convenience as publisher as well as writer. [...] The first volume begins with a history of engraved gems in general, followed by an essay on modern gem engravers and their work, and a large description of the art of engraving [...] In contrast, the second volume is entirely devoted to descriptions of engraved gems in the cabinet of Louis XV (1710-1774), King of France...The drawings of the gems were supervised by the Comte de Caylus, the noted French art connoisseur and antiquarian' (Sinkankas 4208). According to Sinkankas, critics lauded the first volume for its value as a scholarly contribution to research on engraved gems, but were rather less enthusiastic about the second, finding the attractive engravings by sculptor, and beneficiary of King Louis XV's patronage, Edmé Bouchardon (1698-1762) to prioritise artistic interpretation over factual accuracy. 

 

Provenance: 1. Armorial bookplate of John Rushout, 2nd Baron Northwick, F.S.A.(1769-1859), collector and antiquarian, part of a distinguished circle of connoisseurs that included Richard Payne Knight, Sir William Hamilton and Antonio Canova. His gallery and library were at his principal seat, Northwick Park, and subsequently Thirlestane House, purchased to house and exhibit Northwick's growing collection. Following his death in 1859, Thirlestane House itself was purchased by bibliophile Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), and Northwick's vast collection of paintings, coins, medals etc. was sold at Phillips' in a 22-day series of sales; his library was inherited by George Spencer Churchill, on whose death in 1965 it was sold at Christies sale 'Valuable Printed Books: Final Portion from the Northwick Park Collection the Property of the late Captain E.G. Spencer Churchill, M.C.', 24 Nov., 1965, this set Lot 106, sold for £75. 2. Patricia Milne-Henderson, art historian (1935-2018)..

 

Cohen de Ricci, 683. Sinkankas, Gemology: An annotated Bibliography Vol. II (1993), no. 4208. Brunet III, 1429..

Stock Code: 243627