Beaumarchais

1733 · 5282 — Amsterdam: Zacharias Chatelain 1733. Contemporary gold-tooled calf by the Three Acorn Bindery sewn on 7 supports with the corresponding raised bands on the spine a red morocco title label on the spine lettered in gold both boards are richly gold-tooled in a panel design with a central ornament mottled and sprinkled panels of varying density separated by vegetal borders. Further with gold-tooled board edges and blue mottled page edges. Large folio. With an engraved frontispiece an engraved vignette on the title page the title printed in red and black a large armorial head-piece for the dedication and 60 full-page engraved plates by Bernard Picart. Large-paper copy of the first Dutch edition of a beautifully illustrated explanation of the classical fables sumptuously bound by the Three Acorn Bindery in Amsterdam fl. ca. 1756-1780/1806. Each chapter is dedicated to a single fable. It contains a Latin quotation from the original source primarily from Ovid but also Seneca Martial Lucan and Horace followed by a Dutch prose account of the fable an explanation of its meaning and scholarly notes. The 60 fine plates were designed and engraved by Bernard Picart 1673-1733 and his pupils. These engravings framed by elaborate rococo borders populated with scrollwork and mythological creatures not only represent Picart’s final works but also his finest.The inspiration for the collection comes from Michel de Marolles' Tableaux du Temple des Muses 1655 but the texts were newly written for the present edition by Antoine de la Barre de Beaumarchais. The plates include a brief caption in French Dutch English and German likely so that they could be reused as Chatelain published editions in all four languages simultaneously. The French and German translations were published a second time in 1749 and 1754 respectively.The binding shows minor traces of use. The text leaves are somewhat browned and foxed but the plates are clean. Otherwise a fine large-paper copy in good condition.l Cat. Rijksmuseum Amst. I p. 170; STCN 182996409; cf. Cohen-De Ricci col. 531 French ed.; Storm van Leeuwen Dutch decorated bookbindings vol. I pp. 599-612 for the bindery and vol. III L358 for this binding. Zacharias Chatelain, hardcover