Description: two volumes, 38.3 x 25.5 cm each, uniformly bound in red morocco, boards decorated in gilt in the style of Luc-Antoine Boyet, with gilt dentelle inside out; spine with raised bands, gilt lettering, gilt in compartments; all edges gilt; marbled endpapers; printed on laid paper, text in the floral frame, engraved frontispiece (after Hyacinthe Rigaud), plates, t.p. vignette with the portrait of Desiderius Erasmus (after Quentin Metsys), head- and tailpieces (total of 40, some repeating) and 2 initials by Bernard Picart, folded portrait of dedicatee Guillelmine Charlotte Princesse de Galles &c &c &c by van Gunst after Kneller.
Title-page (red and black, tall ‘s’): OEUVRES | DE | NICOLAS BOILEAU | DESPRÉAUX. | AVEC DES | ÉCLAIRCISSEMENTS | HISTORIQUES, | DONNEZ PAR LUI-MEME. | Nouvelle Edition revuë, corrigée & augmentée de diverses Remarques. | Enrichie de figures gravées par Bernard Picart le Romain. | TOME PREMIER (SECOND). | {vignette} | A AMSTERDAM, | Chez DAVID MORTIER. | — | M DCCXVIII. | AVEC PRIVILEGE. ||
Vol. 1. Collation: 4to; 1 ffl, a-c4 d1 A-3K4, 3L2, 1ffl; (K3 marked I3). Plates: t.p. vignette, frontispiece, 24 head- and tailpieces, f.t. in a grotesque frame and 6 full-page for ‘Le Lutrin’ in the same frame by Bernard Picart; folded portrait of Guillelmine Charlotte, Princess of Wales by van Gunst after Kneller. Pagination: [4] [i-v] vi-xviii [4] [1] 2-450 [2].
Vol. 2. Collation: 4to; 2 ffl, π2 A-3C4 3D3 2 ffl; (V3 marked T3, 2L4 marked A). Plates: t.p. vignette (same as vol.1) and 7 head- and tailpieces by Bernard Picart. Pagination: [4] [i-iii] iv-vii [viii] [1] 2-370 [2] [20].
Catalogue raisonné: Lewine 72-3; Cohen-De Ricci 165-6.
Contributors:
Luc-Antoine Boyet (French, fl. 1684 – 1733) – bookbinder.
Claude Brossette (French, 1671 – 1743) – author, remarks.
André Dacier (French, 1651 – 1722) – author, preface.
Nicolas Boileau Despréaux (French, 1636 – 1711) – author.
Pieter Stevens van Gunst (Dutch, 1659-1724) – engraver.
Sir Godfrey Kneller (British, 1646-1723) – artist.
David Mortier (Dutch-British, 1673 – 1728) – publisher.
Bernard Picard (French, 1673 – 1733) – artist, engraver.
Quentin Massijs [Metsys, Matsys] (Flemish, 1466 – 1530) – artist.
Hyacinthe Rigaud [Jacint Rigau-Ros i Serra] (French, 1659 – 1743) – artist.
Guillelmine Charlotte, Princess of Wales (Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach) (1683 – 1737) – dedicatee
