-
Iron tsuba of round form (width > height) decorated with a squirrel (on the face) and bamboo (on the reverse) motif in sahari flat inlay (hira-zōgan). Signed: Hazama (間) Size: 75.1mm x 75.9mm, thickness of seppa-dai 5.4mm. Early 18th century, mid Edo. Haynes/Torigoye: "There is another name for Hazama tsuba: the Kameyama school. In the period from Hōei to Kyōhō (1704-36) at Kameyama, in the province of Ise, the Kunitomo family made this style of tsuba" [...] The two artists who are best known for the sahari style of inlaid tsuba are Sadahide and Masahide" [...] The signature Hazama should be considered as that of Masahide". Sahari inlay is the distinctive characteristics of Hazama school. Sahari is an alloy of copper, tin, lead, zinc and silver. Hazama tsuba was carved patterns at first, then poured heated into the carvings on iron ground. Because it is an alloy, sahari shows different colors in each tsuba. According to Merrily Baird [Symbols, p. 163], "squirrels (risu) ... have no symbolic importance". NBTHK certificate №448388. -
Kikukawa Eizan (菊川 英山, 1787 – July 17, 1867) Signed: Eizan hitsu (英山筆)Jacob Pins #972/p.341. Leiden, Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde.
"The Lovers Miura-ya Komurasaki and Shirai Gonpachi: Tragic love stories taken from real life and dramatized were a staple of stage and print; the darkly romantic combination of desire and death was hugely popular in the eighteenth century. Hirai Gompachi was a warrior of the Tottori fief in western Japan who fled to Edo after committing a murder. He was apprehended and sentenced to death in 1679. His distraught lover, the courtesan Komurasaki, committed suicide at his grave." [MET]
.
-
A shunga (erotic) print by Suzuki Harunobu [鈴木 春信] (Japanese, c. 1725 – 1770) depicting a woman making love with a man in the palanquin (のりもの/乗り物) while the other woman "ties a sash about her hips below her obi." The sheet is not signed; however, it is attributed to Harunobu. A reference image can be found in the Metropolitan Museum (NY) collection, Accession Number JP1635:According to the MET "the palanquin ... has carried these courtesans to the shore for a spring outing". Some time ago, a similar print was sold by Richard Kruml (description: A chuban shunga print showing the occupant of a kago in flagrante with one of the porters, having seized the opportunity of a stop on the journey. Published late 1760s. Rare). Another copy was sold at Sotheby's in Paris for €3,360 on November 27, 2002 (Lot 24), with a reproduction of the print's detail and description on p. 39: Suzuki Harunobu (1725 – 1770) | Shunga: couple dans un palanquin, vers 1768-1770, non-signe, cachet non identifé, cachets Charles Mitchell, Huguette Berès, Format chuban, 20.1 x 28.6 cm | 3000 – 4000 € | Il s’agit probablement de trois voyageurs, l’un d’entre eux debout près du palanquin faisant mine d’ignorer la scène. Bibliographie: Delay p. 87. Reference: [LIB-3121.2022] Sotheby's: Collection Huguette Berès – Estampes, dessins et livres illustrés japonais / 2 volumes; vol. 1. — Paris: Sotheby's, 2002.
http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45071
-
Title-page (in red and black, with tall “s”): LES | AVANTURES | DE | TELEMAQUE, | FILS D'ULYSSE, | Par seu Messire | François de Salignac, | De La Motte-Fenelon, | Precepteur de Messeigneurs les Enfans de | France, & depuis Archevêque-Duc de | Cambray, Prince du Saint Empire. | NOUVELLE EDITION, | CONFORME AU MANUSCRIT ORIGINAL, ET | ENRICHIE DE FIGURES. | {device} | A AMSTERDAM, | Chez D. J. CHANGUION. | MDCCXXV. || Pagination: fep, 1 bank leaves, frontis., [ii] title, [iii] iv-cvi, [1] 2-490 2 blank leaves, fep, total 496 pages. Collation: 12mo; 1*-4*12 5*5, A-V12 X8 (total 248 leaves) plus frontispiece and 9 plates designed and engraved by Simon Fokke (signed: “S. Fokke in et fec 1753”), and folding map (not signed). Binding: Red quarter roan over contemporary marbled vellum, only top margin trimmed. Edition: 2nd edition with these etchings after the 1st by Jan Daniel Beman in Rotterdam in 1755 (see British Museum 1887,0722.88 and 1887,0722.90 and others.) Catalogue raisonné: Not in Cohen-DeRicci, not in Lewine. Contributors: François Fénelon [François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon] (French, 1651 – 1715) – author. Simon Fokke (Dutch, 1712 – 1784) – artist, engarver. -
An unsigned print, presumably by Katsukawa Shunshō that presumably depicts a kabuki actor Ichikawa Monnosuke II. I was not able to find any reference of the image. Size: Hosoban. According to The actor's image. Print makers of the Katsukawa School. Timothy T. Clark and Osamu Ueda with Donald Jenkins. Naomi Noble Richard, editor The Art Institute of Chicago in association with Princeton University Press, 1994, Ichikawa Monnosuke II was born in 1743, in Ōji Takinogawa, Edo. He died on October 19, 1974. His specialities were young male roles (wakashu) and male leads (tachi yaku). He was considered to be one of the four best young actors of his day. -
-
Title page: THE | ADVENTURES | OF | TELEMACHUS, | THE | SON OF ULYSSES. | FROM THE FRENCH OF | SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE–FENELON, | ARCHBISHOP OF CAMBRAY. | BY THE LATE | JOHN HAWKESWORTH, LL. D. | CORRECTED AND REVISED BY | G. GREGORY, D. D. | JOINT EVENING PREACHER AT THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL, AND AUTHOR OF | ESSAYS, HISTORICAL AND MORAL, &C. | WITH | A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR, AND A COMPLETE INDEX, HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL. | EMBELLISHED WITH TWELVE ELEGANT ENGRAVINGS. | IN TWO VOLUMES. | VOL. I. [VOL. II] | — | LONDON: | PRINTED FOR C. AND G. KEARSLEY, FLEET-STREET. | 1795. || Vol. 1: collation: 2 blank leaves, π6, a-d4, B-Z4 Aa-Ff4, 2 blank leaves, 7 coloured engravings; pagination: [i-v] vi-xxxv [xxxvi], [1] 2-223 [224 blank]. Vol. 2: collation: 2 blank leaves, π4, Gg-Zz4, 3A-3K4 [a]4 b2, 2 blank leaves, 5 coloured engravings; pagination: [i-iii] iv-vii [viii], [225] 226-439, [440-452]. Exterior: 2-volume set, uniformly bound in full crimson linen morocco, key fret inside, gilt-ruled with a floral pattern between fillets to boards, flat spine decorated in gilt, with gilt lettering, marbled endpapers, AEG, 4to, 28 x 22.5 cm; printed on wove paper with watermark “WS”. Blind stamp to ffl by previous owner: "B. J. WIJNVELDT". Engravings: 12 tinted stipple engravings à la poupée: one by James Neagle (British, 1760? – 1822), four by William Bromley (British, 1769 – 1842), four by William Skelton (British, 1763 – 1848), one by John Ogborne (British, 1755 – 1837), and two by James Parker (1750 – 1805) after Thomas Stothard (British, 1755 – 1834). Ref.: Lewine (1898), p. 183: "The 1795 edition, 2 vols., 4to., with 12 engravings after Stothard, has a nominal value." Not in Cohen De Ricci, 1912. Original: François Fénelon. Les Aventures de Télémaque, fils d’Ulysse. See №№ LIB-2522-2020 and LIB-2683.2021 in this collection. John Hawkesworth (British, c. 1715 – 1773). George Gregory (British, 1754 – 1808).George Kearsley the elder (British, 1739 – 1790) (Kearsley, Catharine and George – publishers)
-
One volume, 25.8 x 20.7 cm, laid paper 25.2 x 19.5 cm, platemark 13.3 x 7.7 cm, wide margins; bound in calf, ruled in gilt, rebacked, raised bands, blind-stamped flower lozenges in compartments, crimson label with gilt lettering, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, gilt dentelle inside, engraved bookplate to front pastedown: lettered ribbon: “VINCTUS NON VICTUS”, chained Lion Passant in a collar, below “Maurice B. Worms”. Title-page: MONUMENS | DU | CULTE SECRET | DES | DAMES ROMAINES , | POUR SERVIR DE SUITE | AUX MONUMENS DE LA VIE PRIVÉE | DES XII CÉSARS. | {VIGNETTE} | A CAPRÉE. | CHEZ SABELLUS. | M. DCC. LXXXIV. || Collation: [A]2 B-G2 2A-Z2 Aa2 Bb1, total 63 leaves, plus engraved title/frontispiece and 50 plates, all unsigned, first and last blanks. Pagination: [i-ii] iii-xxvii [xxviii] 1-98, ils., total 126 pages. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen-De Ricci: 475; Lewine: 233; Dutel (1650-1880) № A-729, p. 223; Pia (1978): col. 884-5, pp. 467-8. Author: Pierre-François Hugues d'Hancarville (French, 1719-1805) – author. Provenance: Maurice Benedict Worms (Austrian, 1805 – 1867), son of Benedikt Moses Worms (1769 – 1824) and Schönche Jeannette Rothschild (1771 – 1859), maternal grandson of Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744 – 1812), the founder of the House of Rothschild. -
Mori Sosen (1747-1821). A Monkey Seated on a Rock with an Infant Monkey. Hanging scroll painting. Ink and colour on silk. Signed: Sosen. Sealed: Sosen. 108.3 x 38.3 cm. Provenance: According to the box inscriptions, the painting was in the possession of Itakura Katsunao, a daimyo lord in present-day Gunma, in 1808. In 1881, the painting was subsequently acquired by Negishi Shôrei (1833-1897) a master swordsman who established the Negishi school of shuriken ("The only specialist school to have survived is the Negishi-ryū, which was founded by Negishi Shorei in the mid-1800s".) -
Les Aventures de Télémaque, fils d'Ulysse, Par feu Messire François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, Précepteur de Messeigneurs les Enfants de France, & depuis Archevêque - Duc de Chabray, Prince du Saint-Empire Romain, &c. / Nouvelle édition enrichie de figures en taille-douce. – À Maestricht, Chez J. E. Dufour & Ph. Roux, Imprimeurs-Libraires associés. M. DCC. LXXXII. Pagination: ffl, [i, ii - ht, explication] [2 - blank, frontis. portrait] [iii, iv - t.p., blank] [v - discours] vi-xxviii, [1] 2-484, bfl; 1 folding map and 24 plates engraved by Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Tardieu. Size: 8vo, 21 x 13 cm. Binding: full contemporary mottled calf, marbled end-papers, all margins red, raised bands, floral gilt elements in compartments, red title label, head- and tail-band absent. Point of issue: the vignette in Liv. 1 is upsidedown. Liv. 1 & 8 plates signed: Gravé par Tardieu résident à Malines. Jean Baptiste Pierre Tardieu (French, 1746 – 1816) - engraver and cartographer from a large family of artists and engravers. For English translation of this book see № LIB-2683-2021 in this collection. -
Four-volume edition with 6+4+5+5 = 20 plates. Vol. 1 : Title page, in double-border, within rules; accents as per original, with tall «s»: Les | Parisiennes, | ou | XL caractères generaux | Pris dans les Mœurs actuelles, | Propres à servir à l'instruction | des personnes-du-sexe : | Tirés des memoires du nouveau Lycée-des-mœurs. | I Volume : Les jeunes-filles, | & les filles-à-marier. | A Neufchâtel , | Et se trouve à Paris. | Chéz Guillot, libraire de Monsieur, rue | S.-Jacques, vis-à-vis celle des Mathurins. | 1787. Pagination : [1-5] 6-300, plus 6 etched/engraved plates w/guard tissue after Louis Binet (French, 1744 – about 1800). Collation: 12mo; A14 B-M12 N4; first 6 leaves in gatherings B to M signed, with exceptions: A1,2 unsigned, A3-8 signed, A9-14, D5, N3,4 unsigned. Vol. 2: Title page: Text above the first rule similar; below: II Volume : Les N.lles–mariées : | Les Mariées depuis 3 ans. | A Neufchâtel , | Et se trouve à Paris. | 1787. Pagination : [1-3] 4-388, plus 4 plates. Collation: 12mo; A8 B-Q12 R6; A1,5-8, R4-6 unsigned. Vol. 3: Title page: Text above the first rule similar; below: III Volume : Les epouses | à imiter : à— suir | A Neufchâtel , | Et se trouve à Paris. | 1787. Pagination: [1-3] 4-392, plus 5 plates. Collation: 12mo, A4 B-R12; A1,3,4, G4, N4,6, O5 unsigned. Vol 4: Title page: Text above the first rule similar; below: IV Volume : Les J.nes-Mères, | &—de grands-enfans. | A Neufchâtel , | Et se trouve à Paris. | 1787. Pagination: [1-3] 4-380 [4], plus 5 plates. Collation: A-Q12; A1 unsigned. Binding: later (c. 1875 – 1885) uniform binding of all four volumes in motley 'percaline anglaise' (buckram) with black gilt-lettered labels to spine, marbled endpapers; printed on laid paper; armorial bookplate of Masséna engraved by Stern to front pastedown. Provenance: Library of Masséna; Victor Masséna, duc de Rivoli, prince d'Essling (French, 1836 – 1910) [photo]. Catalogue Raisonné: P.-L. Jacob, 1875: № XXXII, pp. 247-250. P. L. Jacob. Bibliographie et iconographie de tous les ouvrages de Restif de la Bretonne. — Paris: A. Fontaine, 1875. [LIB-2634.2021]. Contributors: Nicolas Edmé Restif de la Bretonne (French, 1734 – 1806) – text. Louis Binet (French, 1744 – c. 1800) – illustrations. Sources: MFA: ACCESSION NUMBER 37.1667a-b lacking one plate in vol. 4. Collation: 12mo, 4 vols. in 2; [v. 1] 150 leaves, plus 6 plates; [v. 2] 194 ll., plus 4 pls.; [v. 3] 196 ll., plus 5 pls.; [v. 4] 192 ll., plus 4 [of 5] pls. BNF Identifier ark:/12148/bpt6k1050366b. Collation: 4 vol. (300; 388; 392; 380 p., XX f. de pl.) : ill. ; in-12 -
Two 8vo volumes bound in one, 19 x 12.5 cm, in full mottled sheepskin with gilt-bordered boards, gilt decorated flat spine with gilt-lettered red and black calf labels, rebacked, marbled endpapers and edges, printed on wove paper, plates on thicker laid paper. Title-page: FABLES | MISES EN VERS | PAR J. DE LA FONTAINE. | TOME PREMIER (SECOND). | {medallion portrait} (printer’s device “PC”) | A PARIS, | CHEZ ANT. AUG. RENOUARD. | M. DCC. XCV. || Collation: Vol. 1: π2 (h.t./imprint, t.p. medallion portrait/blank), [1]-38 (Notice sur la vie…), 1-58 64 (Vie de la Fontaine, Épitre, Préface, Vie d’Ésope), [7]-148 156 χ3 (table); pagination [4] [i] ii-xlviii, [1] 2-234. Total 143 leaves (286 pages) plus 6 plates after Moreau le Jeune by Devilliers fratres (p. 112), E. De Ghendt (pp. 122 and 181), Jean Louis Delignon (p. 140), Delvaux (p. 197), and Ph. Trière (p. 219). Title medallion portrait of La Fontaine (G Rigault pinx. – C S Gaucher inc.) by Gaucher after Rigaud. Vol. 2: π2 1-158 164; pagination [4] [1] 2-247 [248 blank]. Total 126 leaves (252 pages) plus 6 plates after Moreau le Jeune by Devilliers fratres (p. 19), Villerey (pp. 37, 80, and 146), Bosq (p. 121), and Ph. Trière (p. 199). The book published in 1795 (An 3) supplemented with plates produced in 1811 and 1812 for Œuvres complèttes (sic) de Jean de la Fontaine published by Lefèvre in 1814. The reason for choosing this particular edition for someone's library shortly after 1814 was probably the absence of censorship in 1795. Catalogue raisonné: (1) Lewine [LIB-2538.2020] on p. 276 (Paris, chez Renouard, 1795, 2 vols., 8vo., medal portrait on first title, and 12 plates after Moreau by Delvaux, Bosq, Ghendt, Trière, and Villerey). (2) M.-J.-F. Mahérault. L' oeuvre de Moreau le Jeune : catalogue raisonné et descriptif avec notes iconographiques et bibliographiques. — Paris: A. Labitte, 1880. Contributors: Jean de La Fontaine (French, 1621–1695) – author. Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune (French, 1741–1814) – artist. Hyacinthe Rigaud (French, 1659 – 1743) – artist. Antoine-Augustin Renouard (French, 1765 – 1853) – publisher. Pierre Causse (French, 1761 – 1834) – printer. Engravers: Charles Étienne Gaucher (French, 1741 – 1804) Etienne De Villiers [Devilliers, Devilliers fratres] (French, 1784 – after 1844) Emmanuel Jean Nepomucène de Ghendt (Flemish, worked in France, 1738 – 1815) Jean-Louis Delignon (French, 1755 – 1820) Rémi Henri Joseph Delvaux (French, 1748 – 1823) Philippe Trière (French, 1756 – c. 1815) Auguste Villerey (French, 1801 – 1846) Jean Bosq (French, fl. c. 1801 – 1844) -
Iron tsuba of round form with design of hatchet executed in openwork (sukashi) and three fan panels motif on both sides carved in low relief (sukidashi-bori). Designs on the fan panels - face: bellflower, plum blossom in mist, grass leaves; - back: clouds, grass, and half plum blossom in mist. Copper sekigane. Koga-hitsu-ana probably cut out on a later date. Kamakura or kamakura-bori school. Edo period. Height: 83.8 mm, Width: 82.2 mm, Thickness at seppa-dai: 3.2 mm. NBTHK certificate № 4005500: Hozon (worthy of preservation). -
Isoda Koryūsai (礒田 湖龍斎, 1735–1790), flourished: 1769 to 1790. The print lacks signature (signature erased).Attributed definitely to Koryūsai: Jacob Pins, #491 [p.202] - Saigyo Hoshi admiring Mount Fuji. Signature erased but convincingly attributed to Koryusai. Tikotin Museum, Haifa. Catalogue raisonné: Allen Hockley: A3-J-5 (p. 261).
Saigyō Hōshi (西行 法師, 1118 – March 23, 1190) was a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. -
Four parts bound in two 18mo volumes (1-2 & 3-4), half polished brown calf, dot-ruled, flat spine with gilt bands and lettering, marbled boards, some plates with guard sheets, margins sparkled red. Title-page: LES LIAISONS | DANGEREUSES, | Ou Lettres recueillies dans une | société, et publiées pour l’ins- | truction de quelques autres. | par C….. de L… | — | J’ai vu les mœurs de mon temps, et j’ai publié | ces Lettres. | J. J. Rous. Préf. De la nouv. Hél. | PREMIÈRE PARTIE. | — | A GENEVE. | 1792. || Vol. 1: Pagination: ffep, blank, [2] – h.t., [i, ii] – t.p. part one, [iii] iv-xxij, [1] 2-245 [246] + 2 plates (p. 26 & p. 75); [1, 2] – h.t., [3, 4] – t.p. part two, [5] 6-233 [234], fep + 2 plates (p. 59 & p. 222). Collation: part 1: a12, A-M18 N5; part 2: A-M18 N9, plus four plates by various engravers after Le Barbier. Vol. 2: Pagination: ffep, blank, [1, 2] – h.t., [3, 4] – t.p. part three, [5] 6-225 [226] + 2 plates (p. 69 & p. 215); [1, 2] – h.t., [3, 4] – t.p. part four, [5] 6-250, fep + 2 plates (p. 25 & p. 201). Collation: part 3: A-M18 N5; part 4: A-N18 O5, plus four plates by various engravers after Le Barbier. Illustrations: After Le Barbier, engravers: Halbou (1), Simonet (1), N. Thomas (2), Dambrun (2), and Delignon (2). In the first illustration (vol. 1, part one, p. 26) Le Barbier signed “Le Barbier Jnv. 1794”, however, the edition was published (anonymously) in 1792. Cohen-De Ricci mentions an edition of 1794 (Paris: Maradan) and 1801 (Genéve) with the same plates. Lewine mentions a reprint of 1794 without naming the publisher. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen-De Ricci: 234-5, Ray: p. 79; Lewine: 109-10. Contributors: Choderlos de Laclos, Pierre Ambroise François (French, 1741 – 1803) – author. Le Barbier, Jean-Jacques-François (French, 1738 – 1826) – artist Engravers: Dambrun, Jean (French, 1741 – c. 1808) Delignon, Jean Louis (French, 1755 – 1804) Halbou, Louis Michel (1730 – 1809) Thomas, N. (French, c. 1750 – 1812) Simonet, Jean-Baptiste Blaise (French, 1742 – 1813) -
Title-page: FABLES | NOUVELLES. | {vignette by Ponce after Marillier} | A LA HAYE, | Et se trouve a Paris, | Chez Delalain, rue de la Comédie Françoise. | — | M. DCC. LXXIII. || Collation: 2 volumes (4 livres) in one, 1st blank, engraved t.p. “FABLES | Par | Mr. Dorat.” signed C. P. Marillier, inv. – E. D. Ghendt Sculp. 1772; a-c4, A-Z4 2A-2Q4, last blank, plus engraved frontispiece before A1 by Nicolas Delaunay and engraved d.t.p. before Z1: “Fables | de M. Dorat | II. Volume” also by Ghendt after Marillier., 99 vignettes and 99 tailpieces, all after Marillier. Lacking Delaunay frontispiece for the second volume (similar to the 1st). Edition: This is a vol. 1 176 pp. copy (Ray, 43). 2nd edition after Fables ou allégories philosophiques, 1772, p. 162 corrected: “Je sais , même au sein des poisons / Puiser le suc qui m'est utile”. Page xxii numbered correctly; on top of p. iii, printed a chain instead of a triple fillet in later issues (Ray, 43A). Pagination: [i, ii] iii-xxii, [2 d.t.p. «Livre premier»] [1] 2-309 [3 table], 3 plates. Binding: Crimson crashed morocco (198 x 133 mm) ruled in gilt, spine with raised bands gilt in compartments with gilt-lettered cream calf label, gilt dentelle inside, marbled endpapers, Pauli Menso bookplate pasted to front pastedown, printed on laid paper, AEG. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen-DeRicci: 313-315; Ray (French): № 43, pp. 81-83. Provenance: Pauli Menso. We only present a sample of illustrations, as their total number is enormous. Contributors: Author: Claude Joseph Dorat (French, 1734–1780) Publisher: Delalain (firm) (18th century) Artist: Clément Pierre Marillier (French, 1740–1808) Engravers: Jean Charles Baquoy (French, 1721–1777) Nicolas Delaunay (French, 1739–1792) Pierre Duflos (French, born in 1751) Emmanuel Jean Nepomucène de Ghendt (Flemish, worked in France, 1738–1815) Yves-Marie Le Gouaz (French, 1742–1816) Pierre Adrien Le Beau (French, 1748–after 1800) Jean-Jacques André Le Veau (French, 1729–1786) Charles Louis Lingée (French, 1748–1819) Joseph de Longueil (French, 1730–1792) Louis Legrand (French, 1723–1807) Jacques Le Roy (French, born in 1739) Louis Joseph Masquelier (French, 1741–1811) François Denis Née (French, 1735–1818) Nicholas Ponce (French, 1746–1831) Marguerite (Hémery) Ponce (French, born in 1745) Jean Baptiste Simonet (French, 1742–1813) -
Unsigned print, attributed to Suzuki Harunobu. Erotic scene on open veranda with a winter landscape on background. -
Phaedri, Aug. Liberti Fabularum Aesopiarum libri V / notis illustravit in usum serenissimi principis Nassavii David Hoogstratanus. Accedunt ejusdem opera duo indices, quorum prior est omnium verborum, multo quam antehac locupletior, posterior eorum, quae observatu digna in notis occurunt. — Amstelaedami : Ex Typographia Francisci Halmae, MDCCI [1701]. — pp.: [1] title, [1] (portr.), [32] 160, [84], 18 leaves of plates. Vita Phaedri is written by Johannes Schefferus (February 2, 1621 – March 26, 1679). Appendix fabularum is written by Marquard Gude (Gudius) (1 February 1635 – 26 November 1689). Gaius Julius Phaedrus was a 1st-century CE Roman fabulist and the first versifier of a collection of Aesop's fables into Latin. David van Hoogstraten (Rotterdam, March 14, 1658 - Amsterdam, November 21, 1724), a physician, poet and linguist, annotated the fables and dedicated them to Johan Willem Friso van Oranje-Nassau (14 August 1687 – 14 July 1711). The book was published in Amsterdam by François Halma (Langerak, January 3, 1653 - Leeuwarden, January 13, 1722), a Dutch printer, publisher and bookseller, with a portrait of Prince of Orange-Nassau, engraved by Pieter van Gunst (Dutch, Amsterdam 1659–1724) after Bernard Vaillant (Dutch, Lille 1632–1698 Leyden). The title page was engraved by P. Boutats after Jan Goeree (Dutch, Middelburg 1670–1731 Amsterdam). The edition is adorned throughout with 18 plates, each with 8 médaillons, designed and engraved by Jan van Vianen (Dutch, 1660–1726), and with vignettes, head- and tailpieces, inhabited initials, etc. Contemporary vellum over boards, title in red and back, red edges, 4to, 26 x 20 cm. Seller's description:4to, engraved general title, letterpress red & black title page with allegorical engraved vignette. 18 full-page copper-engraved plates by Jan van Vianen, each featuring six circular images, and 38 in-text reproductions, engraved decorative initials, and head- and tailpieces. Phaedrus (15 BC - 50 AD, Italy), was a "Roman fabulist, the first writer to Latinize whole books of fables, producing free versions in the iambic metre of Greek prose fables then circulating under the name of Aesop." (Ency. Brit.). This deluxe edition was specially created for the Prince of Nassau, profusely illustrated with fine engravings. Dibdin spoke highly of it in his Greek and Latin Classics (4th edition): "I have always considered this as a correct and very sumptuous edition. It is ornamented with a great number of small plates, or medallions, in which the subject of the fable is very ably and spiritedly executed.Ref.: Metropolitan Museum; Musée Médard
