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Hand-coloured woodcut on wove paper, 327 x 280 mm; black ink stamp “5265” to reverse, attached to the sheet 470 x 325 mm. Top centre: "S. A. LE PRINCE IMPÉRIAL.", right: "63." Image: equestiral portrait of Prince Impérial. Under the image, centre: "Fabrique d'Images de GANGEL et P. DIDION, à Metz." — "Déposé." Napoléon, Prince Imperial (Napoléon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte] (French, 1856 – 1879). Gangel et P. Didion (Metz); Paulin Didion (French, 1831 – 1879) – publisher/printer. -
Signature: UnsignedFuchi-kashira with rock and boar (iwa ni inoshishi zu) motif. Inlay of precious stones or colour glass. Shakudō, gold, gemstones. Technique: Sukibori zogan kiniroe.
Fuchi: 36 x 21 x 14 mm; Weight: 22 g; Kashira: 32 x 17 x 5 mm; Weight: 8 g; Material : Shakudō; Gold; Gemstones (Chalcedony and Rose Quartz). Possibly, Owari school. -
Kitagawa Utamaro. Illustration from book Ehon koi no Onamaki, published in 1799. Reference found by Chris Uhlenbeck: he found one of the designs in Hayashi Yoshikazu's 20-volume set Edo makura-e shi shusei: Kitagawa Utamaro. Size: Chuban (25.5 x 18.5 cm), two book pages glued together. -
Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 231 x 300 mm. Title: A geisha eating edamame aboard the boat of the Atari-ya teahouse. Series: Three summer women [九夏三婦久] (Kyūka sanfuku). Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Artist: Utagawa Kunihisa II [歌川国久] a.k.a. Katsuda Hisatarō, Ichiunsai, Ritchōrō, Toyonobu, Yōryūsai, Yōsai] (Japanese, 1832 – 1981). Block cutter: Yokokawa Horitake [横川彫武] a.k.a. Yokokawa Takejiro [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1860s). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. C. 1845 – 1847) Combined date seal and kiwame censor seal: 1860 (Ansei 7 / Man'en 1 from 18/III). Signed: Toyokuni ga in toshidama cartouche, and Kunihisa ga. Provenance: The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christie's, New York, 2017, lot 341; sol together with 5 other fan prints for $25,000. Before: Israel Goldman, Japanese Prints, Catalogue 9, 2003, no. 35. Ref: [LIB-1693.2018] The Collection of Paul Walter. — NY: Christie's, 2017, p. 363. Ref: Israel Goldman, Catalogue 2018, № 52: "Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) and Utagawa Kunihisa II (1832-1891) A Geisha Eating Edamame Aboard the Boat of the Atari-ya Teahouse. From the series Kyuka sanfuku (Three Summer Women). 1860. Fan print. 22.7 x 29.6 cm. Provenance: Israel Goldman, Japanese Prints, Catalogue 9, 2003, no. 35. The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christies, New York, 201, lot 341. Fine impression, colour and condition. The title is a pun on “kyuka sanpuku” meaning the hottest point of the summer. The background view is by Kunisada’s pupil Kunihisa." -
![[RASPE, Rudolf Erich]. The Travels and Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen. / Illustrated with 37 curious engravings, from the Baron's own designs, and five woodcuts, by G. Cruikshank. — London: William Tegg, 1869. — xii + [10] + 268 pp.](https://varshavskycollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/LIB-2269.2019-5-scaled-500x500.jpeg)
Half-title: BARON MUNCHAUSEN Title: THE TRAVELS | AND | SURPRISING ADVENTURES | OF | BARON MUNCHAUSEN. | ILLUSTRATED WITH | THIRTY-SEVEN CURIOUS ENGRAVINGS, | FROM | THE BARON'S OWN DESIGNS, | AND FIVE WOODCUTS, | BY G. CRUIKSHANK. | [device] | LONDON : WILLIAM TEGG. | 1869.|| [RASPE, Rudolf Erich]. The Travels and Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen. / Illustrated with 37 curious engravings, from the Baron's own designs, and five woodcuts, by G. Cruikshank. — London: William Tegg, 1869. Pagination: xii + [10] + 268 pp, 23 plates: hand-coloured engraved frontispiece, 5 woodcuts by Cruikshank, other b/w etchings, two folding plates. Binding: 19 x 13 cm; hardbound, 8vo, early 20th century 3/4 dark plum morocco gilt-ruled, raised bands, title label, gilt lettering, gilt in compartments, top edge gilt. Catalogue raisonné: A. Cohn: #584, p. 172. This edition is an identical re-issue of the 1867 edition. -
Title: LA | BELLE ASSEMBLÉE | OR, | BELL'S | COURT AND FASHIONABLE | MAGAZINE, | ADDRESSED PARTICULARLY TO | THE LADIES. | VOL. XI.—NEW SERIES. | FROM JANUARY 1, TO JUNE 30, 1815. | LONDON: | Printed for J. BELL, GALLERY OF FINE ARTS, | Clare-Court, Drury-Lane. | 1815. || Pagination: [2] – 11th volume wood-engraved pictorial title page, [1, 2] – January faux-title and table of content, [3] 4-284 [2] – index to 11th vol. Notes: February f.t. not paginated, but within the collation; the last page of the index at the very end paginated [iii]/iv, so pages i/ii missing (the gathering Nn lacking one sheet) Collation: 4to; π1 A-Mm4 Nn3, 28 plates extraneous to collation (lacking 2 plates). Binding: Half brown morocco over marbled boards, flat spine, compartments gilt-ruled with double-fillet and gilt-lettered. Contents: Jan: pp. 1-48, 5 plates. Feb: pp. 51-96, 5 plates. Mar: pp. 97-144, 5 plates. Apr: pp. 145-192, 5 plates. May: pp. 193-240, 5 plates. Jun: pp. 241-284, 3 plates (lacking 2 colour prints). Fashion plates, two per issue, are hand-coloured copperplate engravings, unsigned. Stipple engraved portraits, one per issue as frontispiece: (1) Actress Catherine Stephens, Countess of Essex (British, 1794 – 1882) by James Hopwood the Elder [James Hopwood Senior] (British, c. 1740s/50s – 1819) after Sir George Hayter (British, 1792 – 1871); (2) Madame de Talleyrand, Princesse De Bénévent (Danish-French, 1761– 1834), unsigned, but can be attributed to François Gérard (French, 1770 – 1837); (3) Actress Miss Sarah Booth (1793 – 30 December 1867), unsigned; (4) Group portrait of the French Royal family (Louis XVI, Louis XVII, Marie Antoinette, Madam Elizabeth, Louis Antoine de Bourbon, Duke d'Enghien, and Marie Thérèse Louise of Savoy, Princesse de Lamballe), unsigned, (5) Actress, Miss Sarah Blanche Matthews (b.1794) by Thomas Burke (Irish, 1749 – 1815) after George Hayter. The sixth print, in the March issue, is a lithographic portrait of Napoléon Bonaparte (French, 1769 – 1821), unsigned. -
Title page: CATALOGUE | DES | OUVRAGES, ÉCRITS | ET DESSINS | DE TOUTE NATURE | POURSUIVIS, SUPPRIMÉS OU CONDAMNÉS | DEPUIS LE 21 OCTOBRE 1814 JUSQU'AU 31 JUILLET 1877 | Edition entièrement nouvelle, considérablement augmentée | SUIVIE DE LA TABLE DES NOMS D’AUTEURS ET D’ÉDITEURS | ET ACCOMPAGNÉE DE NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHIQUES ET ANALYTIQUES | PAR | FERNAND DRUJON | {publisher’s device} | PARIS | LIBRAIRIE ANCIENNE ET MODERNE | ÉDOUARD ROUVEYRE | 1, RUE DES SAINTS-PÈRES, 1 | 1879 || Pagination: [2] [i-v] vi-xxxvii [xxxviii blank] [1] 2-430 [2] 1-16, total number of pages 2+38+430+2+16=488. Collation: 8vo; π4 i-ii8 1-258 26-294 ω8, total number of leaves 4+(2x8)+(25x8)+(4x4)+8=244; 2 binder’s blank leaves before the front wrapper, 2 blanks after the wrapper, blank / avis important, h.t. with gift inscription from publisher to Anger / limitation, t.p. / blank, [text], 17 leaves of advert., 2 blanks before back wrapper, 1 binder’s blank after. Binding: 28.3 x 19 cm, tree-quarter beige buckram over marbled boards, spine: brown leather label with gilt double fillet top and bottom, gilt lettering, stamped in gilt with a lily and a year of publishing, gilt double-fillet to tail; publisher’s wrappers bound in. Bookplate with motto “AGE DICANT” to front pastedown. Gift inscription: "À mon ami Anger | Hommage de me bien dévoué | Édouard Rouveyre". Possibly Pierre Anger (1854-19..).Contributors: Drujon, Fernand (French, 1845 – 1912) Rouveyre, Édouard (French, 1849 – 1930)Edition: 1st edition, this copy is from an unnumbered print run. Despite the note "Edition entièrement nouvelle, considérablement augmentée" this is obviously the 1st edition. -
Lithography on paper by Charles Fichot (French, 1817 – 1903), published in a supplement to the Illustrated London News of July 6, 1867.
The construction on the foreground is the International Exposition of 1867 (Exposition universelle d'art et d'industrie de 1867). Dimensions: Sheet: 130 x 58 cm; Image: 118 x 43 cm. -
Title: Ninth lunar month [菊月] (Kikuzuki no zu); Series: Fashionable Twelve Months (Imayo juni-kagetsu). Another version of translation: Modern Beauties of Twelve Months. Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni I [歌川豊国] (1769–1825). Pubisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, 1815 – 1869), seal: Dansendō [伊場仙]. Signed: Toyokuni ga and sealed with toshidama. Date-kiwame seal: Ushi (ox), Bunsei 5 (1822). Size: double-sheet uncut fan print ( aiban uchiwa-e), 219 x 295 mm.
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Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi [歌川 國芳] (Japanese, 1798 – 1861). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, c. 1815 – 1869). Date-aratame seal: 1827 (Bunsei 10). Inscription: Ohan [おはん], Chōemon [長右衛門] | Dainingyō [大人形] | Yoshida Senshi [吉田千四)] | unclear (work in progress). Sam. L. Leiter describes the play in his Kabuki Encyclopedia (1979) p. 183, and Japanese traditional theatre (2014), p. 252 as "Love Suicide of Ohan and Choemon at the Katsura River" (Katsuragawa Renri no Shigarami) [桂川連理柵], a two-act play by Suga Sensuke [菅専助] (ca. 1728 – 1791) written in 1776 for the puppet theatre jūruri and adopted for Osaka kabuki in 1777. Yoshida Senshi, a.k.a. Yoshida Bunzaburo III was a Japanese puppeteer of a Yoshida lineage. The line was established by Yoshida Bunzaburō I [吉田文三郎] (Japanese, fl. 1717 – 1760), who was one of the greatest in the history of Bunraku [人形浄瑠璃] (ningyō jōruri) and who around 1734 introduced the three-man puppet manipulation system. A portrait of Yoshida Senshi, who died in 1829, can be found in the Kunisada's triptych at Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, ID Number 2016:37.2.).
The design on our fan print looks very much like the one of Toyokuni I at MFA (Houston): OBJECT NUMBER 2006.378. "Seki Sanjuro as Obiya Choemon and Ichikawa Denzo as Ohan of the Shinonoya from the Kabuki Drama Katsuragawa renri no shigarami (Love Suicide of Ohan and Choemon at the Katsura River)", according to MFA-H published by someone Tsuruya in c. 1810 (though the publisher's seal is Suzuki Ihei [鈴木伊兵衛] (seal name Suzui [鈴伊]), Marks 01-028 | 502; the censor's seal is gyōji, date 1811-14).
Interestingly enough, the description provided by Kuniyoshi Project is this "Actors: Onoe Kikugorô III as Shinanoya Ohan (おはん, female) and Ichikawa Ebizô V as Obiya Choemon (長右衛門, male). Play: Go chumon shusu no Obiya (御注文繻子帯屋). Date: 3rd month of 1840. Theater: Kawarasaki. Publisher: Iba-ya Sensaburô".
The play Go chumon shusu no Obiya was indeed staged at Kawarazaki theatre in 1840 (Tenpō 11), 3rd month; Ichikawa Ebizō V was indeed playing Obiya Choemon but Onoe Kikugorō III had the role of Kataoka Kōzaemon, not of Ohan, as can be seen on Kunisada's diptych at MFA (Boston): ACCESSION NUMBER 11.40671a-b.
Actors Ichikawa Ebizô V as Obiya Chôemon (R) and Onoe Kikugorô III as Kataoka Kôzaemon (L)
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4to volume, ‘cartonnage percaline romantique’, 27.5 x 19.5 cm, green cloth with gilt fillet border and fictional coat of arms to front, border and fleuron to back, gilt and embossed vignette to spine, yellow endpapers, all edges gilt, 32 plates, incl. frontispiece, with tissue guards, and numerous in-text woodcuts after J.-J. Grandville by various engravers, mostly by Best, Leloir, Hotelin et Régnier group. Page 102 is numbered correctly. Title-page: JÉROME | PATUROT | A LA RECHERCHE | D'UNE POSITION SOCIALE | PAR | LOUIS REYBAUD, | Auteur des Études sur les Reformateurs ou Socialistes modernes. | — | Édition illustrée par J.-J. Grandville. | {vignette} | PARIS, | J.-J. DUBOCHET, LE CHEVALIER ET Cie, ÉDITEURS, | RUE DE RICHELIEU, 60. | – | 1846 || Collation: π4 1-574 582; total 234 leaves plus 32 wood-engraved plates extraneous to collation. Pagination: [8] [1] 2-460; total 468 pages, ils. Catalogue raisonné: L. Carteret 516; Ray 197 (pp. 277-8); Brivois: 350-1. Contributors: Louis Reybaud [Jérôme Paturot] (French, 1799 – 1879) – author. J.-J. Grandville [Isidore-Adolphe Gèrard] (French, 1803 – 1847) – artist. Schneider et Legrand (Paris) – printer. J.-J. Dubochet, Le Chevalier et Cie – publsiher. Engravers: Lucjan Stypulkowski (Polish, 1806 – 1849) Best, Leloir, Hotelin et Régnier Jean Baptiste Best (French, 1808 – 1879) or Adolphe Best (French, 1808 – 1860) Isidore Leloir (French, 1806 – 1851) Laurent Éloi Hotelin (French, 1821 – 1894) Eugène Laurent Isidore Régnier (?) -
A series of seven political caricatures with indecent content, ink and pigment on paper, bound in a grey-blue folder. Each drawing is pasted to a grey-blue sheet of paper 32 x 24 cm. PLATES: 1) Villette; Bazaine; Alvarez Rull: 250 x 192 mm
Villette Adieu, cher maréchal, je réponds de mon dard C’est un morceau d’acier… Là bas, sur le rempart, Sa cartouche à la main, dans un cul qui le charme, Lançant à gros bouillons son foutre de gendarme Plantin plante Delille et lui font le Caisson. Bazaine Sur ton vit de dragon Sur le nœud de Plantin, sur le cul de Delille, Je ne t’oublierai pas, Villette, adieu, je file Et je vais baiser ma femme. Alvarez Rull (à Josépha) Il ne saurait tarder, Ton epoux va venir, mais tu me fais bander, Le parfum de ton con me monte à la cervelle, Ma gaule se raidit . Josépha, la nacelle Est dans l’ obscurité, là haut, le ciel est noir, Bazaine en descendant ne peut t’ apercevoir … Pour la dernière fois, torche moi la houlette. Bazaine Eh ! là bas, du canot, j’allume une allumette!
Villette Farewell, dear Marshal, I vouch for my dick. It’s like a steel rod … Over there, on the ramparts, Plantin, his dick in hand, pounds Delisle’s beckoning ass And fills it with his bubbling gendarme’s cum. Bazaine For your dragoon’s dick, For Plantin's prick, for Delisle's ass, I won't forget you, Villette, goodbye, I'm leaving And I'm going to fuck my wife. Alvarez Rull (to Josépha) Hurry up, Your husband is coming, but I got a hard on you, The scent of your cunt penetrates my brain, My rod stiffened. Josépha, the gondola Is in the dark, the sky is black, Bazaine coming down and cannot see you... Give me one last blowjob.Bazaine Hey! Over there, from the canoe, I light a match!
French marshal Achille Bazaine capitulated to Bismarck during the Franco-Prussian war on 27 October 1870. In 1873, he was tried for treason and received a death sentence, later commuted to 20 years' imprisonment. Bazaine was incarcerated in the Fort Royal on Île Sainte-Marguerite, from which he escaped on August 9–10, 1874, with the help of Colonel Villette [Willette], his wife Josefa [Pepita Peña], and her nephew Alvarez Rull. They sailed to Genoa in Italy and from there to London. Plantin and Delisle were prison guards. The story was described in detail during the Trial of Col. Villette and his Accomplices in 1874 and published later in Robert Christophe. La Vie tragique du maréchal Bazaine. — Paris: Vautrain Jacques, 1947.
2) Impératrice Eugénie: 218 x 165 mm
Ça, Français, mes amis, regardez sa matrice, Et quand vous aurez vu, vous serez tous certains Que le cul si vanté de votre Impératrice, N’est pas autrement fait que le cul des putains!
That, French, my friends, look at her cunt, And when you have seen, you will all be certain That the so acclaimed ass of your Empress, Is no different than the ass of whores! 3) Napoléon III: 215 x 168 mm
J’ai pris Paris, mon oncle a pris Berlin et Vienne. Comme lui je languis en exil …… et là bas, On abat sa colonne; Ici, je fous la mienne…. Triste et cruel retour des choses d’ici bas!! Chilshurst 1871. [i.e. Chislehurst]
I took Paris, my uncle took Berlin and Vienna. Like him, I, too, languish in exile. His column there was demolished; I’m jerking mine off here…. Cruel and sorrowful deeds!! 4) La confession: 216 x 168 mm (Georges Darboy?)
5) Napoléon III et Thérèsa (chanteuse Désirée Emma Valladon): 216 x 176 mm
C’est toi de tout Paris la meilleure chanteuse, Thérèsa mon enfant, chante-moi ton sapeur. C’est toi de mes Etats la meilleure fonteuse.. Thérèsa je t’en prie … Ouvre-moi ton sapeur!
You, the best singer in all of Paris, Teresa, my child, sing for me where to insert. You are the best padding in my entire country… Teresa, please... Open your slit for me! 6) Thiers: 219 x 168 mm
Maintenant, je me fous de votre République, Des Versaillais et des Prussiens, Aussi, tous les matins, je me branle la pique A la santé des Parisiens!
Yes, I don’t care about your Republic now, About Versailles and the Prussians, And every morning I jerk off For the health of Parisians! 7) Émile Ollivier/Rochefort/Jules Favre/Gambetta : 212 x 168 mm
« — Emile Ollivier, raidis bien la houlette! — Enfonce ton ringard mon petit Rochefort!! — Jules Favre mon vieux, redresse bien la tête De ton vi! — Gambetta, pousse encore plus fort!!! »
Emile Ollivier, tighten your dick! - Stick in your poker, my little Rochefort!! - Jules Favre, old man, straighten your dickhead Damn it! – Gambetta, push even harder!!!Characters: Bazaine, François Achille (French, 1811 – 1888) Darboy, Georges (French, 1813 – 1871) Favre, Jules (French, 1809 – 1880) Gambetta, Léon (French, 1838 – 1882) Montijo, Eugénie de (Spanish-French, 1826 – 1920) Napoleon III [Bonaparte, Charles-Louis Napoléon] (French, 1808 – 1873) Ollivier, Émile (French, 1825 – 1913) Peña Azcárate, Josefa [Peña, Pepita] (Mexican-French, 1847 – 1900); Alvarez Rull – nephew of Josefa Peña Azcárate. Rochefort, Henri (French, 1831 – 1913) Thérésa [Valladon, Désirée Emma] (French, 1836 – 1913) Thiers, Adolphe (French, 1797 – 1877)
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Hand-coloured woodcut on wove paper, 610 x 390 mm; black ink stamp “5207” to reverse, attached to a larger sheet of thick paper with a red ink stamp: “COLLECTION JEAN-CLAUD LACHNITT | REPRODUCTION INTERDIT”. Top: Baptême de S. A. le PRINCE IMPÉRIAL. 14 Juin 1856; image of baptism of Prince-Impérial; two-column text with a small loss in the lower left corner (C'est à cinq heures du soir que le cortège impérial quitta le Palais des Tuileries. De nombreux escadrons de cavalerie, musique en tête ouvraient la marche. ...); bottom under the text: "Fabrique d'Images de GANGEL, à Metz." — "49". -
Utagawa Toyokuni (歌川豐國); 1769 – 24 February 1825. Actor Onoe Matsusuke II as Katsugiino (right), actor Sawamura Tanosuke II as Otsuyu (left) 尾上松助（二代目）in a role かつぎいの; 沢村田之助（二代目) in a role おつゆ. Play: "Yuki to Tsuki Hana no Kuronushi". Theater: Nakamura. Publisher: Mikawaua Seiemon (1805-1829) [Marks: 328]. Circa 1810. -
Very fine iron plate well hammered and turned, tapering and rolling to the rounded edge. Tsuba of a cross-form mokko shape (juji-mokko-gata) decorated with spider web inlaid in gold on both sides. The face is carved with a silver-damascened spider holding a gold-damascened butterfly (nunome-zōgan). Kozuka and kogai hitsu-ana of inome (boar's eye) form. The udenuki ana may be of purely decorative purpose.
Signed: Yatsushiro [八代] Jingo Saku [甚吾作], a signature of Chisokutei Amatsune, one of the last Jingo masters.
Late Edo period, Tenpō era, 1830-1844.Size: Height: 77.5 mm; Width: 72.8 mm; Thickness: 4.1 mm; Weight: 141 g.
In a custom wooden box.
Here is what Markus Sesko wrights in his book The Japanese toso-kinko Schools, 2012, on page 374:An artist who worked in the style of the Shimizu-Jingo school was Chisokutei Amatsune (知足亭天常). He was actually a samurai from Yatsushiro who made tsuba as a sideline. An extant old hakogaki of one of his pieces mentions that he died in Edo in the sixth month of An'ei eight (1779) at the age of 73. But the era of An'ei is probably wrong because Chikokutei (sic) is today dated by most experts around Tenpō (1830-1844). His relationships with the Shimizu school or under which Jingo master he had studied are unknown. From the point of view of production time and the finishing of nakago-ana, he is rather associated with the 5th and last gen. Shigenaga who died in the seventh year of Kaei (1854). A peculiarity of Chisokutei was that he signed his Jingo copies with "Yatsushiro Jingo Saku" ([八代甚吾作) but added the small syllable "chi" (チ) or the character "Chi" (知) for "Chisokutei" to identify them as copies.
No longer available. -
Fables de La Fontaine / édition illustrée par J. J. Grandville (in 2 volumes). – Paris: H. Fournier Ainé, Perronin, 1838. Imp. H. Fournier et Ce, 14 rue de Seine (Premier Tirage). Vol 1: [2 - ht, imprim.] [2 - blank with handwritten inscription, frontis.] [2 - t.p., blank], [ [i] ii-xxviii - épitre, préface, [2 - plate 'fables', [1] 2 - dedication, [3, 4 - pltate: livre 1, blank] [5, 6 - plate: blank, cigale] [7] 8 - fab.1 (the subsequent plates are not paginated) - 292. (245-246 - Avertissement), (247-248 - A mamdam de Montespan); Wood engravings: frontispiece + half-title Fables + 7 running half-titles Livres des Fables + 72 plates. Vol. 2: [2 - ht, imprim.] [2 - t.p., blank] [1, 2 - plate 'livre 8', blank] [3] 4-312 (191-192 épilogue), (195-196 Au duc de Bourgogne), (268 - fin des fables), (269-296 Philemon et Baucis | D. O. M. | La Martone Déphèse | Belphegor), (297 -308 notice), (309-312 table); Wood engravings: 5 running half-titles Livres des Fables + 1 half-title Philemon et Baucis + 48 plates. Size: 8vo, 23.2 x 15 cm. Binding: Full tree-calf, flat spine stamped with gilt, red and brown labels with gilt lettering, marbled endpapers. Handwritten nut ink inscription to blank recto of frontispiece: the history of Millet-Fontaine family (provenance?) There were two print-runs in the year 1838. According to Léopold Carteret (Le trésor du bibliophile. Epoque romantique. 1801-1875 / Livres illustrés du XIXe siècle. – Paris: L. Carteret; imprim. Lahure, 1927, pp. 357-9), the first run (Premier Tirage) published by H. Fournier and Perrotin, while the Second Tirage by H. Fournier Ainé. Though, the initial cap character "N" at p. xiii (vie d'Ésope) in this copy is formed by 'faite de lignes bouclées' as in the first print-run, rather than by 'petits carreaux noirs et blances' as in the second. We can conclude with confidence that this copy belongs to Premier Tirage.
Wood engravings (135 plates, including frontispiece, and numerous headpieces and initial letters) were cut by the following artists (the first number is the number of the chapter ('livre'), the second – the number of the fable within the 'livre':
Wood engravers:
John Bastin, (British, fl. 1840 – 1850): 6-6, 7-13, and 8-9.
Alexandre Belhatte (French, born in 1811): 3-11 and chapter title pages to 'livres' 6, 11, 12, headpices on p. 117 in vol. 2, and 'Philemon et Baucis' section title page.
J. Constantine Beneworth (active France, 19th century): 1-6.
Louis-Henri Brévière (French, 1797 – 1869): 1-10, 2-7, 6-10, 6-21, 7-4, 8-10, 8-27, 9-3, 10-4, 12-11, frontispice, together with François-Louis Français (French, 1814–1897), and 'Fin des fables' tailpiece.
Brévière et Hébert: Louis-Henri Brévière (French, 1797 – 1869) and César-Auguste Hébert (French, active 19th century): 1-1, 1-2, 1-13, 1-18, 2-2, 2-11, 3-1, 3-3, 3-4, 3-18, 4-20, 4-21, 4-22, 5-5, 5-20, 6-2, 6-8, 7-3, 8-7, 8-12, 8-14, 8-17, 9-14, 10-6, 10-16, 11-6, 12-4, 12-25.
Joseph-Hippolyte-Jules Caqué (French, 1814 – 1885): 7-11 and headpieces on p. 251 in vol. 1 and on p. 197 in vol. 2.
Prosper-Adolphe-Léon Cherrier (French, born 1806): 8-6.
Henry Isidore Chevauchet (French, fl. 1837 – 1850): 1-19, 2-4, and 4-5.
Louis Dujardin (French, 1808 – 1859): 10-9.
Pierre-François Godard (French, 1768 – 1838): 1-5, 1-16, 5-2, and 10-11.
Charles David Laing (British, fl. 1836 – 1853): 7-9.
Lacoste père et fils aîné et Auguste-Alexandre Guillaumot (French, 1815 – 1892): 1-4, 1-20, 9-17, and 11-5.
Laisné (Alfred, Adèle, and Aglaé) (French, active 1835–1868): 5-8, 6-5, 6-17, 8-2, 8-15, 9-9, 9-10, 11-1, 11-8, 12-10.
(Alfred, Adèle, and Aglaé) Laisné (French, active 1835–1868): 5-8, 6-5, 6-17, 8-2, 8-15, 9-9, 9-10, 11-1, 11-8, 12-10.
Théodore Maurisset (French, fl. 1834 – 1859): 2-14 and 6-13.
Antoine-Alphée Piaud (French, 1813 – 1867): 1-17, 2-9, 2-16, 4-1, 4-4, 5-15, 5-17, 5-18, 5-21, 8-22, 8-23, 8-25, 9-19, 10-13, 11-3, 11-9, 12-13, 12-15, 12-21, three 'livres': 3, 9, 10, and headpiece on p. 71 in vol. 2.
Roux-Jourdain: Two 'livre' title pages, 1 and 2.
John Orrin Smith (British, 1799 – 1843): 2-13, 2-18, 3-9, 3-14, 4-9, and 4-14.L. Chauchefoin (French): 2-3 and 5.13.
Matthew Urlwin Sears (British, 1799 – 1870): 10-1 and 12-9.
Monogram TM or MT (possibly for Théodore Maurisset): 6-16 and 10-3.
Monogram GO–> (possibly for Godard) : 5-3, 7-1, and 9-5.
Monogram B and BV: 4-11, 12-6, 'livre' 4, and headpieces on p. 1 in vol. 1 and on p. 167 in vol. 2.
Unsigned or with an illegible signature: "fables' section title, 1-3, 1-9, 3-5, 3-8, 4-15, 4-18, 5-10, 7-7, 7-16, 9-2, 9-4, 12-2, 12-3, 12-17, and two 'livre' title pages, 5 and 8.
Little is know about Matthew Urlwin Sears. He was a wood engraver of good reputation who is known to have worked in London in the early 1820s, Paris and Leipzig. Listed as "wood engraver" on records of the UK Printing Historical Society. Work The British Museum owns three of his earliest published works, engravings for Northcote's Fables (1828). He authored "Specimen of stereotype ornaments, 1825" which was reprinted as a facsimile in 1990 by the Printing Historical Society (London), with a foreword by James Mosley. He is mentioned by Pierre Gusman in "La Gravure sur Bois en France" (Paris, 1929). Laurent's Histoire de l'Empereur Napoleon, (1839) is one of many publications on which both Sears and his partner John Quartly worked, as well as numerous other engravers. His work appeared in "Aunt Effie's Rhymes" (1852) and "Uncle Tom's Cabin", by Harriet Beech Stowe (Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1853) [Claire-Juliette Beale, December 2009]. -
A suite of 12 etchings 160 x 118 mm each, in the first state, pasted on paper, 2 per sheet, with a cover (250 x 210 mm).0. Cover. Les femmes de Paris pendant le siège./R.Martial/1871.1. Lorsqu'à l'approche de l'ennemi on demandait l'éloignement des bouches inutiles [...] 2. L'Ennemi ! 3. No inscription 4. Quête pour les veuves. 5. Concert et quête pour les enfants blessés, malades, infirmes. 6. Au bastion/Et celles non moins précieuses qui dirigeaient ces ventes [...] 7. Vente pour les orphelins de la guerre. 8. No inscription 9. Une ration, bouillie romaine et Vin/Cantine municipale[...] 10. No inscription 11. No inscription 12. Les effets de cette union patriotique des femmes sont connus.[...] -
Vol. 1. Title: SOUVENIRS | D'UN | PRÉFET DE POLICE | PAR | L. ANDRIEUX | TOME PREMIER | {publisher’s device} | PARIS | JULES ROUFF ET Cie, ÉDITEURS | 14, CLOITRE SAINT-HONORÉ, 14 | 1885 || Pagination : [1-7] 8-356. Collation: 18mo; 1-1718 1916. Vol. 2. Title: Similar but TOME DEUXIÈME. Pagination : [1-5] 6-304. Collation: 18mo; 1-1518 176. Binding: Both volumes are uniformly bound in quarter black morocco over marbled boards, raised bands, gilt lettering, peacock endpapers, all edges marbled; extensive foxing.
