Lot n° 260
Estimation :
600 - 800
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 800EUR
Agostini, Leonardo. - Le Gemme antiche figurate di Leonardo - Lot 260
Agostini, Leonardo. - Le Gemme antiche figurate di Leonardo Agostini... Rome, Gio. Battista Bussotti, 1686. In-4, garnet-red morocco, boards decorated with a triple gilt fillet framing, with "Racine Demonville" in gilt lettering in the center, ornate ribbed spine with a bird at the tail, title-piece, double fillet on the edges, gilt roulette on the counter-plates, gilt edges - Work in two parts with separate pagination and title for each part: 52 pp. including title, and 115 engraved medallion portraits, reproducing gems and preceded by an engraved allegorical title; [4 ff, title, dispatch, to the reader], 76 pp. and 137 engraved reproductions of cut stones complemented by 14 original period drawings in gray and brown ink washes (the last 14 from no. 138 to 151). Engravings by G.-B. Galestruzzi. A fine copy of a first printing of the second edition. The title page bears two typographical errors ("secodna" for "seconda" and "Bussotti" for "Brussotti"), which will be corrected in a later edition.
This copy contains two plates numbered 17 in the second part, and plate 37 of this second part has been covered with a small grafitti of modesty. Plates 138 to 151 are copies of the plates missing from this copy. They have been faithfully copied, with the exception of a few details such as the garlands and fleurons in the frames of plates 135, 139, 140, 141, 142, 144, 145 and 147, which have not been reproduced. Conversely, the copyist has sometimes enriched his plates with details not found in the originals, such as shadows or terraces in front of the subjects. We also note a reversal of plates 140 and 141. Examination of the watermarks on the paper suggests that these copies were made before the binding for Racine de Monville. They include a crown surmounting a bunch of grapes with the monogram EF (close to Gaudriault 433) and a lion rampant on a shield of France bearing three fleurs-de-lis in chief (Gaudriault 776). Although Raymond Gaudriault does not formally attribute these watermarks to a specific papermaker, he does attribute them to periods varying between 1680 and 1788 for the rampant lion, and more precisely to Lyon and Lorraine around 1720; and 1649 and 1745 in the Trojan region for the crown with cluster. The monogram E♥F may correspond to E. Flachon, active in Besançon between 1708 and 1721, Étienne Flechey, active in Châlons and Troyes at the end of the 17th century or E. Fourneton, active around 1710, without specifying his place of activity (Raymond Gaudriault, Filigranes et autres caractéristiques des papiers fabriqués en France aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. CNRS, 1995).
François-Nicolas Henry Racine du Jonquoy, sieur de Monville et de Thuit (1734-1797), grand maître des eaux et forêts de Rouen, a man of the Enlightenment with a passion for architecture, botany and music, was the designer of the Désert de Retz, which he laid out between 1774 and 1789 on the edge of the Marly forest. "This landscaped park of rare species originally covered 38 hectares and included 20 fabriques. These architectural creations are picturesque, sometimes extravagant constructions inspired by Chinese, Oriental or ancient styles. The layout of the park is part of an initiatory journey evoking different cultures and currents of thought: Ethics, Physiocrats, Encyclopedists, Enlightenment, Ecology, Science, China and Freemasonry" (Desert de Retz website).
Today, the Désert de Retz garden still boasts 7 fabriques spread over 17 hectares: the destroyed Column, the Tartar Tent, the ruined Gothic Church, the Temple to the God Pan, the almost ruined Little Altar, the uncovered Theatre and the pyramid-shaped Ice House.
We have identified 6 works that have gone on sale since 2014 with the same "Racine Demonville" provenance.
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