[Rarebooks] fa: HAND-COLORED ENGRAVED "DEVICES" from TAPISSERIES DU ROY c. 1679

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, September 10. Images and more details can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la. 

http://tinyurl.com/ybfh4kjp

Thanks again,
Ardwight Chamberlain
Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Four large folio leaves, each with a handsome hand-colored copper-engraved vignette, taken from Tapisseries du Roy, ou sont representez les quatre elemens et les quatre saisons: avec les devises qui les accompagnent et leur explication, an illustrated survey of tapestries and other artwork in the collections of Louis XIV of France. There were several 17th-century editions of Tapisseries du Roy, in both French and German. Our guess is that these are from the 1679 Paris edition, with engravings after Charles Le Brun (1619-1690).

The text accompanying the engravings describes four devices, or emblems, to be found on the king's tapestries. They include: a BIRD OF PARADISE (L'Oyseau que l'on appelle de Paradis…joint avex ces Paroles, Semper Sublimis…); a RIVER, with FROGS (Un gand Fleuve, avec ce Mot, Facit Omnia Laeta); a CROOK (Une Houlette, avec ce Mot, Et Regit Et Servat); and a PINE TREE (Un Sapin, & ce Mot, Recta Se Tollit In Altum). Large folio sheets, measuring ca. 368 x 265 mm (ca. 14 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.), in Fine condition: very clean, crisp and fresh, with exquisite hand-coloring. Penciled notations on the versos. Now in (removable) protective plastic sleeves. Original antique engravings, not modern reproductions.