First and only edition of a description of the Duchy of Sachsen-Altenburg, Germany, by Hans Wilhelm von Thümmel (1744-1824), a minister in the court of Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. With 38 beautifully hand-coloured plates, with portraits of dukes of the area and their spouses, all depicted with detailed costumes, including: Ernest, Elector of Saxony (1441-1486); Frederick William I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1562-1602), Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1699-1772), Princess Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen (1710-1729), etc.
The pagination implies that there should be an additional leaf (pp. 1-2) before the title-page, which is a singleton leaf [1]1 (pp. [3]-[4]) preceding 21 (pp. [5]-6), but the book appears to have been published in this form (see the uncoloured copy at the Bavarian State Library), and 111 is also a singleton, so that [1]1 and 111 may have been printed together. If a leaf is lacking before the title-page, it was probably blank, rather than a half-title. With owner's inscription on title-page, some occasional minor foxing, a few plates slightly browned and the binding rubbed along the edges. Good copy. Hiler, p. 845; Lipperheide Da47; not in: Colas; Engelmann; for the author: ADB XXXVIII, p. 176.