PAPILLON, Jean Michel.
Traité historique de la gravure en bois. Ouvrage enrichie des plus jolis morceaux de sa composition & de sa gravure. Volume I. Contenant toute la partie Historique. Volume II. Contenant tous les principes de cet art. Volume III. Supplément. Contenant plusieurs faits historiques, de nouvelles manieres, servant à perfectionner cet art, les arrêts rendus en faveur de la gravure, & une table des matieres des trois volumes.
Paris, Pierre-Guillaume Simon, 1766. 3 parts in 2 volumes. Large 8vo. With a woodcut portrait of the author, a large woodcut vignette on the title page of each part, a full-page armorial woodcut to the dedication to Marquis de Boyer de Bandol, a full-page woodcut portrait of Saint Andrew printed in chiaroscuro in the first part; 16 full-page woodcut plates illustrating the tools and technique of the art of woodcutting and 5 full-page plates illustrating the various stages of woodcut colour-printing in chiaroscuro in the second part; 2 full-page plates with 12 small woodcut illustrations each and 2 woodcut plates showing the tools and technique of erasing and of making shadows in woodcuts in the supplement; and numerous woodcut head- and tailpieces, monograms, vignettes, and illustrations in the text (several full-page), throughout the whole work. Contemporary gold-tooled mottled calf, with a red morocco title and volume label on the spine, red edges, marbled endpapers. XXXII, 540; XV, [1], 388; [4], 124 pp.
€ 14,500
First edition of a beautifully illustrated historical and practical manual on the art of producting woodcuts for printing (also known as woodcutting). The work is divided into three parts, the first focussing on the history of woodcutting, the second on the technical aspects, and the third is a supplement. The author was one of the best woodcut artists of his time. The present work was based on his personal experience, and offered the finest specimen of his own work as a woodcutter, including some beautiful and rare woodcut chiaroscuro prints.
Jean Michel Papillon (1698-1776) enjoyed great fame as a woodcutter, and his workshop included many noble pupils. Woodcutting was much "en vogue" at the time and following the example of Madame de Pompadour, woodcutting was practiced by many members of Paris High Society, including the Counts de Breteuil, De Forbin, La Barden, Lalive de Jully, the Marquisses de Montmirail, De Chamont and De Rouvre, the Duke de Chevreuse, the Duchess de Luynes, the Princess Rohan-Rochefort, etc. Papillon also worked for the Imprimerie Royal and made a considerable number of woodcut vignettes and devices for libraries and publishers. His collected woodcuts were left to the Cabinet des Estampes.
With a bookplate (a black shield with the monogram "AD") mounted on the front pastedown of both volumes, and a later annotation on the first flyleaf of the second volume ("Une comète se montrera en 1834 ou 1833"). Both volumes have been rebacked, with the original spines laid down, the boards have been rubbed. The work is somewhat browned throughout, with some foxing in the second volume. Otherwise in good condition. Bigmore & Wyman II, p. 116; Le Blanc 3, p. 139; Nagler X, 518.
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