The Art of Information

Aanwinsten 2017

Aanwinsten december 2017

Dictionnaire portatif des beaux-arts, ou Abrégé de ce qui concerne l’architecture, la sculpture, la peinture, la gravure, la poésie et la musique : avec la définition de ces arts, l’explication des termes et des choses qui leur appartiennent … / par M. L. [Jacques Lacombe] (1724-1811)

Paris : chez la veuve Estienne et fils et Jean-Th. Hérissant, 1752. VIII, 707, [3] pages ; 18 cm (8-o).
This book is cited to be the first in which the word “artist” is used in its modern sense.
Jacques Lacombe (1724-1811) was a French lawyer and bookseller. He is the author of Encyclopediana or Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Ana (1791). The Anas, which particularly flourished in the seventeenth century, are collections of various thoughts, anecdotes and good words, placed in the greatest disorder and intended for the public as intellectual entertainment.
Lacombe studied law in Paris, was registered at the bar (Sabatier), then turned to literature. He published, in 1749, an ode: The Progress of Sciences and Arts under the reign of Louis XV. He then turned to art criticism and compiled his Portable Dictionary of Fine Arts (1752), which was a great success. Most of his books are compilations.
This copy belonged to the library of M. de Joubert, tresorier des Etats de Languedoc.


Dictionnaire portatif de peinture, sculpture et gravure, avec un traité pratique des differentes manieres de peindre, dont la théorie est développée dans les articles qui en sont susceptibles… / par Antoine-Joseph Pernety (1716-1801)

Paris : chez Bauche, 1757. CXXVIII, 565, [5] pages, 8 folding plates : ill. ; 17 cm.
On the title page : Ouvrage utile aux Artistes, aux Elèves et aux amateurs (Useful book for Artists, Students and amateurs). The first part, of 128 pages, contains a practical treatise on painting and the second a dictionary of the terms of painting, sculpture and engraving.
Dom Pernety, 1716-1796, is the founder of the masonic lodge “The Illuminati” of Avignon and the author of the first mytho-hermetic dictionary (Dictionnaire mytho-hermétique, dans lequel on trouve les allégories fabuleuses des poètes, les métaphores, les énigmes et les termes barbares des philosophes hermétiques expliqués 1758).
Plate 3 represents a “camera obscura”.



Réflexions sur la peinture / par M. de Hagedorn ; trad. de l’allemand par Michel Huber (1727-1804)

Leipzig : Chez Gaspar Fritsch, 1775. 4 parts in 2 volumes (xxviii, [4], 478 ; [3], 348, [32] pages) ; 21 cm.
Translation of Betrachtungen über die Mahlerey, Leipzig 1762.
Christian Ludwig von Hagedorn (1712-1780) was a German art theorist and collector, as well as amateur engraver and diplomat in the Saxon service. In 1762 Hagedorn published under his own name his reflections on painting. In this book he reflected on the French and English art literature as well as his own experiences and thoughts. He propagates „Gefuhl“ (feeling) instead of „Vernunft“ (reason) as a judgment criterion with regard to works of art. By making this choice he introduced „Sturm und Drang“ and the Romantic period. Although Hagedorn held on to the model of classical antiquity and the Old Masters, he considered Northern European art as equal to that of the Italians.
In 1763, one year after the publication of the “Betrachtungen“, Hagedorn was commissioned to design the concept for a Saxon Academy and Drawing School. In 1764 he became general director of the Saxon Art Collections and the Art Academy in Dresden.

Verzameling van berigten wegens een prentwerk, / volgens de nieuwe uitvinding van den Heere Cornelis Ploos van Amstel, Jacobs Cornelisz. zo als dezelve, van tyd tot tyd, geplaatst zyn in de Vaderlandsche Letteroefeningen

[Amsterdam : J. Yntema], [not before 1784]. 45, 7, 8 pagina’s ; 8°.
Cornelis Ploos van Amstel (1726 – 1798), was a 18th century Dutch painter and art collector. He is mostly known as a collector and copyist of 17th-century artists. Ploos van Amstel experimented with all sorts of techniques and materials in his printmaking. The facsimile prints he made brought out the most beautiful sheets of Dutch drawings. The technique remained a mystery until 1976 when research revealed that he developed a new reproduction method based on aquatint, an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching.
This work contains 21 ‘berigten’, short notes, describing prints after drawings by Dutch masters, available for sale. The prints described in this book were published and sold by the bookseller J. Yntema, situated in the Kalverstraat, Amsterdam. Other editions and compilations have less ‘berigten’.

Gründliche Anweisung Zeichnen zu lernen : zum Privat- und Selbstunterricht : in einer Folge von 26 Lehrblättern mit erklärendem Text nach A.T. Oeser, ehemaligen Director der Mahlerakademie zu Leipzig / von A. Rossmaessler (1770-1821)

Leipzig : Carl Cnobloch, 1812. 2 volumes (text volume iv, 72 pages with a number of line drawings within text; atlas with 24 plates numbered I-XXVI and XXVa, plates XX/XXI and XXII/XXIII are double page taking two plate numbers, and there is no plate XXIV) : 24, 28 cm.
First edition of this rare drawing manual in the form of a series of engraved plates by Johann Adolf Rossmaessler (also Rosmäsler, Roßmäßler, Rosmaessler, 1770-1821), and with a text drawing upon Oeser’s principles. These are particularly of note for the range of engraving techniques and styles used, including an aquatint, etching and stipple engraving. A number are printed in red, and three are printed in two colours, notably the two double-page plates, illustrating anatomical studies in the manner of Ploos van Amstel’s “Aanleiding tot de kennis der Anatomie” (Amsterdam 1790). In these the effect of three dimensional transparent bodies is produced by printing the skeleton in black and the muscles in reddish brown ink.
In the preface, Rossmaessler says that he is not invoking Oeser’s name to attract his young readers, but rather because he thought it was his duty to acknowledge that the text is based on the great artist’s principles and particularly because his plates are influenced by Oeser’s drawings. Presumably A.T. must be a misprint on the title-page for A. F. Oeser, that is Adam Friedrich (1717-1799), who was appointed director of the Leipzig Academy of Art in 1764. He is remembered for his collaboration with the pioneer art history Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768) and as the art teacher who had a profound effect and influence upon the young Goethe who attended the academy in 1765 when he went to Leipzig to study law.
No other copies of the first edition so far located.




The circle of the mechanical arts : containing practical treatises on the various manual arts, trades, and manufacturers / by Thomas Martin.

London : Printed for Richard Rees [et al.], 1813. (2), vi, (2), 616 pages : 39 illustrations, plans ; 28 cm.
Thomas Martin, Civil Engineer, compiled and edited The Circle of the Mechanical Arts in 1813. Martin drew upon his personal expertise, and, with the assistance of professional mechanics and manufacturers, produced in a single volume a comprehensive guide to the trades and manufactures that typified early 19th century British industrialization. The compendium consists of some 66 trades with detailed descriptions including book-binding, brick-laying, paper-making, enamelling, engraving, glass-making, gold-beating and gilt wire-drawing, gun-making, masonry, mining, paper-making, plastering, plumbery, watch- and clock-making and weaving. Each extensive chapter was authored by an expert in the field.
This copy belonged to Lord Gray. Lord Gray is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created circa July 1445 for the Scottish diplomat and politician Sir Andrew Gray. The fourteenth Lord, Francis Gray (1765–1842) added the book to his library. He was a Scottish Representative Peer from 1812 to 1842.



Kunst-oefeningen, als: I. De beroemde menschenhoofden, naar Picart; en II. Het vermaarde boerenleven, zoo binnen- en buitenshuis, als in de herberg, en op het land, naar Van Ostade, Teniers, en andere meesters van dien tijd / [12 etchings after Bernard Picart (1673-1733)]

Amsterdam, : bij Willem van Vliet, 1820. 12 plates : only illustrations ; 25 cm.
Drawing book for students without text in two parts. The first part contains models of human heads; in the second part examples of rural life after paintings of David Teniers and Adriaen van Ostade and others are displayed. The prints are executed after drawings by Bernard Picart who worked in Amsterdam from 1711 until his death in 1733.


Der kleine Anatome oder Handbuch des figürlichen Zeichnens zum Gebrauch der Vorbereitungsschulen und für Liebhaber dieser Kunst / herausgegeben von Carl Heideloff (1789-1865) und Philipp Walther (1798-1868

Nürnberg : Verlag von Riegel und Weissner, 1850. I-VIII, [9]-18 pages, XX plates : Illustrations ; 18 cm.
The architect and monument conservator Carl Alexander von Heideloff was involved in the founding of the Polytechnic School in Nuremberg in 1823 and worked there as a teacher. In the preface of his book, Heideloff emphasizes the necessity of a drawing school founded by the human anatomy, which he opposes to “boring details-drawing” and the “method Pestalozzi”. A brief introduction to anatomy is made by the drawing teacher and engraver Philipp Walther. It then lists the basic muscles and bones of the body, which are accordingly marked in the illustrations with numbers and letters.



Photographische Schmelzfarbenbilder auf Email, Porzellan und Glas : das Einstäube- und das Substitutions-Verfahren behandelnd.

Düsseldorf : Liesegang, 1891. 2nd extended edition. 80 pages : graphische Darstellungen ; 21 cm.
A rare treatise on the preparation of baked-in photographic enamel color pictures by the chemist and publisher Paul Eduard Liesegang (1838-1896), with 5 illustrations in the text based on woodprints and decorated with many vignettes and ornamental borders.
In so-called enamel photography, either the finely powdered enamel paints used in porcelain painting were incorporated in a suitable manner into chromatic gelatine, and the images were transferred to porcelain by analogy with the photographic pigment method and baked. Or “a layer of sugar and honey with bichromates was exposed under a negative, with the spots hit by the light losing their stickiness, while the unexposed areas held dusty powdered paint; then the transferring and baking takes place on porcelain”. (“eine Schicht von Zucker und Honig mit Bichromaten unter einem Negativ belichtet, wobei die vom Lichte getroffenen Stellen ihre Klebrigkeit verloren, während die nicht belichteten Stellen aufgestaubte Farbenpulver festhielten; dann erfolgt das Übertragen und Einbrennen auf Porzellan.“)

Studien über nationale Stickereien aus Böhmen, Mähren und der Ungar. Slovakei : eine Sammlung von Zeichnungen zum näheren Bekanntmachen mit dem Cechoslavischen Stickereiornament / zum Gebrauch in Zeichensälen und Arbeitszimmern gezeichnet von Prof Josef Šíma (1891-1971); herausgegeben mit Unterstützung des K.K. Ministeriums für Kultus u. Unterricht und des Landesausschusses der Markgrafschaft Mähren.

Brünn : A. Pisa, 1909. 30 multicolor lithographic plates ; 50 cm + enclosed text supplement (12 pages) with 19 black and white illustrations.
Extensive collection with striking lithographic plates in bright colors showing fine examples of folkloristic ornaments, nevertheless with modernist approach. Starting with geometric patterns and followed by stylised floral designs, there are also included numerous borders of aprons, corner-pieces in fine open work, simple and ornamental patterns of trimmings, all from national dresses of various regions, presented in correct execution of the designs after original garments, being specially arranged for use in schools of drawing and schools of art-needlework.

Ziekenhuis meubelen / Auping

Deventer : Auping, [1930?]. 63 pages : photographs ; 24 cm.
Auping is a Dutch bed manufacturer from Deventer. The history of the company dates back to 1888, when the Deventer smith Johannes Albertus Auping of the Sint Geertruiden Gasthuis was given the assignment in his town to supply hygienic beds, instead of the usual straw mattresses until then. Auping supplied beds with braided steel wires, stretched in a metal frame. The weaving of steel wire was done with a structure developed by himself. When he delivered to the Amsterdam hospital, Burgerziekenhuis, in 1890, he improved the design and ensured that the metal bed base was springy. The products were marketed under the name Auping’s steel health mattress. This rare sale catalogue presents the complete Auping collection of steel hospital furniture, available in the late 1920’s.


The Rijksmuseum has acquired a group of rare speeches by Dutch and Belgian poets and historians from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Together they give an impression of the artistic climate in this period.

Redenvoering ter inwying van het teeken-collegie tot voortzetting van de schilder-, beelthouw- en bouwkunde, binnen de stad Middelburg, opgericht : By deszelfs eerste aanvangneeming op den 11. November MDCCLXXVIII. … / uitgesproken door … Leendert Bomme (1727-1788)

Middelburg : J. van de Sande, Jacobus zoon, [1778]. 55 pages ; 8-o.
Leendert Bomme (Middelburg 1727-1788), a merchant from Middelburg, was one of the 18th century amateur researchers with an interest in marine organisms.

Discours prononcé dans une réunion d’Artistes Belges, habitants de Paris, … le 8 octobre 1807, en remettant une marque de satisfaction au nom de la Patrie Reconnoissante à trois jeunes compatriotes pour la manière honorable, dont ils se sont distingués au concours général de sculpture et de musique / par Ch. van Hulthem (1764-1832)

[Paris] : P. Didot, [1807]. 46 pages ; 21 cm.
Charles van Hulthem was a Belgian, more specifically Ghent, director and intellectual, who is known for his bibliophile collection and his lifelong commitment to the promotion of the sciences, arts and literature. From 1802 until 1808 he was a member of the Legislative Body in Paris. In this capacity he will have held this speech in 1807 at a meeting of Belgian artists in Paris.

Parnas-galm by de wederkoomst der oude kunst-tafereelen van Belgenland : geroofd uyt kerken, kloosters, abdyen en palyzen, door het Fransche schrik-bewind in het jaar 1793 / door Jan Arnold van der Borght (1772-1842)

Antwerpen : Lepoittevin Delacroix, 1815. [12], 24 pages ; 21 cm.
Jan Arnold van der Borght (Weert 1772-1842) alias Juan del Castro, poet, painter and musician.
A collection of odes, in Dutch, on the return from Paris of the stolen pictures. French troops had systematically plundered the art treasures of the European countries they occupied. Upon the fall of Napoleon some of them were returned in 1815.

Voorlezing over de vrije beoefening der kunsten en wetenschappen, gedaan ter opening van de Algemeene vergadering der Hollandsche Maatschappij van Fraaije kunsten en wetenschappen, gehouden te Rotterdam, Op den 15den September 1827 / door Abraham Des Amorie van der Hoeven (1798-1855)

[Place and publisher unknown], 1827. 26 pages ; 23 cm.

Redevoering gehouden ter gelegenheid der jaarlijksche prijsuitdeeling en feestviering in het teekengenootschap “Hierdoor tot hooger” te Rotterdam, den 3den april 1830 / R.H. van Someren.

[Place and publisher unknown], [1830]. 18 pages ; 22 cm.
Title of the speech: Over den voordeeligen invloed des schilders op de nationaliteit zijner landgenooten (About the advantageous influence of painters on the nationality of his compatriots). Reijer Hendrik van Someren (1787-1851) was an indigo manufacturer, and the mayor of Kralingen near Rotterdam from 1837 onwards, also known as a poet. The Royal Antiquarian Society (KOG) has some of his poems in its library.

Aanwinsten november 2017

The Laboratory, or School of Arts: in which are faithfully exhibited, and fully explained, I. a variety of curious and valuable experiments … / compiled from German and other foreign authors: illustrated with copper-plates by G. Smith.

London : Printed for James Hodges … and T. Astley, 1750. The 3rd edition, with additions of a great number of valuable receipts, particularly, a short, plain, and easy introduction to the art of drawing in perspective. [8], 352, [8] pages, illustrated with 14 plates in the first 7 sections, plus three full-page plates in the final section, two of which are folding. Frontispiece and numbered plates by James Hulett ; 21 cm.
A comprehensive manual, of the kind known as ‘books of secrets’, giving details of many manufacturing processes and handicraft techniques, including book binding, pyrotechnics, goldsmithing, japanning, painting and etching glass, and distilling. A cornucopia of information on old arts and crafts and industrial processes.

Verzeichniss der vornehmsten Kunstwörter zum Nutzen der angehenden und mancher nicht angehenden Maler / aus verschiedenen Sprachen zusammengetragen von Johann Joseph Langenhöffel.

Wien, auf Kosten und im Verlag bei J. B. Wallishausser, 1803. (2), 5-76 pp.; 22 cm.Copy interleaved throughout with about 140 paper slips, various sizes glued onto margins of nearly every page, with contemporary manuscript notes by the author.
Exceedingly rare and unknown dictionary on technical terms for artists and curious diletanti. This book is the unique completely annotated copy with single sheets in contemporary handwriting attached to the pages. These notes are most probably from the hand of the author. This could be the preparation copy for the second edition, which was never published.
Johann Joseph Friedrich Langenhöffel (1750-1807) was a German painter and engraver from Düsseldorf where he studied at the Kunstakademie with Lambert Krahe. He specialized in engravings after Italian masters, worked for Prince Willem V of Orange in The Hague and hold a professor’s chair at the Kunstakademie from 1777-1781. In 1782 he was engaged as court painter in Mannheim and worked there until 1795 when he became a technical director and later on supervisor at the Chalkographische Gesellschaft in Dessau. In 1799 he was dismissed and migrated to Vienna where he spent his last years as a director of the Academy of Fine Arts. He seems to have been drowned in the Danube in 1805 or in 1807.

Traité élémentaire de la peinture / par Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519); avec 58 figures d’après les dessins originaux de le Poussin, dont 34 en taille-douce.

A Paris : chez Deterville, libraire, rue du Battoir, no. 16, An XI (1803). Nouvelle édition, revue, corrigée et augmentée de la Vie de l’auteur. [2], lix, 333 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
The first french edition of Leonardo’s Trattato di Pittura was published simultaneously with the Italian edition in 1651. In 1803 the 5th french edition was published, illustrated with 58 copper-plate engravings based on drawings by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665). Poussin had spent many years studying Leonardo da Vinci’s Treatise on Painting, published in 1651, for which he produced a number of illustrations. These illustrations are datable between 1634 and 1638. Leonardo’s observations centred on the study of light in the natural world and the recreation of this three-dimensional space by the painter on a flat surface.

L’art du menuisier en meubles et de l’ébéniste : contenant des notices sur les bois indigènes et exotiques, la description des meubles de toute espèce, la teinture de bois, la placage, la composition et l’applicatition des vernis, la marqueterie, etc. / par F.-N. Mellet.

Paris : Librairie de Fortic, 1825. XXXII, 414 pages : 15 folding engraved plates ; 21 cm.
A very thorough work by François-Noël Mellet (1797-18..), for example in the chapter on seating furniture (sièges) there are sections on ployons, tabourets, banquettes, chaises, fauteuils, bergères, fauteuils de bureau, canapés, sophas, etc. There fifteen folding plates, “dessins levés au gardemeuble de la Couronne et dans les ateliers des meilleurs artistes de la capitale.” They illustrate the cabinetmaker’s workbench, clamps for glueing, frames for all sorts of chairs, sofas, elegant empire style cradles and beds, sleigh beds, writing desks, adjustable tables, an expandable dining table, bureaus and chests of drawers, writing desks, glass fronted bookcases, tools of the cabinet maker’s trade, an elegant empire four poster bed, and many other designs.

Der Perspektograph : ein Zeichenapparat : Beschreibung und Anwendung des Apparates nebst einer Einführung in die Grundbegriffe der Perspektive für Malerei / von Martin Stühler.

München : Knorr & Hirth, 1892. VIII, 146, XII pages : illustrations ; 17 cm.
Only edition of this rare and extensive description. The Royal Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts described the drawing apparatus described here as “an extraordinarily beneficial tool”.

Návod ku kreslení dle modelů / vydal Antonín Anděl (1844-1935).

Ve Vídni : Nákladem R. z Waldheimů, 1898. Edition: Druhé rozmnožené vydáni. XIV, 56 pages, 76 plates : illustrations ; 31 cm.
Anděl (1844–1935), who published numerous pedagogical texts and design portfolios in Vienna from the 1870s through the early 1900s, was notably inspired by Vienna Secession, especially those of its members which stressed abstract and geometric forms. Little information exists about the author, a school teacher from Prague, but a recent essay by Alexander Klee (“Formkunst, Phänomen eines Kulturraums“) situates his work in the context of other Austro-Hungarian artistic developments (in Kubismus, Konstruktivismus, Formkunst, 2016).


Moderní vyučování kreslení na obecných a měšťanských školách : průvodce k umělecké výchově mládeže / pro učitelstvo sepsal školní rada Antonin Anděl (1844-1935).

Praze : nakladatelstvi Fr. Řivnáče, [1903-1906]. 4 volumes : illustrations ; 36 cm.
Complete set of four portfolios of patterns and designs, constituting an elaborate art education course for younger students. The accompanying text explains how to use the patterns, laying out a comprehensive process by which students graduate from simpler two-dimensional shapes to colors and to complex compositions such as landscapes and tableaus. The introduction of the fourth volume is largely based on Adolf Hölzel’s influential essay “Über Formen und Massenvertheilung,” published in Ver Sacrum.


Methodische Einführung in das schmückende Zeichnen / von Gustav Keil.

Prag : Schulwissenschaftlicher Verlag Haase, [1923]. 1 portfolio : illustrations ; 29 cm.
Portfolio containing nine parts with 75 plates of which 15 plates in color and 60 plates in black and white; nine supplements and one instruction booklet.
This inspiring publication on ornamental drawing for teachers was designed to enable ornaments to be used “in the sense of new fashion creations and artistic directions”. The special concern of the author was the application of this collection of drawings and Ornamentieraufgaben in the craft schools. The numerous motifs are reminiscent of the craft practice of this period and in particular strongly represent the Art Déco style. The author Gustav Keil was an art educator in the Bohemian city Reichenberg.


Die Maltechnik : jetzt und künftig / von Wilhelm Ostwald (1853-1932).

Leipzig : Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, 1930. VII (1), 160 pages, 11 text-illustrations, 4 plates with altogether 140 mounted colour specimens, 1 loosely inserted ‘Grauleiter’ ; 22 cm.
A rare work by Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald, who was a chemist and philosopher, and Nobel Prize winner in 1909 for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibria and reaction velocities. After World War I he founded a business for the manufacturing of artist’s pigments and published many mostly illustrated books and portfolios on the chemical, artistical and psychological aspects of his color theory. His work in color theory was influenced by Albert Henry Munsell, and in turn influenced Paul Klee and members of De Stijl, including Piet Mondrian. In 1927 he was invited by Walter Gropius to teach color theory at the Bauhaus. The publications of the last years of his life can be regarded as a cross-section of his life’s work and as generalizations of his experiences.

Isolatie / [Ad Gerritsen]

Beuningen : Stichting Brummense uitgeverei van luxe werkjes, 1977. [60] p. : ill. ; 20 cm. Edition of 51.
Ad Gerritsen (1940-2015) was a Dutch visual artist. He was a painter and graphic artist and also worked in mixed media on collages and spatial objects. He often takes an old or recent photo from the newspaper or an old police record, or uses an image of saints, porn stars, criminals, naturists, pop stars. Images of negative and positive values, the normal and the abnormal, the adjusted and the inadequate.

The Rijksmuseum bought four sets of technical reference books about dyes with many color and textile samples, published by one of the leading companies for manufacturing chemical dyes, Farbwerke Hoechst AG between 1896-1906. In these books the dyes and their applications including recipes are described extensively, hundreds of textile color samples are pasted on the sheets to illustrate the individual descriptions.

Die Theerfarbstoffe der Farbwerke vorm. Meister Lucius et Bruening, Höchst a/M. A, Allgemeiner Theil : die Theerfarbstoffe, ihre Eigenschaften und Reaktionen und die Methoden ihrer Anwendung / Farbwerke Hoechst AG.

Höchst a.M. : Farbwerke vorm. Meister Lucius & Brüning, 1896. [ca. 28] leafs, 70 pages ; [ca. 29] leafs : Illustrations ; 28 cm.

Colorants derivés du goudron fabriqués par Farbwerke vorm. Meister Lucius & Brüning, Höchst sur Mein. A, Partie générale : les matières colorantes derivées du goudron leurs propriétés et réactions et les méthodes de leur emploi / Farbwerke Hoechst AG.

Hoechst a.M. : Farbwerke vorm. Meister Lucius & Brüning, 1896. 182 pages : illustrations, textile color samples ; 28 cm.


Les couleurs azoïques insolubles produites sur la fibre / Farbwerke Hoechst AG.

Hoechst s/Mein : Farbwerke vorm. Meister Lucius & Brüning, 1898. 57 pages : illustrations, 60 textile color samples ; 28 cm.

Die Teerfarbstoffe der Farbwerke vorm. Meister Lucius & Brüning, Hoechst a. Main, auf dem Gebiet der Färberei von Baumwolle und anderen vegetabilischen Fasern / Farbwerke Hoechst AG.

Hoechst a. Main : Farbwerke vorm. Meister Lucius & Brüning, 1906. 3 volumes. : illustrations, textile color samples ; 28 cm.


Aanwinsten oktober 2017

Kunst-Büchlein, oder gründlicher Gebrauch von Etz Arbeit : in und ausserhalb Feuers aus Alchymischen und natürlichen Grunde, Nehmlich Härten weichen, Schmeltzen, Scheiden, Abtreiben, Probieren, Löten, Etzen, Abformen, Abgiessen [et]c. Wie auch Jede Farbe zu bereiten, erhalten, bessern und wiederbringen: Als Zum Mahlen, Schreiben, Illuminiren, Vergülden, Stücken, Edelgesteinen : Nebst bey gefügten Register.

Frankfurt und Leipzig : Verlegts Johann Caspar Meyer, 1701. 203 pages ; 14 cmMethodische Einführung in das schmückende Zeichnen / von Gustav Keil.
Prag : Schulwissenschaftlicher Verlag Haase, [1923]. 1 portfolio : illustrations ; 29 cm.
Preparation books and artists’ manuals are at the heart of the Rijksmuseum Research Library. They deal with the composition, preparation and application of paint and varnish, and techniques for the processing and treatment of decorative objects. They are extremely important for research into restoration options and knowledge about dating.
This little Kunst-Büchlein – only 14 centimeters high – is a direct descendant of the 1535 Augsburger Künstbuechlin gerechten gründtlichen gebrauchs aller kunstbaren Werckleüt, the earliest printed collection of formulas in German about various aspects of alchemy, pigment and paint preparation, fabric cleaning and metalwork. The different recipes are even presented in the same order. That means that the recipes from the early 16th century were still used in the early 18th century. Like most artists‘ manuals of the 16th and 17th century it appears to be a very rare book. Only two German libraries have the same edition (Biblioteca Albertina Leipzig; Sächsische Universitätsbibliotek Dresden).

Jeremias Friedrich Gülichs vollständige bewährte praktische Anweisung zur Färberey auf Schaafwolle, Camellhaar und Seyde / Jeremias Friedrich Gülich (1733-1803).

Ulm : auf Kosten der Stettinischen Buchhandlung, 1786. [16], 677 pages ; 18 cm.
Jeremias Friedrich Gülich was a dyer in the neighbourhood of Stuttgart: he published an elaborate 6 volume work on the technical details of dying: Vollständiges Färbe- und Blaichbuch zu mehrerem Unterricht, Nutzen und Gebrauch für Fabrikanten und Färber (Complete Dyeing and Bleaching Book), written in Sindelfingen between 1776-1778. Gülich made contributions in improving the body of scientific knowledge on color. He also helped to set industry standards on dying, most notably of sheep wool. After writing his books, he ran a military orphanage in Ludwigsburg, where the boys spun cotton and the girls knitted and spun of cotton and flax. In 1785 Jeremias opened his own cotton mill. By the end of his life he had become the sole supplier of clothing to the military and also opened a saltpeter and gunpowder factory.
His publications includes discussions of a color theory and a practical color system. In addition to manufacturing interests, Gülich also conducted research to improve about dyeing and bleaching, particularly for wool of which this edition is the result.

Microcosm: or, a picturesque delineation of the arts, agriculture, manufactures, &c. of Great Britain in a series of above a thousand groups of small figures for the embellishment of landscape : comprising the most interesting subjects in rural and domestic scenery, in external and internal navigation, in country sports and employments, in the arts of war and peace. The whole accurately drawn from nature, and etched, by William Henry Pyne (1769-1843); and aquatinted by John Hill (1770–1850).

London : W.H. Pyne, no. 10, George Street, Hanover Square; and I.C. Nattes, no. 92, New Bond Street, 1803. (Two volumes in one : vol. 2; published by William Miller. 1808). Etched title page, printed title-page, contents leaf and 30 pages text, 60 etched plates; printed title-page, contents leaf and 36 pages text, 60 etched plates; 29 x 43 cm.
In treating the human figure as an embellishment to the landscape the groups in the Microcosm take on the appearance of cut-outs conveniently arranged for the artist to place on his canvas. It is in effect a pattern book of early 19th century working class life, and depicts in unrivalled detail the tools and manner of working of early 19th century trades. The essays which accompany each subject are spirited and offer a fascinating commentary running parallel to the work. Its technical merits are undisputed and the artistic draughtsmanship is high. This publication makes use of the aquatinting process to great effect. Aquatinting creates an artwork resembling a watercolour painting; it is made by etching a copper plate with nitric acid and using resin and varnish to produce areas of tonal shading. Pyne’s work led to the development of techniques for aquatint plates,. The ”Microcosm” is not only valuable because artists used the motifs in their works of art, but also for the light it sheds on late 18th century and 19th century life.
William Henry Pyne was an English writer, illustrator and painter, who also wrote under the name of Ephraim Hardcastle. He trained at the drawing academy of Henry Pars in London. Pyne first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1790 and was one of the founders of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1804. He specialized in picturesque settings including groups of people rendered in pen, ink and watercolour. John Hill was an important early 19th century printmaker. Born in London in 1770, he had an active career in that city before emigrating to America in 1826. While Pyne designed and executed the etchings, Hill aquatinted the pictures in this book.


Der praktische Baumwollspinner : ein Hand- und Hilfsbuch für Spinnereibeslissene / unt. Mitw. einiger Spinnereibeamten hrsg. von J.D. Fischer ; mit einem Vorwort von Georg Bodemer.

Leipzig : Hinrich, 1855. VIII, 294 pages : 52 woodcuts printed in the text, 11 plates with illustrations ; 21 cm.
A very rare instruction book about cotton spinning. Georg Bodemer (1807-1888) was a successful entrepreneur. He completed a two-year apprenticeship with a pharmacist in Erfurt in 1820. Then he took over the “Couleurküche” in his father’s cotton spinning and printing company. From 1825 to 1829 he studied mathematics, mechanics and physics at the Polytechnic in Vienna. After his return he worked at Zschopauer Spinnerei at his own request and took over the independent management in 1830 after the death of the managing director. In 1836 he bought the factory, which then became “Georg Bodemer”. He was regarded not only as a pioneer in the field of modern spinning technology, but also as a promoter of popular education.

Ornements en bronze galvanique / Delaunay & Cie; Berthaud (frères).

Paris : Delaunay & Cie, [1880-1890?] 99 leafs of plates : photo’s ; 52 cm.
The firm Delaunay could be a descendant of Pierre Delaunay (died 1774) who was a well-known dealer of composite frames: frames which imitated carved wood, but which were actually made of simple plain mouldings decorated with ornaments cast in plaster or papier mâché.
Only five copies are recorded, all of them with a different number of plates. The most extensive copy at the Deutsches Museum counts 229 plates. This portfolio consist of an extensive collection of bright collotype plates showing several thousands of bronze fittings for furniture, pendulum clocks, marble interiors etc., designed in historic style. Attached to the enclosed price-list, “Tarif des ornements pour meubles, sièges, bronzes”, there is an accompanying letter of Delauney’s to the Vienna based furniture industry Carl Bamberger, whose archive this item belonged to. Bamberger worked for the Wiener Werkstätte.

Anleitung zur Anfertigung von Weisswäsche aller Art : bearbeitet für Schule und Haus / von Lydia und Emma Bröm.

Stuttgart : Schickhardt & Ebner, 1888 3., verb. Aufl. 120 pages, 46 leafs : ill., graphics; 26 cm.
The sisters Bröm are presented as “heads of the Sigmaringen women’s school under the protection of the Center for Agriculture and Trade in Hohenzollern“ (Lydia und Emma Bröm, Vorsteherinnen der Frauenarbeits-Schule Sigmaringen unter Schutz der Centralstelle für Landwirthschaft und Gewerbe in Hohenzollern). Young women used the textbook intensively, comparable books were part of every regular household. This book on whitewashing served as a textbook and explains today how shirts and underwear can be made. Necklines and buttons, everything had been sewn with elaborate lace, so that the young women were certainly able to manage a household properly. This knowledge also enabled her to sew and repair the clothes for the husband. All this had been extremely important to the young girls; the women’s associations of the time had annually decorated the most beautiful pieces with letters of praise, and attested the young girls a special marriage qualification. The industrial schools not only gave the girls this special marriage qualification, but they also gave young women the opportunity to be independent. The training in the industry school gave them the opportunity to take up an independent work as a white seamstress in a household or as a handwork instructor. The two Bröm sisters mentioned above had also taken this path and made a considerable career. With this training, girls no longer had to marry in order to be cared for. This was an important step on the road to emancipation.

Aanwinsten september 2017

Art’s master-piece, or, A companion for the ingenious of either sex : in 2 pts. I. The art of limning and painting in oil … II. The art of making glass of chrystal.

London : Printed for G. Conyers at the Golden Ring, and J. Sprint at the Blue Bell, both in Little-Britain, [1702?]. 3rd ed., with additions / by C.K. 152 pages : frontispiece ; 15 cm.
This early English book of secretes, published about 1702, gained great popularity since at least eight editions are recorded. The first edition appeared in 1697, the eighth edition was published almost 90 years later in 1784. The title page mentions C.K. as the author, who remains a mystery. The book consists of a great number of recipes divided into two parts. The first part is devoted to the art of painting, drawing, the making and applying of colours, gilding, dying all kinds of materials and even the art of perfuming and physical surgery. The second part deals with the making of glass and to prepare colours and enamel for metals, to make artificial precious stones, to paint with oil on glass, and cast figures in wax. To name a few of the many recipes and instructions this little book contains.
It is one of the earliest books in eighteen-mo, or octodecimo, the book size of about 10 x 16 cm, or 4 x 6 1/4 inches, which is an unusual method of imposition determined by printing on sheets folded to 18 leaves or 36 pages. It was not employed in British printing before the 1690’s. Only two other copies of this edition are known.

The elements of art : a manual for the amateur, and basis of study for the professional artist / by J.G. Chapman

London : David Bogue, 1848. 112 pages : illustrations, diagram ; 30 cm.
First published, New York, 1847, with two additional chapters, under the title: The American drawing-book.
John Gadsby Chapman (1808-1889) was an American artist famous for Baptism of Pocahontas, which was commissioned by the United States Congress and hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda. Chapman’s American Drawing Book, published in 1847, became a standard text for art students. This book is the first English edition.
THE HUMAN FIGURE page 83 (90): “After having required the devotion of so much time and study to the delineation of the head, hand, and foot, the figure, as a whole, might appear of sufficient relative importance to demand a larger space than will be devoted to it, at this time. It should be remembered, that, these elementary instructions are inductive and preparatory to that more concise consideration and study of the anatomical construction of the human frame, essential to those who aspire to the attainment of excellence in the higher branches of art, which do not strictly belong to the mere rudiments of drawing. Until the mind and hand have been schooled to act harmoniously together, until the broad principles of design are first developed to the understanding of the pupil, and he is made to feel wants beyond those of the beginner, it is not only useless, but even prejudicial to his advancement, to confuse his mind with theories and treatises, which he cannot fully understand, nor practically apply.”
The human figure p. 82-83

The human figure p. 84-85

Engravers & engraving : being the inaugural address, delivered at the commencement of the session / by Francis Vacher

[Birkenhead, Eng.] : Birkenhead Literary & Scientific Society, [1888?]. 106 pages, [5] leaves of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm.
The president of the Birkenhead Literary and Scientific Society, Francis Vacher (1843-1914), delivered this inaugural lecture at the commencement of the 31 session of the society in 1887. Vacher studied art at the Kensington School of Art and in Germany, but switched to medicine to become surgeon at the Royal Infirmary at Birkenhead. For almost twenty years, until 1891, he was medical officer of health of the borough of Birkenhead. He wrote several medical handbooks of considerable merit such as The Food Inspector’s Handbook which was re-issued in at least 10 editions.
This work is an introduction of the various printing techniques. It includes five tissue guarded collotype plates that depict engravings, which were initially on exhibition for the public, and were used to illustrate the author’s address. The upper panel of the binding has a design by Thomas Bewick. Opposite the title page is a beautiful woodcut ex-libris for Leonard A. Cowcill.
Title page

Some principles of form-design in applied art / by Hugh Stannus

Series: Cantor lectures. London : Published by the author, 1898. 2nd ed. 45 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.
Hugh Hutton Stannus (1840–1908) was an architect, author, and lecturer. Stannus became the pupil, assistant, friend and biographer of the British sculptor Alfred Stevens (1817-1875) who devoted his career to the monument to the Duke of Wellington in St Paul’s Cathedral . Although Stannus had great powers of architectural composition, his energies were mainly absorbed from the age of forty to sixty in the work of a teacher and lecturer, to which he brought exceptional powers of analysis and great lucidity of expression. In 1890 and 1898 he was Cantor lecturer to the Society of Arts in London. Cantor lectures were addressed by the leading specialists. Apart from the biographical work on Stevens, Stannus’s publications were largely based on his lectures. This book is the publication of his second Cantor lectures, delivered before the Society of Arts on 14, 21, 28 February and 7 March 1898.
Balance and Reciprocality are the second and the third of the group of Laws which govern Conformation and Attitude

The apartments of the house : their arrangement, furnishing and decoration / Joseph Crouch and Edmund Butler

London : At the Sign of the Unicorn, 1900. xii, 197 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.
Crouch & Butler was an architectural partnership founded in Birmingham, England in 1885 by Joseph Crouch (1859-1936) and Edmund Butler (1862-?). The firm was steeped in the Arts and Crafts aesthetic and this book is essentially a manual on how to decorate every room of the house and its furniture according to the Arts and Crafts principles. It also contains some house plans. Particularly interesting are the descriptions and the illustrations from Aston Hall, Warwickshire; St Mary’s Hall, Coventry; Leycester Hospital, Warwick; Brewers’ Hall, Addle Street, City; a chair from Haddon Hall and tapestry from Stanmore Hall. The illustrations are by Heaton & Butler after F.W. Davies and Mary Newill.
Beautiful Arts and Crafts’ design on the front board in gilt, red and blue on beige cloth


Title page

A fold-out illustration of part of a frieze by Benjamin Creswick

The training of a craftsman / written by Fred Miller ; illustrated by many workers in the art crafts

London : H. Virtue & Co., Limited, 1901. x, 249 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm.
One of the best sources on the early years of the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain. The book is based on a series of interviews with craftsmen and women conducted by the author that appeared in The Art Journal between 1896 and 1900. It includes chapters on metal work, jewellery, enameling, art potters, glass painters, woodcarvers, bookbinders, women in art crafts, surface decoration, wall-papers and textiles. Among designers whose work is discussed and illustrated in the book are C.F.A. Voysey, Heywood Sumner, Edward Burne-Jones, George Haité, C.R. Ashbee, Alexander Fisher, William De Morgan, Mary Nevill, Christopher Whall, Mary Lowndes, Walter Crane, George Sacks and Nelson Dawson.

The art of colour decoration : being an explanation of the purposes to be kept in view and the means of attaining them / John D. Crace

London : Batsford, 1912. XIII, 89 pages : 16 figures ; 20 plates (some color) ; 32 cm.
John Dibblee Crace came from a family of decorators, and was the last owner of the firm Crace & Son, a British firm of decorators, designers and cabinet-makers (1768-1899). His passion for Italian interiors of the 16th century resulted in his own book on the subject, The art of colour decoration. He put forth his view that no artist before or since had produced better architectural decoration than those of the Italian Renaissance and Mannerist periods.
“At times colour has been clearly subordinate to structural effect. At other times the walls themselves have been but fields for colour; pages on which colour was to write the story or appeal to the imagination. Nor are these two variations of relationship limited by epochs of time only for we find at many periods when architecture had all the qualities and power of supremacy, occasional abdications of that supremacy in favour of the more facile art. As examples of this we may take two of world-wide fame: Giotto’s Chapel at Padua and Michael Angelo’s Sistine Chapel, in both of which the entire absence of structural architecture is conspicuous. It is, however, desirable to remember that in both instances the field was occupied by men of supreme genius, men who influenced all who came after them, and that the interest of their work is now neither architectural nor strictly decorative, but is concentrated in the artistic power expressed in every part of the whole.” (Excerpt from the Classic Reprint)
Vault of the open loggia Palazzo Doria Genoa (plate XI)

Old English costumes : selected from the collection formed by Mr. Talbot Hughes : a sequence of fashions through the 18th and 19th centuries / [by Ph. Gibbs; with pref. by Cecil Harcourt Smith]

London, [1913]. 79 pages : illustrations ; 32 cm.
Talbot Hughes (1869–1942) was a painter of romanticized genre and historical and landscape scenes who exhibited at the Royal Academy from the age of seventeen (1871) to 1903. For historical accuracy in his paintings he began to collect costumes from the 16th century to the 18th century. In 1913, when Hughes decided to put his collection up for sale, he was offered £5,000 by an American department store who wished to donate it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rather than send his collection abroad, Hughes instead sold it to the department store Harrods in London for £2,500, where it was displayed for three weeks to advertise the store’s own range of women’s contemporary fashions. The clothes were afterward donated to the Victoria and Albert museum as a gift to the nation.
A beautiful book in white parchment binding including several colour photograph. I appears to be very rare as a result of private printing and distribution

Plate 18 (coloured) A Dress of Charming Proportion in Beautiful French Brocade. Period 1775-85

Aanwinsten augustus 2017

Cours méthodique de dessin linéaire, applicable à tous les modes d’enseignement, ouvrage destiné aux collèges, aux pensions et aux écoles primaires. par M.L. Lamotte

Paris : L. Hachette, 1832. 2e éd. 170 p. + Atlas : illustrations ; 36 cm.
In France, geometry is officially introduced into primary education under the July monarchy (1830-1848). The Guizot Law of 28 June 1833 inscribes “the elements of geometry” in the program of (Boys’) primary education was created in order to provide “a large part of the population with a somewhat higher culture than that hitherto provided by primary education”. This measure, taken in a political context favorable to popular education, is important in many respects: it not only diversifies primary mathematical education, often limited to arithmetic, but adds to primary education (the school of the people), a discipline traditionally reserved for secondary education (the school of notables). At the end of the 1820s, practical geometry and linear drawing sometimes tended to be confused. Because this “popular geometry” of linear drawing makes it possible to familiarize pupils with the calculation of surfaces and volumes, but also with the metric system, still uncommon. As a result of this development, in late 1820’s, the first instruction books are published like Cours méthodique de dessin linéaire by maître Alfred Lamotte. This very rare book is an interesting addition to the collection of instruction books of the former libraries of the National College for Applied Arts (Rijksschool voor Kunstnijverheid) and the National College of Teachers (Rijksnormaalschool voor Teekenonderwijzers), acquired by the Rijksmuseum in 2005.


Etchings, representing the best examples of Grecian and Roman architectural ornament : drawn from the originals, and chiefly collected in Italy, before the late revolutions in that country / by Charles Heathcote Tatham, architect (1771-1842).

London : J.B. Nichols and Son, 1843. 10 pages, 126 leaves of plates : illustrations ; 50 cm.
One of the last British architects to make a pilgrimage to Rome before the Napoleonic Campaign, was Charles Heathcote Tatham. He was sent to Rome by the architect Henry Holland (1745-1806) in 1794 to collect Classical fragments and stayed for two years during which he made many drawings of architectural details. Tatham’s chef oeuvre was in his provision of exemplars for Neo-Classical furniture and decor. His Etchings was published in 1799-1800 and was a major-source book of Neo-Classicism, based on the discoveries based on the archaeological investigations in Pompei, Herculaneum, Tivoli and Rome. It went into further editions in 1803, 1810, 1826 and 1843, and a German translation appeared in Weimar in 1805. The first edition has only 100 plates, while the last edition of 1843 counts 126 plates. The clear line-engravings are derived from the style of illustration employed by Flaxman and Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein.
Tatham designed candelabra and other ornaments of fine quality, and through the leading cabinet-makers William Marsh (active 1775-1810) and his elder brother Thomas Tatham (1763–1818), he had a profound effect of the design of contemporary furniture. Etchings and his other publications on Greek and Roman architectural and applied decoration formed the basis of the European-wide furnishing phenomenon known as Empire style.


Nouveaux livre d’ornements, pour lutillitée des sculpteurs et orfèvres, inventé et gravez à la haye/ par Daniel Marot (1663–1752), architecte de Guillame III Roy d’Angleterre, fait avec Previllège des Etats Généraux des provinces Unie et des Etats d’Hollande et de West frise.

Paris : Rapilly (1870-1880). 72 leaves of plates (1 missing): all illustrations ; 43 cm.
72 planches gravées de cheminées , balustres , plafonds , chenêts , médaillers , meubles , bibliothèques , tables , boiseries , panneaux décoratifs , ferronnerie , serrurerie par Daniel Marot (18), J. Barbet (2), Pierre Collot (3), Jean Marot (3), Abraham Bosse (1) , Philibert Delorme (1), Androuet du Cerceau (9), André Charles Boulle (5), Jean le Pautre (2), Jean Berain (2), F. le Moyne (2), Pierre le Pautre (3), J.A. Meissonnier (4), F. de Cuvillies (3), Robert de Cotte (1), Le Roux (1), Huquier (1), La Londe (4), G.P. Cauvet (1), J. Ch. de la Fosse (1), Salembier (2). Some anonymous.
This curious compilation volume consists of 72 plates by 22 different designers and engravers. The largest part of 18 engravings including the title page are by Daniel Marot (1661–1752). He was a French Protestant, an architect, furniture designer and engraver at the forefront of the classicizing Late Baroque Louis XIV style. The family were Huguenots and were part of the wave of émigrés who left France in the year of the Edict of Fontainebleau and Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) to settle in Holland. Daniel Marot brought the fully developed court style of Louis XIV to Holland, and later to London. In the end, the English style which is loosely called “William and Mary” owed much to his manner. In the Netherlands Marot was employed by the Stadthouder, who later became William III of England; in particular, he is associated with designing interiors in the palace of Het Loo, from 1684 on.
The range of engraved designs is extraordinarily wide. Practically every detail in the internal ornamentation of the house is represented: carved chimney pieces, plaster ceilings, panels for walls, girandoles and wall brackets, and side tables with their pairs of tall stands, as well as gold and silver plate. The engraved title page is taken from the 1712 edition which has only 6 plates by Daniel Marot. A second edition of this book published by Armand Guérinet in 1890 in Paris contains a different set of 124 engraved plates.


Teekenen op katholieke lagere scholen / door Joh. M. Rammers ; met een inleiding door Br. Pius.

‘s-Hertogenbosch : Malmberg, 1931. 286 pages : ill. ; 28 cm + appendix (XLIII p.).
Johan Marinus Rammers (1893-1980) studied art at the Academy of Fine Art in The Hague in 1923 as a pupil of Jan Kruijsen. He was the secretary of the artists’ society Arti et Industriae in The Hague until 1957. He spent most of his working life as a portrait painter and teacher on high schools. Rammers is the author of this drawing method for primary schools. The chapters are about drawing from nature, drawing on blackboard, paper cutting, copying plates by drawing, drawing after wall plates, making illustrations, free drawings, liturgy and symbolism, colour theory, designs and perimeter models. Everything is drenched from the “own principle”, obviously the Catholic liturgy. The introduction was written by the priest Brother Pius. The method includes several sets of teaching materials for perimeter models, drawing examples and drawing wall plates.

Cover

Pag. 142 Wandplaatteekenen; plate IV-10 Moderne boerderij (modern farmhouse)

Pag. 200 Kleurenleer; fig. 69 kleurenschema (colourscheme)

Tekenmap annex Zelf doen / Zuster M. Hugolina [en] Joh. M. Rammers.

Nijmegen : Uitgeverij De Koepel, c. 1947. 3 vol. : illustrations ; 21 cm.
Published as annexes to the study book
Zelf doen by Sister M. Hugolina, which was also acquired recently. This teaching method in 3 volumes in the series Do it yourself was used for drawing lessons for the highest two classes at primary Catholic schools in The Netherlands. This is one of the first methods after the renewal of primary school education, based on a more spontaneous and free kind of teaching, focused on self-regulating – nomen est omen – learning. The black and white plates all drawn by the Dutch portrait painter and teacher Johan Marinus Rammers (1893-1980). The religious themes are most probably compiled by Sister Hugolina (1919-2013?).

The cover designs are very attractive.

Aanwinsten juli 2017

Principles of design / by Le Clerc

London : Laurie & Whittle, 1794. 27 unnumbered leaves : all illustrations (engravings) ; 23 cm.
This little book, attributed to Sébastien Le Clerc, consists entirely of engravings: an engraved decorative title, and 51 engraved plates on 26 leaves numbered 2-52. English edition of: Principes de dessein / par S. Le Clerc [1700?] with the same plates in slightly different order. Sébastien Le Clerc the elder (1637-1714) was one of the greatest and most prolific illustrators in Baroque France, executing a wide range of important works under the patronage of Louis XIV.
From the second third of the eighteenth century, the publication of drawing books began to flourish to an unprecedented degree, responding to a growing demand for elementary instruction. Consisting chiefly of engraved or etched plates with short or no explanatory texts, these drawing books varied in format and size, ranging from just a few sheets to a substantial volume. They were distinguished from other illustrated books by the fact that the plates, rather than just illustrating the text, were the subject of the book, designed to provide step-by-step pictorial models to be copied. These plates also set drawing books apart from other text-only technical manuals or art treatises by providing visualised forms of certain artistic ideas, which could be disseminated more easily.
(Chia-Chuan Hsieh, “The Emergence and Impact of the ‘Complete Drawing Book’ in Mid-Eighteenth-Century England”, in: Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies Vol. 36 No. 3 (2013)



The Cabinet of the arts : being a new and universal drawing book, forming a complete system of drawing, painting in all its branches, etching, engraving, perspective projection & surveying, with all their various & appendant parts. Containing the whole theory and practice of the fine arts in general, from the first elements to the most finished principles. Displaying in the most familiar manner the whole rudiments of imitation, design, disposition, invention & deception. Illustrated with upwards of sixty elegant engravings. To which is added an appendix, containing several curious and useful miscellaneous articles / by Thomas Hodson and Iohn Dougall

London : T. Ostell, 1805. [7], 367 pages, 68 full-page engraved plates : illustrations ; 27 cm.
The Cabinet aims to instruct youths ‘in the principles and practice of drawing and painting’. The authors testify to having compiled their handbook from ‘the best authorities’, however without identifying their sources. The book is an important drawing manual and encyclopedic compilation of useful information on art practices with sections for architecture, painting and engraving. The book is organized in sections describing materials and tools for drawing, practical instructions on drawing of different subjects, about anatomy, etching and engraving, mezzotint and aquatint, and painting. The 55 finely crafted engraved plates depict human anatomy and expression, perspective, architecture, landscape and important classical statues.
The plates are drawn from Ciprianiís Rudiments of Drawing, engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi.




A guide to oil painting / by John Samuelson Templeton.

London : George Rowney & Co., [1855?]. Thirteenth edition, revised. 68 pagina’s : illustrations; 18 cm.
Templeton claims to write ‘from his own practical experience, corroborated by the communications and opinions of many other in the profession, of such standing, as to give high value to their authority’. He describes the painting room, the tools and the materials required for oil painting and then discusses colour mixing, the use of mediums, application techniques and painting different subjects (drapery, landscape, animals, flowers and fruits). His guide is intended for amateurs or beginners in oil painting.

A guide to oil painting. Part II, Landscape from nature / by Alfred Clint (1807-1883)

London : George Rowney & Co., [1856]. 64 p. ; 18 cm.
The author Alfred Clint was the son of the English portrait painter and engraver George Clint. He acquired the technical knowledge of painting from his father, while he studied from the life at a students’ society. In early life he painted portraits and landscapes, but he is best known as marine painter. According to the title page, Clint was ‘member of the society of British artists’. He exhibited at the Royal Academy and also taught painting. In 1856 Clint wrote Landscape from Nature, the second part of John Samuelson Templeton’s Guide to Oil Painting (1845). Clint’s manual provides practical instructions for landscape painting. It appears to be a first-hand account of the author’s own working method.


The art of marine painting in oil colours / by John Wilson Carmichael (1800-1868)

London : Winsor and Newton, 1866. 3rd ed. 77 pages : illustrations ; 18 cm.
The author of this instruction book, James Wilson Carmichael, also known as John Carmichael was an English marine painter. Carmichael was the son of William Carmichael, a ship’s carpenter. He went to sea at an early age, and spent three years on board a vessel sailing between ports in Spain and Portugal. On his return, he was apprenticed to a shipbuilding firm. After completing his apprenticeship, he devoted all his spare time to art, and eventually gave up the carpentry business, setting himself up as a drawing-master and miniature painter. He lived in Newcastle until about 1845, when he moved to London, where he was already known as a skilful marine painter. He published The Art of Marine Painting in Water-Colours in 1859, and The Art of Marine Painting in Oil-Colours in 1864.

A guide to pictorial perspective / by Benjamin Richard Green (1808-1876)

London : George Rownye and Company, [1870?]. Fifth edition. 39 pagina’s, 11 leafs of plates : illustrations ; 18 cm.
Dover Publications reprinted this book, originally published in 1851, in the Art Instructional Series in 2005. “Meeting the challenge of realistic drawing involves the application of science to an individual design sense. Here is a clear, jargon-free primer on recreating objects from nature by using perspective techniques. Author Benjamin R. Green’s straightforward approach teaches artists and students at all levels how to visually rationalize the differences between form and appearance. Green begins with definitions of lines (parallel, perpendicular, inclined, horizontal, and vertical) and discussions of the seat of the eye and the vanishing point. He examines the relative situation of the spectator and the object to be drawn, compares parallel and oblique views, and discusses drawing objects with more than four sides and curved-line objects such as arches.“
Richard Green was a water-colour painter, born in London in 1808, son of James Green, the portrait-painter. He studied art in the schools of the Royal Academy, and painted both figures and landscapes, mostly in water-colour. He was elected in 1834 a member of the Institute of Painters in Water-Colours. Green was very much employed as a teacher of drawing and a lecturer. He exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy.


Practical instructions for painting on china, earthenware, glass and enamel : with analysis of vitrifiable colours / translated from the French of “Des couleurs vitrifiables” of A. Lacroix ; with additions by Aural

London : Lechertier, Barbe & Co., [1873?]. 56 pages ; 18 cm.
Translation of: Des couleurs vitrifiables et de leur emploi pour la peinture sur porcelaine, faience, vitraux, &a. / par A. Lacrois. Paris : A. Lacroix, 1872.
Adolphe Lacroix was a chemist. His recipes concentrate on vitrifiable colours from a chemical perspective. The translator made considerable alterations in the arrangement of the original work which contained instructions in the form of letters “involving useless repetition”. Lacroix points out that recently “he had tin tubes filled with colours completely ground and diluted with turpentine.” He sold the vitrifiable colour in tubes to artistic depots in France, Italy, Belgium, and England. Several artists assisted in writing this manual. Many of the letters Lacroix received are reproduced literally in this book. Among the writers are Fragonard, Delphine de Cool, Claudius Lavergne, and Fred. Goupil.

The china at Woburn Abbey : in the possession of Herbrand, 11th Duke of Bedford, K.G. / Francis Bennett-Goldney (1865-1918)

London : John Murray, 1910. vii, 263 pages ; 22 cm. Printed for private circulation.
Francis Bennett-Goldney was an antiquary, Member of Parliament (MP) for Canterbury and former Mayor of Canterbury, who died during World War I. From 1899 to 1913 was the honorary curator of Royal Museum and Art Gallery in Canterbury.
Woburn Abbey occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. The art collection of the Duke of Bedford is amongst the finest in private hands, and encompasses a wide range of western artwork. The holdings comprise some 250 paintings, including works by Rubens, Van Dyck, Canaletto and Velasquez. Moreover, the collection encompasses examples of the most expensive manufacturers of furniture, French and English in many periods, and a diverse collection of porcelain and silverware. This is the only book written about the collection of porcelain of the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey. Printed for private circulation, it appears to be very rare, since only three other copies are known.
This copy is dedicated by Francis Bennett-Goldney to Walter Mallett in 1912.


Aanwinsten mei-juni 2017

Descrizione di tutte le pubbliche pitture della città di Venezia e isole circonvicine : o sia rinnovazione delle Ricche minere di Marco Boschini, colla aggiunta di tutte le opere, che uscirono dal 1674. fino al presente 1733. Con un compendio delle vite, e maniere de’ principali pittori / Marco Boschini (1613-1678); Anton Maria Zanetti (1706-1778)

Venezia : Pietro Bassaglia, 1733. [6], 486 pages, l plate : 1 illustration ; 18 cm.
Anton Maria Zanetti (1706-1778) began as a draftsman and artist, collaborating with his cousin, also called Anton Maria Zanetti, in illustrations for books. In 1733 he adapted Marco Boschini pictorial analysis of Venitian painting, Le ricche minere della pittura veneziana (1674) into a new critical work, his Descrizione di tutte le pubbliche pitture della città di Venezia e isole circonvicine. Emboldened by the success of this early work, he set about writing a large-scale account of the Venetian school, Della pittura veneziana e delle opere pubbliche de’ veneziani maestri (1771). Zanetti conceived of art history through an Enlightenment attitude. Descrizione begins with the “Primitives” of Italian art, moving quickly to the Renaissance artists of Venice. He disparaged Mannerism, contrasting it to Venetian painting, and characterizing the former as leading him to the excesses of the baroque. Zanetti was much admired by later art historians, particularly Luigi Lanzi who characterized Zanetti’s text balanced and his historiography sound. For most of his life, from 1737 onward, he was librarian of the Biblioteca Marciana, the library of S Marco in Venice. (The Dictionary of Art)

Della pittura veneziana : trattato in cui osservasi l’ordine del Busching, e si conserva la dottrina, e le definizioni del Zanetti / Coll’aggiunta dell descrizione de’musaici della Chiesa di S. Marco … e delle pitture posteriori al tempo del Zanetti / Anton Maria Zanetti (1706-1778); Marco Boschini (1613-1678)

Venezia : Presso Francesco Tosi, 1797. 2 volumes : illustrations ; 17 cm.
First Edition, based on Boschini’s Le Minere della pittura (1664) and Zanetti’s Della Pittura Veneziana (1771) with additions by the publisher, Tosi. Both Boschini and Zanetti were of fundamental importance to the history of art in Venice. Schlosser-Magnino calls Boschini’s guide “the first true artistic guide to Venice,” and Zanetti’s inventory of Venetian painting “one of the best in its genre” (p. 548). This handy set combines their work into a comprehensive, practical guide to monuments of Venetian art and architecture, including a final section Istoria della Pittura Veniziana (sic), with biographies of artists; and an addition made in 1797 identifying paintings that were transported out of Venice by military force the same year.
Marco Boschini (1613-1678) was a Venetian painter, engraver and art dealer whose most important client, Cardinal Leopoldo de’ Medici, commissioned him to purchase Venetian paintings for the Medici collection. Zanetti (1706-1778) was the librarian to the famed Marciana Library in Venice for forty years, and his familiarity with the art and artists of his city, and his access to library records helped to produce his remarkable books. On Zanetti’s guide, Cicognara adds: “This is the best of the works which deal with Venetian painting, and if every principal city possessed a book so arranged and executed, we should have gathered together the materials for the best general history of art”. (https://www.ursusbooks.com)

Gründlicher Unterricht in der Pastell-, Miniatur-, Email-, Wachs-, Fresco- und Glasmalerei : mit Berücksichtigung der darin gemachten neuesten Erfindungen / von Ernst Ludwig Rumbenius.

Quedlinburg und Leipzig : G. Basse, 1826. VIII, 114 pages ; 17 cm.
There are no other copies of this book known. Particularly interesting are the paragraphs on enamel painting as well as encaustic art, which was researched in the 1820s by the Heidelberg artist and sculptor J. W. Chr. Roux (1771-1830). In addition to the technical instructions, the book also contains numerous recipes on color and pigments. Glass painting is extensively discussed from page 88 to 114.

Hülfsbuch für Zeichner und Maler, und die es werden wollen : oder interessante Belehrungen über die Kunst des Zeichnens und Malens : nach den neuesten und besten Anweisungen des In- und Auslandes / hrsg. von Ernst Ludwig Rumbenius.

Quedlinburg [u.a.] : G. Basse, 1826. XII, 188 pages : 17 cm.
A typical recipe book for painting and drawing. The author Ernst Ludwig Rumbenius remains a mystery.

Kunst, alle Arten Firnisse und Lackfirnisse, als Weingeist-, Copal-, Terpentinöl-, Bernstein- und Leinölfirnisse, auf das Beste und nach den neuesten Zusammensetzungen zu bereiten und auf die verschiedenen Gegenstände, als: Holz, Metalle, Leder, Horn, Papier, Pappe, Zeuge, Gemälde, Kupferstiche, Glas etc auf das Zweckmäßigste aufzutragen. Ein nützliches Buch für jeden Künstler und Handwerker / aus dem Englischen übersetzt und mit Zusätzen bereichert, von Dr. August Schulze

Series: Praktische Anweisung zur Lackirkunst und zum Oelfarben-Anstrich.
Quedlinburg, G. Basse, 1828. 2. edition, revised and enlarged. viii, 143 pages : 19 cm.
The first edition, with only 104 pages, was published in 1826, and other probably unchanged editions appeared in 1840 and 1843. In the first section, Thomson supplies numerous recipes for varnishes among others from linseed oil, walnut, rosemary oil, winemaker, sandarak and mastix. In the second part, starting on page 61, he describes the application on wood, metal, leather, horn, paper, cardboard, painting, engraving, glass and more.
An English edition of this book by William Thom(p)son can not be found. As in the case of other books published by Gottfried Basse, the reference to the translation may be a sales promotion, since England was the leading economic entity in the early nineteenth century.

Die Harzmalerei der Alten : ein Versuch zur Einführung einer, weit mehr Vortheile als Oel-, Wachs-, Fresco- und Temperawasser-Malerei gewährenden und sowohl zu Wand- als zu Staffelei-Gemälden von allen Grössen brauchbaren Malerei, nach dem Beispiele der Alten, sowie zur Verbesserung der Fundamente, und zur Ausbildung der Farbengebung nach Göthe’s Farbenlehre ec. / von Friedrich Knirim.

Leipzig : Friedrich Fleischer, 1839. XII, 232 pages : ill. ; 21 cm.
In the first part, Knirim presents an “investigation of the old technique of painting, and the determination of a certain resin painting as a main genre” (“Untersuchung der alten Maler-Technik, und Feststellung einer gewissen Harzmalerei als Hauptgattung”), dealing with Egyptian, Greek, and Roman painting. He also deals with the “degeneracy” (“Entartung”) of the resin painting in the Middle Ages, as well as the kinship with the painting of the brothers van Eyck. In chapter 5 of the second part (from p. 149) he present the preparation of the painting base, the pigments, the binders, the colors and the varnishes. In 1845 Knirim published the work “Die endlich entdeckte wahre Maler-Technik des klassischen Alterthums und des Mittelalters” (The finally discovered true painter technique of classical antiquity and the Middle Ages). Friedrich Knirim worked as an instructor at the Real- und Handwerksschule in Eschwege.
Title page with portret of Joh. Winkelmann (after Angelika Kaufmann).

Drawing from nature : a series of progressive instructions in sketching from elementary studies to finished views, with examples from Switzerland and the Pyrenees : to which are appended lectures on art delivered at Rugby School / by George Barnard.

London : Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1865. vi, 348 pages, 18 leaves of plates : illustrations ; 27 cm.
Two plates color chromolithographs. The others are tinted or monochromatic. George Barnard (1807-1890) was a professor of drawing at Rugby School and the author of at least two other instruction manuals, Landscape Painting in Water Colours and Barnard’s Trees. Drawing from Nature is a fascinating look at the details of nature, including plants and animals, along with detailed descriptions of related places and things, accompanied by lush and detailed illustrations.


Das Gewerbe-Monogramm = Le monogramme industriel = Industrial monograms / hrsg. von Martin Gerlach.

Wien : Gerlach (F. Schenk), 1881. 2., verm. und verb. Auflage, . [8] pages, 110 leafs of plates, X pages : illustrations ; 37 cm.
Collection of skilfully drawn, delicately engraved and well printed monograms and other symbols of different size for use in applied arts, artisanry and industry, covering 2459 illustrations of monograms with two or three interlaced letters, Christian names and symbols, as well as crowns, heraldic attributes, trade emblems and typeface after the historicist fashion of the times. Compiled and edited by the famous German-Austrian chaser, engraver, photographer and editor Martin Gerlach senior (1846-1918). The first edition was published in 1877, the 2nd and last edition is almost three times as large. For better use an index is added, classifying all monograms according to size, level of ornamentation and common typeface (e.g. “English running hand”).


Purpose in design : a survey of the new movement seen in studios and factories and at the Exposition internationale des arts et techniques appliques à la vie moderne, Paris 1937 / by Amelia Dorothy Defries.

London : Methuen, 1938. xv, 238 pages, 64 leafs of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm.
A country by country survey of industrial design at the l937 Exposition internationale in Paris.
Frontispiece in colour by Albert Gleizes’, Design for Ceramics.

Aanwinsten april 2017

Traité de la peinture, / par Leonard de Vinci ; revû et corrigé.A Paris : chez Pierre-François Giffart, 1716. Nouvelle édition. / Augmentée de la vie de l’autheur par Roland Fréart de Chambray (1606-1676). LIV, 324 pages : illustrations ; 17 cm.

The importance of Leonardo’s “Trattato della Pittura” (Treatise on Painting), for French art and especially French art theory cannot be overestimated. It stands at the beginning of a long row of texts, with which France was to leave Italy far behind in art theory. The French translator Roland Fréart de Chambray (1610-1676) had composed one of the first French theoretical texts, “Ideé de la perfection de la peinture” in 1662. However, he did not make a literal translation of the Italian edition of 1651. Compared to the sumptuously designed French edition (1651) of Leonardo’s Trattato, this second French edition was the first pocket edition. While the first edition in large folio format intended for the libraries of the elites, the second measures only 17 cm high and was probably used by artists and students.The figure drawings appear for the first time as line engravings, without shading and accessories.


Galerie des peintres hollandois, flamands et allemands / gravées sous la direction de M. LeBrun.

[Paris : Basan & Poignant, 1777-90]. 12 parts in 1 volume : 144 plates ; 43 cm.
The rare illustrated catalogue of the stock of innovative French art dealer Jean-Baptiste-Pierre le Brun (1748-1813). Le Brun was the son of the dealer Pierre le Brun and grand-nephew of the famed Charles le Brun, chief painter to Louis XIV, and he married the talented portraitist Elisabeth Vigée. Le Brun himself studied painting under Jean-Baptiste Deshays, François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, but when his father died in 1771 he took over the family business. As a dealer, le Brun played a major role in creating the art market as we know it today. He encouraged his clients to collect art as an investment strategy, helped open up international markets, particularly in northern Europe, and focused on discovering and bringing to prominence lesser-known artists. This little known catalogue of le Brun’s stock appeared in twelve parts between 1777 and 1790, preceding his more well-known Galerie des peintres flamands, hollandais et allemands, a survey of Flemish and Netherlandish artists published between 1792 and 1796.


La civilité en estampes, ou, Recueil de gravures propres à former les enfans de deux sexes à la politesse et aux usages de la bonne compagnie : avec un texte explicatif pour chaque tableau.

A Paris : Chez Lecerf, graveur, Place St. André des Arts, No. 11 : Chez Blanchard, libraire, Galerie Montesquieu, No. 1, au Premr., [1820]. 3e. éd. [22] pages, [11] leaves of plates : illustrations ; 12 x 17 cm.
Engraver: Jacques Louis Constant Lecerf ; Publisher Pierre Blanchard, Pierre (1772-1856).
The rise of albums for youth is significant from 1820 onwards. Their colorful cardboards, stamped, sometimes decorated with a lithograph in colors, their titles composed in letters of fantasy make beautiful presents for the children privileged. Their themes take over “in prints” the youth literature, for instance this album “Civilité en estampes” (Civility in engravings). But, unlike adult albums, authors and artists often remain anonymous. All these albums have the same structure: a succession of engravings, each accompanied by one or two pages of text, with moral or didactic commentary. All children’s books obey this rule: the text invests the image of the pedagogical, didactic, documentary and educational functions of youth literature. The “Civilité en estampes” combines the traditional courtesy book with new techniques in the field of illustration to produce a series of elegant engraved plates that teach the children of social behavior and in proper manners for children of both sexes, such as greet people when you enter a room, stand aside to let people pass, don’t make a noise in company, keep your elbows off the table, don’t spit on your mothers dress, bring a chair for people who want to sit, respect old age, bring people their things when they need them, show people the way when they are lost, pick up items dropped and in general, be considerate and helpful.


Notice historique sur la famille de De Geer / par deux de ses membres [Louis de Geer de Finspong, Louis de Geer de Jutphaas], à l’usage des autres.

[S.l. : s.n.], 1843. 143 p., [8] p. pl. : ill. ; 39 cm.
Louis De Geer (17 November 1587, Liège – 19 June 1652, Amsterdam) was a Dutch merchant and industrialist of Walloon origin. He is considered the father of Swedish industry for introducing Walloon blast furnaces in Sweden. He produced cannons for the German Protestant movement, the Dutch navy and the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company. With the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War the demand for weapons increased enormously. In 1618, De Geer delivered weapons to Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, the Swedish king. Impressed by his business instincts the Swedish government allowed him to lease estates near Finspång, Östergötland in eastern Sweden proper. Before long, De Geer had established a formidable workshop industry there. The Swedish government continued to support him and De Geer received the monopoly on the copper and iron trade. De Geer, who adopted Sweden as his second home country, immigrated to Sweden in 1627. In 1634, he bought “Het Huis met de Hoofden” on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam.

The theory of color in its relation to art and art-industry / by Wilhelm von Bezold ; translated from the German by S.R. Koehler ; with an introduction and notes by Edward C. Pickering.

Boston : L. Prang, 1876. Authorized American ed. / rev. and enl. by the author. xxxiii, 274 pages, XI plates : illustrations ; 22 cm.
llustrated throughout with many woodcuts, as well as the thirteen chromolithograph plates. The first plate depicts the spectra of sunlight and color pigments, and the second plate shows Bezold’s versions of color wheels. Other plates illustrate the illusion of how colors appear to change when juxtaposed against other colors. Six of the plates have text printed in black on paper of various colors, with white tissue guards. When overlaid with the tissue, the black lettering appears to take on tinges of color. Bezold was a physicist and meteorologist working at the Royal Polytechnic School in Munich, and his approach to color theory was intended to be practical for artists and those working in applied arts. Many of his examples are drawn from the decorative arts throughout history, especially from textiles and ornamental mosaics. According to “A Color Bibliography” by Robert L. Herbert, published in the Yale University Library Gazette, “Bezold represents the generation beyond Maxwell and Helmholz, when the distinction between color-light and color-pigment was at last clearly understood in the scientific world.”

No 5 Culture Chanel : une exposition imaginée par Jean-Louis Froment / concept et design du livre par Irma Boom.

Paris : Editions de la Martinière ; Abrams, c2013. [500] p. : ill. ; 27 cm.
Released in conjunction with the “N°5 Culture Chanel” exhibit at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, and created by renowned book-maker Irma Boom, “Chanel” features 600 pages embossed with Boom’s original designs. The monochromatic white pages provide the perfect backdrop for Boom to display her raised, braille-like patterns. Boom’s embossing’s play with the senses, capturing the essence of the Chanel N°5 fragrance through touch. Only 1,000 numbered copies has been printed of this limited-edition collector’s item, packaged in an embossed cardboard clamshell box.
The pages of the book are completely blind-embossed – there is absolutely no ink on any of the pages, which is intended to mimic the wearing of a fragrance or cologne. As Irma herself puts it, like a fragrance, “you don’t see it but it’s there.”
The result is a minimalist book that provides ‘readers’ with a more tactile experience than a visionary one. “It’s the ultimate book,” Ms. Boom said. “It only works in its physical form.” As a PDF, it would be just white pages.
The book is the story of Chanel No.5 — which, as the first synthetic fragrance in a radically simple bottle, was considered avant-garde in its time. Because perfume is impossible to see once applied, Ms. Boom said, “I wanted to make a book with content not printed.” The text and images are embossed on soft paper; it is surprisingly readable.


Aanwinsten maart 2017

Diversi ornamenti capricciosi per depositi o altari utilisimi a virtuosi / nouamente inuentati da M. Giovanbatista Montani Milanese ; intagliatore di legniame Ecc.mo. ; dati in luce da Giouanbatista Soria Romano …

In Roma. : Apresso al detto Soria, 1625. [4], 40 leafs of plates : illustrations, engraved title and portraits ; 38 cm.
Engraved portraits of Giovanni Battista Montano (1534-1621) and Giovanni Battista Soria (1581-1651).
The Milan architect Giovanni Battista Montano (1534-1621) designed the beautiful tomb and altar monuments, engraved by Jérôme David and Camillo Cungi. Montano was born in Milan and trained primarily as a sculptor and a wood carver. In particular he has done two great carved works in the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano and the Church of Santa Maria di Loreto. In the early 1570s, Montano relocated to Rome, where he intensely studied the city’s antique monuments and ruins. Although Montano carried out several sculptural and architectural projects during his time in Rome, his reputation is primarily due to his work as a designer and researcher of ancient architecture.
Different Capricious Ornaments for Reliquaries or Altars.

Ragionameto sopra la prospettiva per agevolarne l’uso à professori = Raisonnement sur la perspective, pour en faciliter l’usage aux artistes / Ennemond Alexandre Petitot, 1727-1801; [edited by P.J. Gaultier].

Parma : Da’ Fratelli Faure, 1758. [9], 20 pages, 9 leaves of plates : illustrations ; 36 cm.
First edition of a perspective manual for teachers of art and design, printed in French and Italian. Together with Ducal Minister Guillermo du Tillot, who brought him to Parma in 1753, Petitot founded the city’s first Accademia di Pittura, and the manual – as he states in the introduction – is meant as a teacher’s guide.
After demonstrating the fundamentals of one-point perspective, Petitot goes on to address soffitte — the undershadows cast by cornices and entablatures. This leads to a discussion of interior space, in which he presents two cross-sections, spaccati, of a theater containing a Roman peristyle, its columns topped with statues. Though simple and straightforward, the textbook is clearly accretative, possibly designed as a ‘crash-course’ for students (or even their teachers, as Petitot dryly implies) whose grasp of applied perspective is inadequate. It also affirms the architect’s status as northern Italy’s foremost ambassador of French Neoclassical style. His service under Philip is not without irony, for though Petitot was ultimately responsible for exporting to Parma the rococo vogue of the Louis XV court, festooning the Ducal Palace and Garden with friezes, vases, and ornamental woodwork, this book testifies to the decorous restraint of his early career. (Martayan Lan)



Traité d’orfévrerie, bijouterie et joaillerie : contenant la description détaillée des caractères physiques et chimiques des métaux et des pierres précieuses qui constituent les matières premières de cette belle branche de l’industrie française / par Placide Boué.

Paris : Chez Delaunay, 1832. 2 volumes: illustrations ; 21 cm.
Expert John Sinkankas states, “A remarkable work written by a Parisian jeweler and aimed at both the general public and members of the trade; it contains a wealth of information reflecting the state of contemporary knowledge at the time….”.

Neueste ungelehrte, aber practische und sichere Anleitung zur galvanischen Vergoldung, Versilberung, &c. : mittelst höchst einfachen Apparats, nebst kurzer und leichtfasslicher Anweisung zur Contactvergoldung ohne allen Apparat, nach eigenen vielfältigen Versuchen und Erfahrungen zu Nutz und Frommen seiner Gewerbsgenossen practisch dargestellt und durch Abbildungen erläutert / von Constantin Günther, Juwelierer und Goldarbeiter in Meissen.

Grimma : Verlag des Verlags-Comptoirs, 1843. 57 pages : 1 folding plate ; 18 cm.
Constantin Günther was jeweler and goldworker in Meissen.
Lithographed plate.

Galvanoplastik für Künstler, Gewerbtreibende und Freunde der Numismatik : oder fassliche Anweisung, Münzen, Medaillen oder andere Gebilde der Kunst in metallischer Form zu reproduciren, Kupferplatten und Daguerreotypische Lichtbilder auf galvanischem Wege zu ätzen und zu vervielfältigen, und endlich ebenso auch die Metalle zu vergolden und zu versilbern / Charles Walker ; deutsch bearbeitet von Christian Heinrich Schmidt.

Series: Neuer Schauplatz der Künste und Handwerke ; hundertdreiundzwanzigster Band. Weimar : B.F. Voigt, 1856. Dritte, sehr vermehrte Auflage (“nebst ergänzenden Zusätzen des Uebersetzers”). xx, 302 p. : mit 5 Tafeln Abbildungen ; 19 cm.
One of the earliest und most extensive book about electroplating. This is the extended version of the first impression of 1841. Important addition from the translator Christian Heinrich Schmidt is the daguerrial procedure. Enclosed: 1 sheet with handwritten notes on “Formen für galvanoplastischen Niederschläge”(Molds for electroplastic precipitates).

Bemerkungen über die Technik der Aquarell-Malerei in ihrer Anwendung auf die Landschafts-Malerei / von Max Schmidt.

Berlin : Im Selbstverlage : In Commission bei W.A. Lantz, [1870?]. 2. Auflage. 75 pages ; 16 cm.
The painter Max Schmidt (1818-1901), who became famous in the 19th century by his wall paintings in the Neues Museum in Berlin, presents in this volume a tutorial on watercolor landscape painting. Included are sections on the necessary equipment (papers, brushes, colors), notes on the overall harmonic conception and the technique of painting, which is explained using exercises. In 1868 he became instructor at the School of Arts in Weimar, and in 1872 went to the Königsberg Academy.

Studien zur Geschichte der Oelfarbentechnik / von Franz Gerhard Cremer.

Düsseldorf : Verlag von L. Voss & Cie., 1895. vii, 239 pagina’s ; 23 cm.
Franz Gerhard Cremer, 1845-1908, art critic, art historian, and restorer, studied at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, received the Great Golden Medal for art and science. He wrote several books about oil painting. In this work, Cremer attempts to give the scientific foundation for the empirical oil painting technique.

Vormcompositie en centraliteit / Jan Hessel de Groot.

Amsterdam : J.H. de Groot, [1922]. 24 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.
Jan Hessel de Groot (1864-1932) is the founder of geometrical aesthetics based on the proportional system. Text in Dutch, German, French and English. This book is the first of a series on centrality in form-systems.
With geometrical drawings and cover design by the author.

Ontwerp zelf : vijf- en twintig moderne motieven in kleur voor de hoogste klassen der lagere school en voor het voortgezet- en nijverheids-onderwijs : een bijdrage voor het teekenonderwijs in nieuwe richting / door Th. van Altena.

Meppel : Huisman, [1930-5]. [4] pages, [26] leafs of plates : illustrations ; 27 cm.
Attractive publication with 26 plates for drawing lessons in Dutch primary schools, by school teacher Altena.
Title page, instruction page, and 26 loose plates with colored, geometric drawings and examples, kept in the original carton portfolio.

Aanwinsten februari 2017

Le blason des couleurs en armes, liurees et deuises, tres vtille et subtil pour scauoir et congnoistre dune et chascune couleur la vertu et propriete. : Item pour apprendre la maniere de blasonner lesdictes couleurs en plusieurs choses. : Et pour faire liurees, deuises, et leur blazon / [Jacques d’Enghien (Sicille, dit le héraut)].

[Parijs?], [1527?]. Nouuellme[n]t imprime. 4 unnumbered pages, 47 leaves : ill. ; 14 cm.
This book is based on the work of Sicille, hérault du roi Alphonse d’Aragon, de Sicille, de Maillorque domicilié à Mons en Hainaut. This could be Jacques d’Enghien (died 1436), a French herald from Mons (Bergen in Belgium) who was at the service of the king of Sicily. Very few printed treatises on color and its use published before 1550 exist. This book is not only one of the major sources for information concerning 15th and 16th century color theory in Europe, but the major source for an understanding of the conception of color in Northern Europe.
It contains two treatises. In the first treatise essays on each of the heraldic colors are followed by lists of alternative methods of blazoning and correspondences. The second treatise is on color and how and why it is used in the coloring of coats of arms. The classical theory of color was based on Aristotle’s scheme of seven colors. The first part of the book refers to general theories of color, relating the seven colors of Aristotle with human types, human behavior like simplicity and honesty, the seven metals, and the seven planets. Aristotle defined vision as the passive reception, by the eye, of an action originating in objects: he was the originator of scientific optics, as propounded 2000 years later by Newton. The book ends with a poem praising the blazon of color.
The title woodcut depicts two angels holding the shield of France. This woodcut and the four smaller woodcuts in the text and the six full page woodcuts are colored by hand.

Two discourses : I. An essay on the whole art of criticism as it relates to painting. Shewing how to judge I. Of the goodness of a picture; II. Of the hand of the master; and III. Whether ’tis an original or a copy. : II. An argument in behalf of the science of a connoisseur, wherein is shewn the dignity, certainty, pleasure, and advantage of it/ both by [Jonathan] Richardson (1665-1745).

London : printed for W. Churchill, 1719. [14],153,174-220, 234, [2] p. ; 20 cm.
According to Carol Gibson-Wood, “Two Discourses” represents one of the most remarkable programmatic texts on connoisseurship within the entire literature of art. The first discourse is an instruction manual on how to judge paintings; the second is a closely reasoned demonstration of why connoisseurship is a worthy pursuit. Much of the significance of “Two Discourses” derives from Richardson’s novel expansion of established themes and adaptation of them to the interests of an eighteenth-century British readership. (Jonathan Richardson and the rationalization of connoisseurship / Carol Gibson-Wood, in: Art History, Vol. 7, Issue 1 (March 1984), p. 38–56).

Studj di pittura già dissegnati da Giambatista Piazzetta.

Se vend à Wienne : chez Joseph Eder, marchand d’estamps, [after 1789]. 1 unnumbered leaf, leaves 2-25, 10 unnumbered leaves : only illustrations ; 28 x 38 cm.
Viennese reprint of the “Studii di pittura”, published in Venice for the first time in 1760, a masterpiece designed by the famous Italian painter Giambatista Piazzetta (1683-1754), engraved by Nicolo Cavalli (1730-1822). The original edition contains 48 plates, 24 of which are pure outlines of the other 24 leaves, which are studies of body parts, heads and five male models. This publication contains only the 24 completed studies.


Bound with 10 unmarked outline etchings of mostly known statues (Gladiator, Apollo, Venus of Medici, Laocoon) with geometrical and dimensional details. They explain the theoretical basis of anatomical representations and their proportions. In all likelihood, they belong to the “Zeichenbuch : Proportionen der menschlichen Figuren mit Vermessungen von ihm selbst im Jahr 1804 radirt” (Drawing-book : proportions of human figures with dimensions engraved by himself in 1804) by Anton Christoph Kalliauer (1760-1829).



Magazin für die Druck- Färbe- und Bleichkunst und den damit verwandten Hülfswissenschaften / Hrsg. von dr. Joh. Gottfried Dingler.

Augsburg ; Leipzig : Jenisch und Stagesche buchhandlung, [1818-20]. 3 volumes in 1 : 10 folding plates, folding tab. ; 20 cm. Holdings: 1.-3.
Complete periodical on printing and coloring techniques, recipes and machine descriptions. Continuation of the “Neuen Journals für Indiennen- oder Baumwollendruckerei” (New Journal for India or Cotton Printing), also published by Dingler (1778-1855). In addition to translations from English and French journals, this journal also receives original work from scientists as well as factory owners. Among the detailed illustrations some textile samples and a hemp and flax crusher on a folding plate.


Livre de recettes et descriptions de colorants, avec des échantillons de feutre teintés.

Book of recipes and descriptions of dyes, with dyed felt samples.
South-east of France, ca. 1820. [62] pp. including a few blanks in main text [35] p. 20 cm.
Manuscript in dark brown ink on paper, written in an early 19th-century round-hand script, with recipes or descriptions of nearly 100 dyes, each with a large heading, and about 20 (of about 30) small samples of dyed cloth mounted in the margin.
This is a remarkable recipe and sample book for cloth dyes. The profound disclosure of such books is of paramount importance for material-technical research. This concerns insight into the materials and techniques used in its production. The color samples provide a unique source for research on the composition of the dyes as described.

Etching described and simplified, with progressive illustrations / by a practical engraver [Charles Castle].

London : W.S. Orr, 1849. 24 pages, [3] leaves of engraved plates [by the author] : 3 illustrations ; 17 cm.
Charles Castle, Jr., engraver and miniature painter, was born in Reading 1805, married Sophia, and they had three daughters. His studio was at 41 Castle Street, Holborn (London), and towards the end of his life he moved to 38 Cropley Street, Islington (London), where he died in 1886. In 1863 he was also recorded as being a photographer.
A very good copy in original dark green blind stamped limp cloth, gilt lettered on the upper cover.

Keramik : eine Sammlung Originalentwürfe zur Ausführung in Glas, Fayence, Porzellan, Majolica, Terracotta, Thon, Steinzeug, Marmor, Metall etc zum praktischen Gebrauch für Fabrikanten, Modelleure, Decorateure, Musterzeichner, Fach- und Zeichenschulen / entworfen und herausgegeben von Wilhelm F. Toifel.

Dresden : Gilbers’schen Königl. Hof-Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1885-1886. [9] p., 50 bl. pl. : uitsluitend ill. ; 46 cm.
Published in 10 deliveries of 5 sheets each. Magnificent, delicate, neo-renaissance sketches, reproduced in extraordinary quality. Although the objects shown are also made in glass or precious metal, they are intended to serve as models for the ceramist. The introduction is mainly concerned with porcelain painting. The plates show bowls, carafes, jugs, vases, kettles, candlesticks, tiles, trophies, plates, lamps etc. Often in the original size or in the scale 1: 2 or 1: 3. The plates are signed and dated 1878-1885. Two color photographs of an original vase from a private collection are present for the representation of a “Vase aus Thon” (Plate 14).

Die grosse Wiener Schule / Ernst Oldenbruch.

Kritzendorf bei Wien : Oldenbruch u. Sohn, [1925-1930]. 1 cassette : 30 illustrations ; 34 cm.
A basic teaching and reference book for an innovative method developed by Kritzendorfer Oldenbruch for the painting of wooden surfaces (mainly furniture and floors) with wood or stone patterns, for the purpose of surface protection and the aesthetic refinement of objects made from lesser wood species. The pictures, reproduced in detail and reproduced in strong colors, show step by step instructions accompanied with detailed legends for the production of paints in the look of high-quality woods and marbles. The accompanying volume contains a comprehensive material knowledge, recipes and application notes, between the recommendation and thanksgiving from among others the German painting industry, professionals, training institutions as well as specialist press discussions.
30 Leporelli in chromolithography, each with 12 or 10 full-page illustrations, as well as illustrated accompanying volume.

The earth museum catalogue 1978-2015 / herman de vries.

[Eschenau] : [herman de vries], [2016]. 2 volumes : illustrations ; 31, 33 cm. ISBN: 9783000539565.
Numbered edition: 104 (out of 200). Exhibition: Ingolstadt, concrete Museum of Art, 2016. Bissingen Städtischen Galerie Bietigheim, 2016-2017.
Facsimile edition of the rubbings made by the artist of soil samples from around the world. Herman de Vries (1931- ) collected during 38 years from 1978-2015 more than 8000 soil samples which he rubbed on leaves of paper. Part I contains the locations of the samples, Part II the rubbings. The collection of samples is located at the Musée Gassendi in Digne-les-Bains.


Aanwinsten januari 2017

Le dessinateur pour les fabriques d’étoffes d’or, d’argent et de soi / par M. Joubert de l’Hiberderie ; avec la traduction de six tables raisonnées, tirées de l’Abecedario pittorico, imprimé à Naples en 1733.

Paris : chez Sébastien Jorry …, 1765. xlviii, 218, [6] p., 5 ill. ; 21 cm.
A rare work dealing with the design and production of luxury fabrics, especially silks, intended for the working designer, with several plates of floral patterns and much technical matter in the text. The final chapter describes a designer’s trip around Paris “c’est à dire, indication de tout ce qu’il y ade curieux relativement a la peinture & au dessin : comme les plus fameux Magazins d’Etoffes, cabinets des estampes & de peintre, particuliers & publics, édifices, équipages, manufactures, maisons royales, statuaires, spectacles … “. The second part is of almost equal interest; it is in six sections and consists of extensive lists of books on painters and painting, architecture and perspective, design and finally instructions on engraving, fresco painting, etc.


Die Erlernung der Zeichen Kunst durch die Geometrie und Perspectiv / von G.H.W.

Vol. 1: Erfurt : [s.n.], [1763 i.e.1764]. [7] Bl., 160 S., [4] S, [20] Bl. : 22 Ill. ; 19 cm.
Vol. 2: Erfurt : [s.n.], 1763. 108 S., [2] Bl., XI gef. Bl. : ill., graph. Darst. ; 19 cm.

Nützliche Anweisung zu der Zeichenkunst derer Blumen : oder, wie ein jeder auf eine sehr leichte Art nach geometrischen und perspectivischen Grundsätzen im Nachzeichnen derer Blumen verfahren soll / [G.H. Werner]

[Erfurt] : [s.n.], 1765. [6] bl., 175, [4] p., [11] bl. pl. ill. ; 19 cm.
Two rare artists manuals for young artists in one volume, written by the engraver and medal cutter Georg Heinrich Werner (1723-1789). He was in the service of Heinrich XXXVI and Fürst Christian Günther von Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The engravings of Werner are based on the work of De Passe and Goeree.

De historia SS. imaginum et picturarum, pro vero earum usu contra abusus, libri quatuor; / auctore Joanne Molano … Ejusdem Oratio de Agnis Dei, et alia quaedam. ; Joannes Natalis Paquot recensuit, illustravit, supplevit.

Lovanii, : typis Academicis, 1771. XXXI, [1], 676, [3] p. ; 26 cm.
Molanus as he is usually called, born Jan Vermeulen or Jan van der Meulen, and latinized as Joannes Molanus (in French “Molano”) (1533–1585) was an influential Counter Reformation Flemish Catholic theologian of Louvain University, where he was Professor of Theology, and Rector from 1578. Among many other subjects he wrote on the proper content of religious images, taking a very severe line in his De Picturis et Imaginibus Sacris, pro vero earum usu contra abusus (“Treatise on Sacred Images”) of 1570. Five further, enlarged, editions of this appeared between 1570 and 1771. Molanus is today mainly remembered by art historians for being one of the first authorities to turn the short and inexplicit decrees of the Council of Trent (1563) on sacred images into minutely detailed instructions for artists, which were then widely enforced in Catholic countries mostly.

Catalogus van een prachtige, welgeconserveerde en propere inboedel, bestaande in glansrijk gepolijst merendeels nieuwmodisch gefatsoeneerd zilverwerk … Fraai bewerkt plated, galanterien en rariteiten … en fijn blaauwe Oostindische en andere porseleinen, lak-, christal-, glas- en aardewerken mitsgaders eene collectie welgeconditioneerde boeken, en meerdere goederen alles nagelaten bij wijlen vrouwe Johanna Maria Böninger, weduwe van den Wel Edelen Heer Jacob Sigrist.

Amsterdam : B. Sligtenhorst van Rees, 1824. 83 p. ; 19 cm.
Catalogue of the auction by notaries Mrs. Van Homrigh and Commelin, 1824/11/16

Die Kunst weisses Steingut mit durchsichtiger Glasur nach Art der Franzosen und Engländer anzufertigen : nebst einer Abhandlung über die im Musselfeure eingeschmolzenen Steingutfarben / aus dem Französischen des Bastenaire Daudenart, übertragen von Georg Frick.

Ilmenau : B.F. Voigt, 1832. xiv, 415 p. 4 folded leaves of plates : illustrations ; 18 cm. Series: Neuer Schauplatz der Künste und Handwerke ; 56.
Rare and extensive work on the manufacturing of fayence, with a chapter about clay and its cleansing, oven, turntables and turning, fuel and burning, over translucent glazes and burned painting. Before he started this volume, Bastenaire Daudenart visited the Stafforshire potteries. He was particularly impressed by the importance of the English factories, and wondered how an establishment which gave employment to close upon two thousand workmen could be conducted in such perfect order. Of all the technical improvements he saw there, for the first time, what surprised him the most was the regular application of steam power to pottery manufacture.

Rough sketches from nature / by Henry Ryan.

Nottingham : C. Wheatley, [1878-85]. 3 preliminary leaves : 50 plates ; 42 cm.
Large and impressive drawing examples for artists and draughtsmen.

Petit carnet no. 5 : tentures / E. Maincent.

Paris : En vente au Bureau du Journal le Garde Meuble, rue de Lancry no. 2, [between 1880 and 1889]. 1 volume ([1] leaf, 60 leaves of color plates) : all illustrations ; 10 x 17 cm.
Issued as a small size reprint from a set of larger format plates of “Le Garde-meuble”; “Le Garde-meuble” was issued by subscription from 1839-1935 as a set of loose lithographic plates; work was issued in installments in 3 sections: seating furniture (sièges), case furniture (meubles) and bed and window hangings (tentures); originally published by Désiré Guilmard, it was later taken over by E. Maincent and subsequently by Maincent’s widow.
Consists of 60 color plates illustrating draperies primarily for beds and windows.

Hercules Segers : zeven etsen in facsimile / met een inleiding van Huigen Leeflang.

[Amsterdam] : Andreas Landshoff Productions in cooperation with Waanders Uitgevers, Zwolle, 2016. 1 unnumbered sheet, 19 pages, 7 unnumbered sheets with plates : illustrations; 40 cm.
The 17th-century painter and printmaker Hercules Segers was one of the most important artists of the Golden Age.
From the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, where work is the largest collection of Segers (74 prints, two oil sketches and a painting by Segers), were selected seven key pieces for this publication. Segers’ graphic experiments reproduce very difficult. But according Huigen Leeflang, Curator of the Rijksmuseum Print Room, the printer Bernard Ruijgrok is the first to successfully produce facsimiles which the etchings of Segers do full justice.
Composition: Luxury folder (with embossing linen provided on sturdy cardboard, tied with a ribbon, size 35×40 cm) in which seven prints in facsimile in a numbered and limited edition 175 copies. Attached thereto one matted and an introduction by Huigen Leeflang.

Silvia B : of beauty and doubt / concept, design and editing Silvia B.

Heijningen : Jap Sam Books, 2016. 264 p. : photo’s ; 33 cm.
Special numbered edition handmade skin-colored leather jacket with embossing, surgical sutures, a stamp and read ribbon of real hair: No 38 (50).
Published on the occasion of the retrospective show ‘Silvia B. Of Beauty and Doubt’ at Rijksmuseum Twenthe, 20 November 2016 – 7 May 2017.
As Silvia B. profounded herself as a multi disciplinary thinker from the very start, she actually took the on design of this book along with the concept, the photography and the editing. With her roots in fashion, she chose a magazine-look, a very luxurous variant though. And with her curator background her desire was to make a book like an exhibition in which one could wander around. She shows every series of work on its own selection of paper, alternated by quires of essays – again on their own kind of paper – throwing light upon her work from different angles.

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