Lot n° 78
Estimation :
200 - 300
EUR
78. [THOMAS DE LEU]. Factitious collection of prints. S.l.n. - Lot 78
78. [THOMAS DE LEU]. Factitious collection of prints. S.l.n.d. (circa 1606). Oblong album, brown morocco, ornate ribbed spine, framed with cold fillet on the boards (modern binding).
The album comprises a suite of 107 intaglio prints by the Dutch-born French artist Thomas de Leu (1560-1612). The plates come from primitive prints of several suites (Solitudo sive vitae foeminarum anachoritarum, Oraculum anachoreticum, Sylvae Sacrae), none of which is complete in itself.
The copy was bound in the 20th century, and titled on the spine "Bible en estampes". The handwritten notes on the endpapers have been preserved as loose leaves. There are a few identification notes and this curious assertion: "A book in poor condition should be kept as it is, leaving the responsibility to the person who mutilated it, often through ignorance, but sometimes, alas, through vandalism". The engraved, armorial bookplate of Cardinal Victor Lécot has been added to the new endpaper. Victor Lucien Sulpice Lécot (1831-1908) was bishop of Dijon, then archbishop of Bordeaux and cardinal.
The prints have been restored where necessary, sometimes with paper reinforcement on the spine to fill gaps, but many still retain traces or minor defects. The exceptional nature of this collection should not detract from its average condition.
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