99 pp. 8vo, attractive antique calf-backed paste-paper boards, spine gilt, red morocco lettering-piece on spine. Paris: Joullain, 1778.

The uncommon sale catalogue, fully priced throughout and with buyers’ names, of a noteworthy collection devoted primarily to Italian art and sculpture. Bourlat de Montredon (d. 1777), was an influential amateur and collector who resided in Constantinople for forty years.

The catalogue thoroughly describes 695 lots, many of which are composed of numerous items. Lots 579-671 are Bourlat de Montredon’s impressive group of books of prints, mostly focused on the architecture and decorative arts of Italy, including a number of works by... More

168 pp. Small 8vo (164 x 95 mm.), cont. pink paste-paper wrappers (edges worn). Rome: Mordacchini, 1825.

A scarce revised and updated edition (1st ed. under this title: 1819) of this museum catalogue. It describes the institution’s paintings and sculptures, a number of which had been seized by the French during the conquest of Italy and subsequently returned.

A very good copy; some soiling and wear to the wrappers.

❧ For an account of the museum’s establishment see C. Paul, “Capitoline Museum, Rome: Civic Identity and Personal Cultivation,” in The First Modern Museums of Art: The Birth of an Institution... More

Finely engraved added allegorical title-page & added engraved port. of the author, 158 engraved plates (numbered 1-54; 1-42; 1-25; 1-15; 1-17; 1-5), five engraved headpieces & four tailpieces in the text, and several finely engraved initials. 8 p.l., 127, [14] pp., 1 leaf of errata. Folio, cont. red morocco, gilt arms of Nicolas-Joseph Foucault on covers, panelled in gilt, spine gilt, a.e.g. Rome: J.J. Komarek, 1690.

First edition, and a splendid copy in handsome contemporary red morocco with the arms of Nicolas Joseph Foucault, of a “sumptuous work describing and depicting upon the excellent engraved plates a large variety of... More

140 pp. 12mo (150 x 95 mm.), cont. gray wrappers, label in manuscript on spine, stitched as issued. Paris: L. P. Dubray, 1811.

First and only edition of the uncommon catalogue of the two-part exhibition of paintings, drawings, and sculpture held in the Musée Napoléon (the name of the Louvre from 1804 to 1815). The first portion lists 681 drawings, paintings, and sculptures. It included the work of artists such as Albani, del Sarto, Botticelli, Canaletto, the Carracci, da Vinci, Mantegna, Michelangelo, Murillo, Veronese, Raphael, Tintoretto, Vasari, Dürer, van Dyck, A. van Ostade, Joshua Reynolds, Rubens, Bouchardon, Le Brun, Claude... More

180 pp. 12mo (145 x 90 mm.), cont. blue stiff paste-paper boards, label in manuscript on spine. Paris: L’Imprimerie des Sciences et Arts, An XI [but ca. 1803].

The rare catalogue for a large exhibition of antiquities seized from Italy, consisting of 223 objects. This livret begins with descriptions of the ceilings in six rooms of the museum. Each piece is analyzed at length, with historical and mythological explanations, scholarly notes on the materials and any reproductions, and includes the Italian institution or collection from which it was confiscated — e.g., the Vatican, the Villa Albani, the ducal palace of... More

ii, 109 pp. 12mo (155 x 100 mm.), cont. orange paste-paper wrappers (extremities a little frayed), label in manuscript on upper cover, stitched as issued. Paris: Dubray, 1807.

A livret documenting the sculptures, antiquities, paintings, and drawings assembled for an exhibition celebrating the French victory at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt (1806). This catalogue consists of 710 entries, many extensively described with scholarly notes. Artists whose works were shown include J. Asselijn, Bakhuizen, Bega, Bol, S. Bourdon, Brauwer, Canaletto, An. Carracci, Cranach, Dow, Dürer, van Eyck, both Poussin, Giorgione, H. Holbein, Jordaens, Lairesse, A. Mignon, A. & I. van Ostade, Potter... More

Five full-page woodcut illustrations in the text. 77; 76 folding leaves. Two vols. Large 8vo, orig. blue wrappers, orig. stitching. Chengdu: Jinling da xue [Jinling University Chinese Culture Research Institute], 1939.

First edition. Shang (1902-91), archeologist, epigraphist, and calligrapher, was one of the greatest Chinese archeologists of the 20th century. He was an authority on oracle bones and published widely on the subject. He was also well-versed in the tomb culture of the Central Plains and participated in an excavation of a large Han Dynasty tomb in Changsha (Hunan).

The present work, on the archeological excavations of tombs in Changsha... More