One finely engraved head-piece. 4 p.l., LXXX pp. 8vo, attractive early 19th-century calf-backed marbled boards, flat spine gilt, orange & green morocco lettering pieces on spines. [Venice, ca. 1776].

[bound with]:

(PINELLI, Maffeo). Catalogo di Quadri raccolti dal fu Signor Maffeo Pinelli, ed ora posti in vendita in Venezia 1785. viii, 125 pp., one blank leaf. 8vo. [Venice: July 1785]. More about Catalogo dei Quadri dei Disegni, e dei Libri che trattano dell’Arte del Disegno della Galleria...

70 pp. 8vo (190 x 125 mm.), late 19th-century brown morocco-backed marbled boards, signed “A. Knecht” (tail of spine a trifle rubbed), title on spine. Paris: Lebrun, 1784.

The very rare auction catalogue, fully priced in a contemporary hand, detailing the impressive and eclectic collection belonging to Saint Julien (1715-?95), man of letters and author of several books on the arts. This is the first of three sales attributed by various sources to Saint Julien (see also Lugt 3830 & 4300). Patrick Michel refers to him as one of the leading collectors of paintings in the 1770s, albeit with taste (goût canaille) characteristic of... More about Catalogue d’une belle Collection de Tableaux des Ecoles d’Italie, de Flandres, de Hollande et...

71 pp. 8vo, 19th-cent. paste-paper boards (corners a little worn), blue morocco lettering-piece on spine. Paris: Paillet & Hugues, 1786.

A rare sale catalogue, with most prices and buyers’ names written in a contemporary hand. Aubert (1736-85), jeweler to the Crown and a favorite of Marie Antoinette, as well as the Comtesse du Barry before, blended his craft with occasional forays into art dealing; however, his avid collecting took precedence. In the preface, Paillet (1743-1814), the expert for this sale, praises Aubert’s taste for Dutch and French pictures along with his impressive natural history cabinet.

This catalogue describes 293 lots: 79 lots of paintings (by Panini, J. Breughel, Rubens, van Dyck, Jordaens, Teniers, Wouwerman, Rembrandt, Metsu, Berghem, Netscher, van Ostade, A. Brouwer, P. Potter, Bourdon, Largillière, F. Boucher, Chardin, Greuze, Fragonard, Anne Valayer-Coster, etc.); 28 lots of drawings (by Bouchardon, Watteau, Lagrenée, etc.); 26 enamel miniatures; 38 lots of prints; 22 lots of sculptures; 38 lots from Aubert’s natural history cabinet; and 46 miscellaneous lots including vases with artificial flowers, bird-cages, rubies, cases of butterflies, etc. More about Catalogue des Tableaux précieux, Dessins, Gouaches, Estampes, Portraits en émail, par Petitot...

47 pp. Small 8vo, attractive modern paste-paper wrappers. [Paris]: de l’Imprimerie de Montalant, approbation dated 1747.

One of the major painting sales of the decade. 121 lots. Fine copy.

❧ Lugt 662. More about Drop-title]: Catalogue de Tableaux, provenans de la Gallerie & du Cabinet de M. le Baron de...

30 pp. 8vo (180 x 115 mm.), 19th-century calf-backed paste-paper boards (spine rubbed), spine gilt. Paris: Basan, 1773.

A quite scarce sale catalogue, which very possibly presents a number of the earliest paintings imported by the emerging expert Jean Baptiste Pierre Lebrun (1748-1813), from the Low Countries. Lugt records the consigners as “Favre, peintre à gouache” and “Lebrun.” “Favre” is also noted in this copy on the page facing the title-page. Under the auspices of Basan (1723-97), one of the pre-eminent dealers of the time, Lebrun likely consigned pieces that he had acquired on a buying trip. Basan writes in the preface (in trans.)... More about Catalogue d’une très-belle Collection de Tableaux de différens grands Maîtres des trois...

iv, 228 pp. Small 8vo, cont. mottled calf (expertly rebacked), spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Paris; London; Amsterdam; Brussels: 1776.

The uncommon sale catalogue of Blondel de Gagny (1695-1776), one of the greatest art collectors of the 18th century. Blondel served as France’s general treasurer and later supervised the decoration of Louis XVI’s countless parties and feasts. He was a veritable tastemaker, who revived styles and schools that had been underappreciated for decades simply by displaying them in his house which was open to visitors. The sales of his estate are momentous events in the history of collecting and... More about Catalogue de Tableaux précieux; Miniatures & Gouaches; Figures, Bustes & Vases de marbre...

28 pp. 8vo (215 x 140 mm.), late 19th-century red cloth, title on spine. Paris: Fournier, Folliot & Delalande, 1789.

A rare sale catalogue with no copy in American institutional collections. Courval, vicomte d’Anizy (d. 1788), conseiller of Parlement, amassed a choice group of paintings and prints. This catalogue describes 127 lots, including 51 lots of paintings (by Carracci, Molenaer, Vignon, Hubert Robert, Licherie, Ferret, etc.), four lots of drawings, 52 lots of prints, seven lots of porcelain, ten lots of sculpture, and three miscellaneous group lots. A note at the end of the catalogue advertises the sale of Courval’s arms, jewelry, clocks, snuffboxes, desk... More about Catalogue de Tableaux des trois Ecoles; Miniatures, Gouaches, Estampes encadrées & en...

Folding engraved frontis. & five engraved plates. 2 p.l., 2, 32 pp., [2], 33-103. 8vo, cont. half-sheep & marbled boards (rejointed & extremities rubbed), spine gilt. Edinburgh: Printed by J. Hutchison, [1833].

A famous sale with fatal results; it is clear that this copy survived the collapse of the floor on which the sale was held. John Clerk, Lord Eldin (1757–1832), was one of the leading Scottish lawyers of his time; “he acquired so extensive a practice that, it is said, at one period of his career he had nearly half the business of the court in his hands. As a pleader he was remarkable, both for... More about Catalogue of the Extensive, Genuine, and highly Valuable Collection of Pictures, late the...

1 p.l., 19, [2] pp. Small 8vo, attractive modern paste-paper wrappers. Paris: P. Prault & J. Barrois, 1749.

The uncommon catalogue of Gersaint’s penultimate sale, fully priced in a contemporary hand and with some buyers’ names. Edmé François Gersaint (1694-1750) was Paris’s leading dealer in Dutch paintings, shells, Asian decorative arts, and antiquities. This sale is an example of the “ventes montées,” which Gersaint organized to sell off his stock as well as that of his colleagues. According to the copy in the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie in the Hague, the artworks offered for sale belonged to Gersaint and the dealers Lempereur, Araignon, and... More about Catalogue d’une Grande Collection de Tableaux des meilleurs maistres d’Italie, de Flandres et...

xii, 292 pp. Small 8vo, later paste paper boards (spine slightly rubbed), label on spine. Paris: Prault, 1772.

The uncommon catalogue of the fourth and final sale of Huquier’s collection, which took place after his death. Huquier (1695-1772), a leading engraver and publisher of his time, not only earned commissions from Watteau, Gillot, and Meissonnier, but also executed numerous works in the realms of interior decoration and architecture for Jacques de la Joue and Charles Parrocel. During his illustrious career, he produced 970 works, including 362 designs for Watteau, which earned him “a funeral conducted with much pomp and attended by an... More about Catalogue de Tableaux à l’huile, à gouasse & au pastel; Peintures de la Chine,...

4 p.l., 175 pp. 8vo, modern marbled paper over boards, red morocco lettering-piece on spine. [Anvers]: J. Grange, [1785].

A rare sale catalogue offering 524 paintings. Knyff (1713-84), a Belgian noble, possessed an exceptional collection of Italian, Dutch, and French works including Rubens’ “Christ and the Adulterous Woman” (no. 176: “Ce Morceau paraît être le fruit d’un pinceau plus qu’humain.”). Each lot is described, some at great length, with commentary on technique and provenance along with measurements. Due to the size of the collection, the viewing was held in the deceased’s home and the catalogue is divided by room.

Very good copy. More about Catalogue de la riche, rare et célebre Collection de Tableaux…qui formoient le Cabinet de...

48 pp. 8vo (180 x 130 mm.), late 19th-cent. brown morocco-backed marbled boards, spine gilt. Paris: Delaville & Paillet, 1781.

The auction catalogue of 114 paintings belonging to the Duc de la Vallière (1708-80), the greatest bibliophile of the 18th century. This copy is fully priced, with many buyers’ names added in a contemporary hand. In addition to his fervent book collecting, La Vallière amassed an impressive collection of Italian and Northern school paintings, described here.

The present catalogue details 114 lots of paintings and a lot of two porcelain candle-stands. The paintings include the work of Raphael, Veronese, Tintoretto, Jordaens, Teniers, Rembrandt, Dou... More about Catalogue des Tableaux précieux, des plus grands Maîtres des Ecoles Flamande & Hollandoise;...