Description
Asia - HELMAN (Isidore Stanislas). Battles of China reduced from the large plates that the Emperor Kien-Long had engraved in Paris. [Paris], Hocquart, [1783-1788]. Oblong folio (37 x 55 cm); modern half vellum boards. A title leaf and 24 plates engraved by Helman, of the Academy of Lille in Flanders, dated in the plate between 1783 and 1788. Reissued in the early 19th century of Helman's reduction of the large plates engraved after the drawings of the Jesuit Father Attiret, published by order of the Chinese Emperor Quianlong in 1788 under the title "Faits mémorables des Empereurs de la Chine, tirés des annales chinoises". During his reign, Emperor Quianlong, also known as Kien-Long (1736-1795), had to put down a Tartar revolt. The plates represent scenes from this expedition. The drawings, which we owe to various Jesuits including Father Attiret and Jean-Damascène, were sent through the intermediary of the Compagnie des Indes and arrived in Paris around 1765 to be engraved. These prints were engraved by Aliamet, Choffard, Le Bas, Née, Prévost and A. de Saint-Aubin under the direction of Cochin. As the printing was strictly reserved for China, only a few proofs remained in Europe. It is from these plates that Helman undertook the reduction of the Battles of China. (Cohen 479; Portalis & Béraldi II, p. 396; Löwendahl II, 653.)
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Asia - HELMAN (Isidore Stanislas). Battles of China reduced from the large plates that the Emperor Kien-Long had engraved in Paris. [Paris], Hocquart, [1783-1788]. Oblong folio (37 x 55 cm); modern half vellum boards. A title leaf and 24 plates engraved by Helman, of the Academy of Lille in Flanders, dated in the plate between 1783 and 1788. Reissued in the early 19th century of Helman's reduction of the large plates engraved after the drawings of the Jesuit Father Attiret, published by order of the Chinese Emperor Quianlong in 1788 under the title "Faits mémorables des Empereurs de la Chine, tirés des annales chinoises". During his reign, Emperor Quianlong, also known as Kien-Long (1736-1795), had to put down a Tartar revolt. The plates represent scenes from this expedition. The drawings, which we owe to various Jesuits including Father Attiret and Jean-Damascène, were sent through the intermediary of the Compagnie des Indes and arrived in Paris around 1765 to be engraved. These prints were engraved by Aliamet, Choffard, Le Bas, Née, Prévost and A. de Saint-Aubin under the direction of Cochin. As the printing was strictly reserved for China, only a few proofs remained in Europe. It is from these plates that Helman undertook the reduction of the Battles of China. (Cohen 479; Portalis & Béraldi II, p. 396; Löwendahl II, 653.)
