Description
After Charles-Nicolas COCHIN le JEUNE (Paris, 1715-1790) engraved by PREVOST Frontispiece of the Encyclopédie Proof dated 1772. 35,5 x 23 cm Bibliography: Samuel Elie Rocheblave, Charles-Nicolas Cochin : graveur et dessinateur (1715-1790), Paris-Brussels, 1927, pl. 51; Christian Michel, Charles-Nicolas Cochin et le livre illustré au XVIIIe siècle, Geneva, 1987, p. 286, fig. 115. In his work for the engraving, Cochin reserved the preparatory drawing for the engraving for the publishers. He took care He took care to make a counter-proof which he often reworked in order to sell it to collectors. Cochin considered Cochin considered his drawings on the back-proof background as more accomplished than the preparatory drawings because they were in the desired direction for the final reading. the final reading. Cochin summed up his thinking in a letter dated 1 March 1780 to Desfriches: "There will be in There will be two allegorical frontispieces in this suite which will make a pleasant picture. I will keep them for you, that is to say the redrawn I will keep them for you, that is to say the redrawn counter-proofs which are usually better than the first ones, especially in that they are more correct 1 ". The drawing for the Frontispiece was exhibited at the Salon of 1765, the etching is dated 1769 and the plate was completed in 1772. It was then sent to the subscribers of the Encyclopédie to be inserted in the first volume published 21 years earlier. The Frontispiece is an apology for knowledge and learning that leads to the discovery of Truth. In the second folio edition published in Geneva, the engraving by Cochin is accompanied by an Explanation of the Frontispiece: "Under a Temple of Ionic Architecture, Sanctuary of Truth Truth is seen wrapped in a veil and shining with a Light that spreads the clouds and disperses them. To the right of Truth, Reason and Philosophy are busy lifting and tearing away the veil of Truth. At its feet, the kneeling Theology receives the light from above. Following the chain of figures, on the same side, we find Memory, Ancient and Modern History, History writes the splendours and Time serves as its support. Below are grouped Astronomy, Geometry and Physics. The figures below this group show Optics, Botany Chemistry and Agriculture. Below are several Arts and Professions that emanate from the Sciences. To the left of Truth we see Imagination, which is ready to crown and embellish the Truth. Below Imagination, the Draughtsman has placed the different genres of Poetry, Epic, Dramatic, Satyr and Pastoral. Next come the other arts of Imagination, Music, Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture 2 ". The publication of the 17 volumes of texts and 11 volumes of plates was spread over 21 years, between 1751 and 1772. 1. See C. Michel, Charles-Nicolas Cochin et le livre illustré au XVIIIe siècle, Geneva, ed. Librairie Droz, 1987, p. 132. 2. op. cit. p.285, explanation published with the Frontispiece
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After Charles-Nicolas COCHIN le JEUNE (Paris, 1715-1790) engraved by PREVOST Frontispiece of the Encyclopédie Proof dated 1772. 35,5 x 23 cm Bibliography: Samuel Elie Rocheblave, Charles-Nicolas Cochin : graveur et dessinateur (1715-1790), Paris-Brussels, 1927, pl. 51; Christian Michel, Charles-Nicolas Cochin et le livre illustré au XVIIIe siècle, Geneva, 1987, p. 286, fig. 115. In his work for the engraving, Cochin reserved the preparatory drawing for the engraving for the publishers. He took care He took care to make a counter-proof which he often reworked in order to sell it to collectors. Cochin considered Cochin considered his drawings on the back-proof background as more accomplished than the preparatory drawings because they were in the desired direction for the final reading. the final reading. Cochin summed up his thinking in a letter dated 1 March 1780 to Desfriches: "There will be in There will be two allegorical frontispieces in this suite which will make a pleasant picture. I will keep them for you, that is to say the redrawn I will keep them for you, that is to say the redrawn counter-proofs which are usually better than the first ones, especially in that they are more correct 1 ". The drawing for the Frontispiece was exhibited at the Salon of 1765, the etching is dated 1769 and the plate was completed in 1772. It was then sent to the subscribers of the Encyclopédie to be inserted in the first volume published 21 years earlier. The Frontispiece is an apology for knowledge and learning that leads to the discovery of Truth. In the second folio edition published in Geneva, the engraving by Cochin is accompanied by an Explanation of the Frontispiece: "Under a Temple of Ionic Architecture, Sanctuary of Truth Truth is seen wrapped in a veil and shining with a Light that spreads the clouds and disperses them. To the right of Truth, Reason and Philosophy are busy lifting and tearing away the veil of Truth. At its feet, the kneeling Theology receives the light from above. Following the chain of figures, on the same side, we find Memory, Ancient and Modern History, History writes the splendours and Time serves as its support. Below are grouped Astronomy, Geometry and Physics. The figures below this group show Optics, Botany Chemistry and Agriculture. Below are several Arts and Professions that emanate from the Sciences. To the left of Truth we see Imagination, which is ready to crown and embellish the Truth. Below Imagination, the Draughtsman has placed the different genres of Poetry, Epic, Dramatic, Satyr and Pastoral. Next come the other arts of Imagination, Music, Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture 2 ". The publication of the 17 volumes of texts and 11 volumes of plates was spread over 21 years, between 1751 and 1772. 1. See C. Michel, Charles-Nicolas Cochin et le livre illustré au XVIIIe siècle, Geneva, ed. Librairie Droz, 1987, p. 132. 2. op. cit. p.285, explanation published with the Frontispiece
