Xhrouet, Joseph ; Fines, Louis ; Natalis, Michael ; Kilian, Philipp Andreas ; Le Loup, Remacle

[SAUMERY, Pierre-Lambert; CRASSIER, Guillaume Pascal de] Les délices du païs de Liège, ou Description géographique, topographique et chorographique des monumens sacrés et profanes [...]. Liège E. Kints 1738-1744 5 vol. in-f° : [28]-378-[4], [20]-xxiv-372-[7], [16]-454-[5], [16]-448-[6], [12]-203-[2]-335-[5] pp. ; 230 pl. (small tears without missing 3 pl. of vol. 3, marg. wetness to most portraits and marg. worm gallery to last ff. vol. 5, few light russets and spots passim, otherwise in good condition). Contemporary basane, gilt spines, red tr. (black stain on upper cover of vol. 5, corners dulled, defects to headpieces, covers slightly rubbed, jaws partly split). First edition, complete with 230 etchings: 203 city views (including a panoramic fold-out view of Liège), castles (depending on reception, Saumery may or may not have added smoke from the chimneys), palaces, abbeys and churches on double pages by Remacle Le Loup (except the view of the town hall by J. Xhrouet),- 1 engraving of the mausoleum of Marie-Anne de Hinnisdael,- and 26 portraits engraved by P.A. Kilian after L. Fines, except for the portrait of Charles de Méan after Michel Natalis. After an eventful life, the French Calvinist de Saumery (c. 1690 - c. 1767) converted to Catholicism in Liège, where he undertook the editing of "Les Délices", with the exception of the historical précis and biographical notes written by G. de Crassier. Following an affair of morality, he left Liège for Holland, where he wrote a vengeful pamphlet against those who had made him rich, and expressed his regret at having abandoned Protestantism. Enriched with "La vue de Maestricht" (vol. IV, p. 79), a plate added optionally but often missing. Ref. De Theux 520-521. - De le Court 313. - Funck 393. - Biogr. nat. XXI:427-435. - Not in BB.