306 - Albrecht Dürer (1471 – Nuremberg – 1528), *The Little Courier*.

Albrecht Dürer (1471 – Nuremberg – 1528), *The Little Courier*. Engraving on laid paper, Bull’s Head watermark (Meder 64). (c. 1496). 10.8 x 7.8 cm (sheet). Bartsch 80; Meder 79 a (of e); Schoch/Mende/Scherbaum 10 a (of e). A very fine, early Meder lifetime impression, printed very strongly and sharply, with abundant ink relief, trimmed just outside the borderline. This engraving is one of Dürer’s finest secular works. It is part of a group of six small engravings depicting genre scenes, all of which were produced around 1496/97, and through which Dürer sought to enter a market that Schongauer and van Meckenem had already served before him. Furthermore, the “Little Courier” may also have served as a model for other artists. – On the reverse, two horizontal, smoothed crease marks, with slight thinning of the paper in the corners; otherwise in very good condition. Prints of this quality are very rare. Taxation: subject to differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme).