15 - ANDROUET DU CERCEAU, Jacques, and BALDUS, Édouard. [Les Petites Grotesques]. Miscellaneous collection.

ANDROUET DU CERCEAU, Jacques, and BALDUS, Édouard. [Les Petites Grotesques]. Miscellaneous collection. A miscellaneous collection comprising 62 plates of ornamental designs, from the personal library of the architect of the Petit Palais. No place [Paris], no publisher [Édouard Baldus], no date [circa 1880]. Large quarto, full marbled tan calfskin, spine with 5 raised bands highlighted by a gilt rule, panels decorated with a central metal embossing featuring an antique lamp crossed with a sword, title label in brown morocco leather. 62 heliogravure plates, including 58 numbered plates bearing the monograms “A.D.” and “E.B.” at the bottom and 4 unnumbered plates, all mounted on tabs. Binding slightly rubbed; title page slightly browned; rare small foxing spots. A precious composite facsimile printed in heliogravure by Édouard Baldus, bringing together the famous plates of “grotesques” by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau (1511–1586) published in two successive series (1550 and 1562). This first major collection of the artist’s ornamental designs marks a fundamental milestone in the decorative arts by disseminating the Mannerist repertoire of the Fontainebleau School. The plates illustrate the remarkable diversity of his work: from slender vertical candelabra (1550) to dense, fantastical architectural forms beneath vegetal trellises (1562), and rich horizontal friezes of foliage populated by chimeras. The collection includes spectacular Italian-inspired compositions on black backgrounds that dramatize the silhouettes, all rendered by Baldus with a black of beautiful depth. From the library of Charles Girault (1851–1932), architect of the Institut and designer of the Petit Palais for the 1900 World’s Fair (a beautiful ex-libris engraved on the inside cover). Girault drew direct inspiration from these Renaissance models when designing the sculpted decorations for his monuments. Copy in fine condition.