140 - GONCOURT, Jules and Edmond de. The Art of the Eighteenth Century.

GONCOURT, Jules and Edmond de. The Art of the Eighteenth Century. An exceptional copy comprising the first edition of the 12 monographs on 18th-century French artists and vignette artists, published and illustrated with 42 etchings by the Goncourt brothers, all enriched with numerous documents and engravings—some of them originals—in a full morocco binding signed by Marmin. Paris, E. Dentu, 1859–1875. 12 fascicles in 1 quarto volume (220 x 280 mm), full green morocco, spine with raised bands accented by a gold dotted line, central fleurons and corner arabesques gilded within a double gilded frame with panels, author and title in gold lettering, date at the bottom, guilloché end caps, triple gold fillet framing the covers, wide gold interior lace, double gold fillet on the edges, guilloché end caps, all edges gilt. Binding signed Marmin. Approximately 500 pages (discontinuous pagination), 1 frontispiece, and 42 etchings, including 38 engraved by the Goncourt brothers (36 by Jules, 2 by Edmond). The binding is sun-faded on the spine and part of the covers, with scuffing and slight losses. Marginal foxing; some engravings have faded; graphite and pencil annotations in the captions of certain illustrations. Complete collection in first edition of the 12 fascicles published annually between 1859 and 1875 by the Goncourt brothers, each printed in a run of 200 copies on Holland paper. The first 11 issues feature biographies and summary catalogs of the works of 18th-century French artists (the Saint-Aubins, Watteau, Prudhon, Boucher, Greuze, Chardin, Fragonard, Debucourt, La Touret) and vignette artists (Gravelot, Cochin, Eisen, and Moreau); the final issue (“Notes, Additions, Errata”), placed here first, contains the general frontispiece, various illustrations, the title of the complete collection, as well as an introduction (67 pp.) and a table of plates. Each issue is illustrated with 2 to 4 original etchings based on the artists studied, all engraved by Jules de Goncourt except for two, which were the work of his brother, namely Augustin de Saint-Aubin Seated on a Stool (Saint-Aubin) and Justice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime (Prud’hon). An exceptional copy, richly illustrated with documents and engravings, including: - 43 engravings mounted throughout the volume, including Chardin’s engraving “Les bouteilles de savon” published by Filloeul in 1739 - 20 engraved portraits and photographs related to Jules and Edmond de Goncourt, including an original photograph by Félix Nadar, portraits by Gavarni and Varin, and a full-page color portrait by André Gill - 3 facsimiles of manuscripts by Edmond de Goncourt and 1 page of facsimile drawings by Jules de Goncourt. From the library of Jean Cadilhac, with his heraldic bookplate pasted twice onto the white endpapers. A highly desirable copy, in a contemporary binding signed by Marmin.