115 - GOYA (Francisco). *Les Caprices*. No place, no date (Madrid, 1799). In-4 (306 x 200 mm), marbled calf, red title label and gold thread, marbled edges. (Contemporary binding).

GOYA (Francisco). *Les Caprices*. No place, no date (Madrid, 1799). In-4 (306 x 200 mm), marbled calf, red title label and gold thread, marbled edges. (Contemporary binding). COMPLETE SET of 80 plates, etchings and aquatints by Goya in remarkable proofs from the first print run, printed in slightly brownish black, before the bevels, on laid paper. A superb copy, in strictly contemporary Spanish binding; the bindings were likely commissioned by the artist himself for the copies he wished to give as gifts. This copy bears the following handwritten inscription in ink on the endpaper, in the Spanish handwriting of the period: “Soy M. Marcy, de Zayas.” The Caprices are presented as a series of engravings combining several techniques: etching, chisel engraving, drypoint, and aquatint. Behind his great mastery of various engraving techniques and his sense of composition lie the influences of Rembrandt and Velázquez. Across 80 plates, Goya explores three themes in an often dreamlike tone: love and its disillusionments, social satire, and witchcraft. Already suffering from deafness at the time he created the *Caprichos*, Goya also explores inner turmoil: the famous plate 43 is a form of self-portrait in which dreams blend with introspection. As an artist of the Enlightenment, he titled this plate “El sueño de la razón produce monstruos” (The Dream of Reason Produces Monsters). This enlightened critique is also found in plate 25, which denounces the violent upbringing of children. Finally, numerous figures in society—including the clergy, the nobility, and representatives of the Inquisition—are criticized, depicted as recurring animal figures such as the donkey. Although *Los Caprichos* did not enjoy immediate success in Spain, the series of prints quickly became highly popular in France. In his letter to the king regarding the donation of the original copper plates, Goya wrote as early as 1803 about *Los Caprichos*: “It is foreigners who desire them the most.” An article by Théophile Gautier published in 1842 helped further popularize the work in France. He praised the phantasmagorical accuracy of the work in another book dedicated to Spain, *Tra los montes*: “The abominable hags of Goya’s Caprices, which I had hitherto taken for nightmares and monstrous chimeras, are nothing but portraits of frightening accuracy.” (Tra los montes, Paris: Victor Magen, 1843, p. 53). Eugène Delacroix also expressed his admiration for the Spanish artist in a letter to Laurent Matheron (December 10, 1855), in which he wrote that the *Caprices* “are probably his masterpiece.” Plate 64 likely influenced Delacroix’s engraving *Méphistophélès dans les airs* (1828); Delacroix owned a copy of the collection. THE ORIGINAL EDITION IS EXTREMELY RARE. Delteil, 38 117. Harris, 36 115.