898 - (Klopstock, F.G.).

(Klopstock, F.G.). Odes. Hamburg, Bode 1771. Small 4°. With 1 copperplate coat of arms. 4 leaves, 290 pp., 1 leaf of endpaper with title (worn). Goed. IV/1, 169, 7. First edition. — Printed on finely ribbed Roman handmade paper with a watermark (a bird with the initials “GG” and the papal coat of arms with a tiara and crossed keys). One of the few German luxury prints of the 18th century whose production was initiated by Lessing, who ran the Hamburg publishing house together with Bode from 1768 to 1769. The use of this extremely expensive Italian paper—for which Lessing had a particular fondness, as it (like the purist print quality) corresponded to his aesthetic preferences—led, among other things, to financial difficulties and thus to the premature abandonment of his ambitious work as a publisher in Hamburg. In this copy, pages 221/222 and 245/246 have not yet been replaced by “die beyden Cartons” (instructions to the bookbinder). The coat-of-arms engraving on the dedication page reads “An Bernstorff.” - Parts are slightly stained and show some water stains along the edges. - ╔Included: The same author’s╗ Spiritual Songs. 2 parts in 1 vol. Copenhagen and Leipzig, Pelt 1769–73. With 2 repeated frontispieces. Contemporary half-leather binding with ribbon. - Total of 2 volumes (Part 2). With repeated title engraving.