3850 - Hopfer.

Hopfer. Opera Hopferiana. Frankfurt, Silberberg, (1802). Qu.gr.fol. (37 x 51 cm). With 89 (instead of 92) iron etchings by Daniel, Hieronymus and Lambert Hopfer on 51 (instead of 53) plates. 3 (instead of 4) vols. Central hardcover with gilt stamped cover title. (Stained and rubbed, corners bumped). Hollstein German XV, p. 33 ff. (with plate decorations after the Bartsch numbers); Ornamentstichkat. Bln. 3; Brunet III, 303 - Splendid and extremely rare ornamental work. The Nuremberg art dealer David Funck had bought 230 plates from the Augsburg artist family Hopfer in the 17th century, numbered them in the plates (the so-called 'Funck number') and distributed them. Around 1800, the Frankfurt publisher Silberberg acquired another 92 of these plates, which he had cleaned and published in a limited edition of 60 copies in bound form (cf. Staatsbibl. Bamberg online). Daniel Hopfer's "great significance for the history of art lies in the fact that he was probably the first to put the etching process at the service of the graphic arts, starting from decorative weapon painting, the etching of weapons... Like his sons, H. used thin iron plates for his etchings. His prints probably inspired other artists of his time, such as Urs Graf, Burgkmair and above all Dürer, to experiment and work with the new technique" (Thieme-B. XVII, 474 ff.). The etchings show ornaments and Renaissance alphabets, often filled with grotesques, altars, fountains, portraits of Charles V, Maximilian I, Martin Luther and Erasmus of Rotterdam, ceremonial vessels, coats of arms and figurative scenes, including some after Albrecht Dürer. - Foxing, heavy at the beginning and end. Preliminaries and first 3 plates waterstained, especially at bottom. Title with hs. Ownership annotation. 1st plate trimmed and edged all around, 2 portraits with large abrasions or shaves (with writing or loss of image), 1 plate loosened, title and ca. 4 plates with partly longer rep. marginal tears (1 into the image), of which the last two plates also with repaired corner tear; last plate completely reinforced. Missing 1 sheet. Preliminaries (index) and 2 plates with 3 etchings (Proverbs of Solomon and the portraits of Nero and Galba). - Magnificent and extremely rare ornamental work with 89 (of 92) iron etchings originally designed by Daniel Hopfer and his sons Hieronymus and Lambert. Hopfer's descendant David Funck acquired 230 of their original plates, engraved numbers into them (the so called 'Funck numbers'), and re-printed them around 1686-1700. And about a century later, 92 of these plates were acquired by Silberberg and re-re-printed in the Opera Hopferiana. - Foxing throughout, heavier at beginning and end. Dampstaining to printed text and first 3 plates, especially at bottom. Ms. ownership inscription to title. 1st plate trimmed and remargined, 2 portraits with abrasions or shavings (with loss of text reps. image), 1 plate loosened, title and c. 4 plates with longer rep. marginal tears (1 into image), of which the last 2 plates also have rep. corner tear-offs; final plate completely reinforced. Bound in contemp. half-calf, stained and rubbed, corners worn. Lacking printed index and 2 plates with 3 etchings (Salomon's sayings and the portraits of Nero and Galba).