231 - MONICART, Jean-Baptiste de.

MONICART, Jean-Baptiste de. Versailles Immortalized, or The Speaking Wonders… Paris: Published by Etienne Ganeau and Jacques Quillau, 1720. Two parts in one sturdy quarto volume, XIX-430-(1) pp. and (5) ff., 456 pp., (4) ff., title in red and black. Contemporary speckled fawn sheepskin, ribbed spine, red edges (binding heavily rubbed with losses; pages slightly loose; a few fold-out plates with tears but no losses; some soiling and tarnished edges; the ff. slightly brittle, the first title page and a few preliminary folios are missing, the large fold-out map of Versailles is slightly soiled and has a tear). A rare work richly decorated with numerous black etchings, including fold-out plates, numerous reproductions of statues, and engraved headpieces featuring portraits or allegorical figures. Of the 9 volumes planned for this monumental celebration, only these 2 volumes were published, richly illustrated with works by Charles Le Brun, Cochin, and Coypel—including views, statues, and paintings—engraved by Aveline, Duflos, Flipart, and others… A poetic and detailed description in free verse of the artistic and architectural wonders of the Versailles estate and its surroundings. The number of plates varied from one copy to another. Handwritten “ex libris” marks by Denis Carlier (dated November 18, 1845, at the beginning of the volume) in pen or pencil on a few pages. Cohen, 724.