Basan, Pierre-François (1723-1797), author; Etienne-François, duc de Choiseul (1719-1785), collector; Rembrandt ; Breughel; Teniers; Ruysdaël; Rubens; N. Berghem; Van Dyck; Titian, Le Nain; Robert ; Greuze, artists; De Clos de Balme, provenance
Recueil D'Estampes Gravées D'Après Les Tableaux Du Cabinet de Monseigneur le Duc de Choiseul. (First Edition with Manuscript Annotations of Prices at the 1772 Sale. )
Paris: chez l'auteur - Pierre-François Basan, 1771. 4to, 20 x 27.5cm. Blonde calf, decorated ribbed spine (contemporary binding). Scuffs and rubbing, leather losses, split joint at top. Engraved title, dedication, 12 pages of text, portrait of the Duke of Choiseul, and 127 (of 128) finely engraved plates numbered 1-123 (excluding unnumbered plate 4, normally located between plates 38 and 39), including figures 44 and 45 engraved on a single plate, plate 47 numbered twice, 5 bis plates -68, 69, 76, 78, and 101-, plate 74 on a double page, figures 93 and 94 on a single plate. Plates 38 and 39 have shorter margins. Small loss to plate 33 without affecting the engraving. Fresh pages..... Bookplate with the coat of arms of De Clos de Balme......The Duke of Choiseul's cabinet contained mainly paintings by Flemish and Dutch masters such as Rembrandt (including a self-portrait), Breughel, Teniers, Ruysdael, Rubens, N. Berghem, and Van Dyck. It also contained a few canvases by Titian, Le Nain, Robert, and Greuze................)... Pierre-François Basan (1723-1797) was one of the leading figures in the 18th-century world of printmaking. He was an engraver, publisher, expert, and iconographer. He also brought Rembrandt to France, publishing one of the first engraved collections of his works, printed on his original copperplates, and Teniers, engraving many of his paintings with Le Bas.......................... After a brillant career in the army, Etienne-François, duc de Choiseul (1719-1785) married the daughter of Crozat. Thanks to the protection he received from Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV's mistress, Choiseul was made ambassador to the Holy See, and before long he was appointed minister of foreign affairs and later to the ministry of war and navy. After the death of his benefactor Madame de Pompadour in 1772 Choiseul was disgraced and exiled. Choiseul was a great collector, and asked Basan, one of the most eminent experts of the time, to organize a catalogue of his collection. Although dated 1771 on the title page, the catalogue was finished a year later. Choiseul was unfortunately disgraced the same year and a sale was organized by the expert Boileau on 6-10 April 1772; the remaining part of the collection was sold after Choiseul's death on 18 December 1786. This unique copy has the prices realized at the famous 1772 sale: La collection vendue est celle d'étienne-François, duc de Choiseul (1719-1785), ambassadeur à Rome de 1754 à 1757, puis à Vienne de 1757 à 1758 ; créé duc de Choiseul en 1758, il devient premier ministre de fait mais tombe en disgrâce à partir de 1770................Born in 1719, Étienne François de Choiseul-Beaupré Stainville first had a military career, rising to the rank of lieutenant general of the king's armies. He was ambassador to the Holy See between 1754 and 1757 and then to Vienna in 1758. That same year, he received the title of Duke of Choiseul-Amboise and was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and then, in 1761, for the Navy and for War.... The Duke of Choiseul pursued a policy of revenge against England; to do this, he relied on the alliance with Austria and the Bourbons of Spain, Parma and Naples through the Pacte de Famille signed in 1761. He also negotiated the marriage of the Duke of Berry, future Louis XVI, with the archduchess of Austria, Marie-Antoinette.... Under his government, the borders of France widened, with the inclusion of Lorraine in 1766 and the acquisition of Corsica in 1768... A friend of the Encyclopaedists and Madame de Pompadour, he was interested in the art and philosophy of his time; his Voltairean spirit distanced him from Rousseau, whose Social Contract (1762) he rejected.... At the beginning of 1770, Choiseul acted more and more without the king's consent, often even against his will. Madame Du Barry, to whom he had spoken undiplomatically, played a role in his eviction from the court at the end of 1770. His exile, to his estate of Chanteloup, near Amboise, was a triumph: everyone flocked to the Duke of Choiseul. He died in 1785, leaving behind him a disastrous personal financial situation... ; Pierre-François Basan (publisher) French, 1723 - 1797; The Artists in the Recueil: Pierre-Charles Baquoy (artist) French, 1759 - 1829; Louis Binet (artist) French, 1744 - c. 1800; Robert Daudet (artist) French, 1737 - 1824; Remi-Henri-Joseph Delvaux (artist) French, 1748 or 1750 - 1823; Balthasar Anton Dunker (artist) German, 1746 - 1807;;; Louis Germain (artist) French, 1733 - 1791 or after; Carl Guttenberg (artist) German, 1743 - 1790; Louis-Michel Halbou (artist) French, 1730 - probably 1809; Francois-Robert Ingouf (artist) French, 1747 - 1812; Nicolas Delaunay (artist) French, 1739 - 1792; Jacques Philippe LeBas (artist) French, 1707 - 1783; Pierre Charles Levesque (artist) French, 1736 - 1812; Jean Baptiste Liénard (artist) French, 1750 - after 1807; Charles Louis Lingée (artist) French, 1748 - 1819; Joseph-C. Maillet (artist) French, 1751 - 1811; Pierre Maleuvre (artist) French, 1740 - 1803; Pietro Antonio Martini (artist) Italian, French school, 1738/1739 - 1797; Louis-Joseph Masquelier (artist) French, 1741 - 1811; Jean Massard (artist) French, 1740 - 1822; Philippe Louis Parizeau (artist) French, 1740 - 1801; Charles Emmanuel Patas (artist) French, 1744 - 1802; Nicolas Ponce (artist) French, 1746 - 1831; Noël Pruneau (artist) French, born 1751; Antoine Louis Romanet (artist) French, 1742 - 1810 or after; Jean Francois Rousseau (artist) French, born c. 1740; Gabriel de Saint-Aubin (artist) French, 1724 - 1780; Vény (artist) French, active 18th century; Carl Wilhelm Weisbrod (artist) German, 1743 - 1806; B. A. Wieilh (artist) French, active 1770s; Pierre-Philippe Choffard (artist) French, 1730 - 1809; Charles Emmanuel Patas (artist) French, 1744 - 1802; Carl Wilhelm Weisbrod (artist) German, 1743 - 1806; Remi-Henri-Joseph Delvaux (artist) French, 1748 or 1750 - 1823; Jeanne Deny (artist) French, born 1749; Philippe Louis Parizeau (artist) French, 1740 - 1801; Salvator Rosa (artist after) Neapolitan, 1615 - 1673; Paulus Potter (artist after) Dutch, 1625 - 1654; Philips Wouwerman (artist after) Dutch, 1619 - 1668; Joseph-Marie Vien (artist after) French, 1716 - 1809; Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (artist after) Spanish, 1617 - 1682; Jean-Baptiste Greuze (artist after) French, 1725 - 1805; Claude-Joseph Vernet (artist after) French, 1714 - 1789; Bartholomeus Breenbergh (artist after) Dutch, 1598 - 1657; Jan Brueghel the Elder (artist after) Flemish, 1568 - 1625; Peeter Neeffs the Elder (artist after) Flemish, 1578/1590 - 1656/1661; Sir Peter Paul Rubens (artist after) Flemish, 1577 - 1640; Claude Lorrain (artist after) French, 1604/1605 - 1682; Gerrit Dou (artist after) Dutch, 1613 - 1675 Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem (artist after) Dutch, 1620 - 1683 Hubert Robert (artist after) French, 1733 - 1808 Louis Le Nain (artist after) French, c. 1600/1603 - 1648 David Teniers the Younger (artist after) Flemish, 1610 - 1690 Willem van de Velde the Younger (artist after) Dutch, 1633 - 1707 Sir Anthony van Dyck (artist after) Flemish, 1599 - 1641 Titian (artist after) Venetian, 1488/1490 - 1576 Adriaen van de Velde (artist after) Dutch, 1636 - 1672 Karel Dujardin (artist after) Dutch, 1626 - 1678 Jan van der Heyden (artist after) Dutch, 1637 - 1712 Rembrandt van Rijn (artist after) Dutch, 1606 - 1669 Gabriel Metsu (artist after) Dutch, 1629 - 1667 Frans van Mieris (artist after) Dutch, 1635 - 1681 Jan Miel (artist after) Flemish, c. 1599 - 1663 Adriaen van Ostade (artist after) Dutch, 1610 - 1685 Paulus Potter (artist after) Dutch, 1625 - 1654 Jacob van Ruisdael (artist after) Dutch, c. 1628/1629 - 1682 Jan Steen (artist after) Dutch, 1625/1626 - 1679; Adriaen van der Werff (artist after) Dutch, 1659 - 1722; Gerard ter Borch the Younger (artist after) Dutch, 1617 - 1681...........References: OCLC Number / Unique Identifier 7033644; Cohen 115; Bibliothèque nationale de France : Identifier : ark:/12148/bpt6k6429350f... Expertise by Cabinet Poulain 5, rue de Saintonge 75003 Paris. .

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