Author: LE BRUN Charles :
Title: LA GRANDE GALERIE DE VERSAILLES, ET LES DEUX SALONS QUI L'ACCOMPAGNENT peints par Charles Le Brun premier Peintre de Louis XIV dessinés par Jean-Baptiste Massé Peintre & Conseiller de l'Académie Royale de Peinture & Sculpture...
Description: .: Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1752, large in-folio ( 660 x 475 mm, frontispiece portrait de Massé gravé par Wille (daté 1755) + title + (2)(avertissement) + 18 pp + 52 copper engravings of which 23 double page or folding. Bound in contemporary mottled calf, raised spine, blue marbled endpapers, triple gilt fillet on both covers, supra libro; coat of arms of Louis XV , 115 x 100 mm, resembling Olivier Pl. 2495/2 but with added a small crown on the letters 'H'. Covers nicely preserved but extremities of binding (corners, headcaps and joints) restored. Interior generally fine but some plates with marginal waterstains (never into the engravings). Fine copy of one of the most stunning illustrated books to emerge in 18th century France. It captures the extraordinary greatness of French art in architectural decoration by illustrating in an appropriate way (some engravings measure nearly 1000 x 600 mm) one of its highlights; '' La Grande Galerie de Versailles''. The frontispiece portrait of Massé is engraved by Wille, after a painting by de Toque. The plates are engraved by Aubert, Audran, Aveline, Duflos, Cochin, Simonneau, Tardieu, etc.. Not in the Millard collection (their collection includes only the ''Staircase'' and the ''Petite Gallerie''.) , Katalog Berlin 4026.. .

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