Robert (Nicolas). Variae ac Multiformes Florum Species appressae ad Viuum, [circa 1662-1665]

Lot description

Robert (Nicolas). Variae ac Multiformes Florum Species appressae ad Viuum, [circa 1662-1665] Robert (Nicolas). Variae ac Multiformes Florum Species appressae ad Viuum et aeneis tabulis incisae. Authore N. Robert. Diverses Fleurs dessinees at Gravees d’Apres le Naturel par N. Robert, Paris: F. Poilly, [circa 1662-1665], engraved title (with minor marginal closed tear and one minor stain), and 27 engraved plates (of 30) only, lacking plates 17, 24, and 31, erratic pagination, minor occasional spotting, some fraying to lower margin of last plate, bound with at front Bosse (Abraham, engraver). Livre d'Architecture d'Autels et de Cheminees, Dedie a Monseigneur l’Eminentissime Cardinal Duc de Richelieu, &c. De l'inuention et dessin de J. Barbet. Graué à leau forte Par A. Bosse, Paris: chez M. Tavernier, 1633, engraved title page, and 15 engraved plates (of 17) only, including five full-page altar pieces, and 10 chimney pieces (of 12) only, lacking dedication leaf and address leaf, plus two engraved plates of altars from an unidentified work, some handwritten plate numbers, a few plates re-guarded, occasional spotting, and a few damp stains and marks to a couple of plates, one plate repaired to verso, old inscription to title page, bound with Dente (Marco, after). Christ and the Apostles, [s.l.: s.n., circa 1640s-1660s], 12 engraved plates after Dente (of 14) only, marginal tear with loss to Christ plate and closed tear to St. Peter plate, occasional spotting, front hinge party split, old ownership inscription to front pastedown, contemporary vellum, worn at extremities with some soiling, oblong 4to (sheet size 19 x 25.5 cm) QTY: (1) NOTE: (Robert) Nissen, BBI, 1645; Hunt, 282 (circa 1660? edition). (Bosse) Fowler, 38. (Robert) Scarce work by French engraver Nicolas Robert (1614-1685), one of the most outstanding flower painters of the 17th century. His earliest work was Fiori Diversi, published in Rome in 1640, and confirmed an already growing reputation in 1641 by painting the Guirlande de Julie, an album prepared for Julie d’Angennes. He was later employed by Gaston d’Orleans to make a permanent record of his collection of plants at Blois. The plates in the Diverses Fleurs, though belonging to Robert’s early, decorative (rather than scientific) period, were adapted by Maria Sibylla Merian as illustrations for her Histoire des Insectes de l’Europe, Amsterdam 1730. (Bosse) Rare work not previously known to have appeared at auction. First published in 1632 by French etcher Abraham Bosse (1604-1676), the work includes engraved plates of altars and chimney pieces. Despite being a Calvinist, Bosse frequently illustrated Catholic subjects.