Michel Levesque de Gravelle Sold at Auction Prices

LEVESQUE DE GRAVELLE Michel-Philippe, ”Recueil de Pierres Gravées Antiques“, Impr. P.J. Mariette, Paris, 1732-1737.... - Greek - 17TH - 18TH CENTURY

LEVESQUE DE GRAVELLE Michel-Philippe, ”Recueil de Pierres Gravées Antiques“, Impr. P.J. Mariette, Paris, 1732-1737. FIRST EDITION, 2 volumes in 1, in 4o, p. x+40+[2]+[202, with 101 plates including a fold-out]+79+[206, with 104 plates]. One of the earlier major treatises of the first half of the 18th century on collections and ancient stone carving, based on the collection of antique engraved stones of Michel-Philippe Levesque de Gravelle, adviser to the Parliament of Paris (1699-1752). The illustration includes two frontispieces and 205 numbered plates, etched by Lévesque de Gravelle himself; they bear his DG monogram. Near the enlarged imprint - on a variable scale of about 5 to 10 - of each engraved stone, generally shows the actual size outline of the intaglio. A descriptive notice is associated with each of the plates. Edited by Mariette, the two volumes of the Collection open with a preface that K. Pomian attributed to it with probability even if Mariette himself gave it to Levesque in his own Treaty of engraved stones, published in 1750. This Collection testifies to a practice developed from the reign of Louis XIII and which experienced significant efflorescence in the 18th century: that of amateur engraving. Lévesque de Gravelle is added to the long list of practitioners of etching as amateurs: Caylus, Saint-Non, Mme de Pompadour, La Live by Jully, Watelet and Marguerite Lecomte, Denon, etc. From antique dealers to art historians. Full marbled sheepskin of the time, spine with 5 decorated nerves, gilt title in red morocco label; marbled endpapers and page edges. Binding a little rubbed, some hinge cracking, bumped corners. Clean and tight inside. Beautiful copy of this first edition, large margins.