Lot 266: COLLAS, Achille (1795-1859). Trésor de numismatique et de glyptique ou receuil général de médailles, monaies, pierres gravées bas-reliefs, etc. . Paris: Rittner et Goupil, 1834-1850.

COLLAS, Achille (1795-1859). Trésor de numismatique et de glyptique ou receuil général de médailles, monaies, pierres gravées bas-reliefs, etc.. Paris: Rittner et Goupil, 1834-1850.

3 volumes, comprising 20 parts contained in 5 boxes, 2° (443 x 304mm). Half-titles. 1009 engraved plates (of 1014, lacking plate 1 in I.1, plate 43 in II.5, plates 29, 30, 31 in II.7). (Occasional minor spotting, lacking 2 text leaves, pp.1-2 in II.4 and pp.11-12 in II.6c, text leaf signed 1.1 in III.1 in two states, leaf 4.1 present both as cancelland and cancel, pp.24-25 in II.4 printed upside-down.) 20th-century leather-backed cloth portfolios and slipcases.

'THE MOST SCIENTIFIC AND IMPORTANT WORK OF ART WHICH HAS BEEN EXECUTED AND ACHIEVED OF LATE YEARS IN FRANCE. The collection of the Trésor de Numismatique et de Glyptique contains over a thousand engraved plates in folio, and reproduces upward of 15,000 specimens' (International Weekly Miscellany, No. 9, Vol.1, p. 257, August 26, 1850). In 1836 Collas developed a new machine that carefully copied (in mathematically precise reduction or enlargement) the relief and chiaroscuro of medallions and other bas-relief objects onto engraved steel plates, producing what he called a 'numismatic engraving'. Brunet V, 938 (calling for 22 vol. in error; the collation given matches the present work). (5)

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