Leclerc, Sebastien (1637-1714) Album of Engravings.

Description:

Leclerc, Sebastien (1637-1714) Album of Engravings.
Large folio album of engravings done after Leclerc's original paintings and drawings and some engraved by Leclerc directly, and signed in the plate, consisting of fifty-three leaves with approximately 472 separate engravings, ranging in size from very large full-page folio, to some the size of postage stamps, and everything in between, including images of many subjects fulfilling many categories of illustration, including title pages, frontispieces, bookplates, armorial crests and medals, illustrations for Aesop's Fables, the life of Christ, and other works, engraved initials and decorative pieces, portraits, architectural interiors and exteriors, landscapes, and many others, including some that may be proof or unfinished prints; some engravings cut out of the album, bound in contemporary leather, worn, front board detached, corners quite worn, 21 1/2 x 16 in.
The only uniting theme of this group of engravings is Leclerc, and it seems unlikely that anyone other than the artist would have access to so much of his work. Although that it is possible that these illustrations were collected by one of his contemporaries who was a great admirer of his work, it may also be that Leclerc himself assembled this album as a portfolio of samples to show his artistic range.
Estimate $600-800


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