MERIAN, Matthäus (1593-1650) - CHOVIN, Jacques... Lot 44

MERIAN, Matthäus (1593-1650) - CHOVIN, Jacques Antony (1720-1776). The Dance of the Dead, as it is depicted in Basle's praiseworthy and famous, to serve as a mirror of human nature. Basle: Jean Rodolphe Im Hoff, 1744. Fine copies of two editions of this famous work. The original edition appeared in 1621 and quickly met with immense success, in keeping with the popularity of memento mori and ars moriendi, with eighteen reissues in a decade. The book is based on the procession of engravings by the painter-engraver Matthäus Merian after the famous Totentanz fresco in Basel. In 1649, when he had sold his matrices and was in the twilight of his life, Merian bought the woods and modified them slightly, with a view to a last edition published during his lifetime. The main difference with the original engravings is the addition of real backgrounds, which were originally stripped. Jacques-Antony Chovin's edition is the first bilingual French-German edition. Chovin is inspired by Merian's revised woodcuts, but makes original matrices for his own edition. In-4 (207 x 162 mm). 43 engravings in the text, 2 bands repeating an identical composition (vanity), a large title-frontispiece of macabre, publisher's mark on the French title (freckles and stitches, wetness in the upper margin of the H to D sections, tear along the lower bowl of the plate of f. L1, without loss). Second half 18th century brown speckled calf binding, double gilt fillet in the frame and arms in the centre of the covers, spine ribbed and boxes decorated with lilies, fleurons and crescent, marbled endpapers, marbled edges (restorations on the hinges and cuts). Provenance: John Wilkes (1725-1797) - bound with the arms of John Ker, third Duke of Roxburghe (1740-1804) - ex-libris by Sir Joseph Copley, Baronet. GIRARDET Abraham (1764-1823) - GIRARDET, Samuel (1730-1807) - [MERIAN, Matthäus (1593-1650)]. The Dance of the Dead, to serve as a Mirror to human nature. With the costume