CERVANTÈS (Miguel de). El ingenioso hidalgo Don... Lot 26

CERVANTÈS (Miguel de). El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. 4 vols. in-4, lemon morocco, smooth spine, title-piece and bookbinder's signature on tail of green calf, red mosaic tomato framed with a large gilt fleuron, set of roulettes and irons covering the spine, boards edged with a large gilt frame with greek and multiple fillets, suns at spandrels, triple gilt fillet at the edges, interior roulette, purple satin endpapers, gilt edges [Pasqual Carsi y Vidal] (spine and edges of boards darkened, localized and superficial worms' work at edges of boards). (spine and edges of boards darkened, localized and superficial worm work on the edges of the back covers, sporadic moderate brown spots). Remarkable copy of the most luxurious edition of Don Quixote, one of the masterpieces of Spanish printing, bound by the greatest Madrid binder of the time, Pasqual Carsi y Vidal. "Magnificent edition as typography and ornamentation" (Cohen, 218-219). Edition given by the Royal Spanish Academy, illustrated with 2 frontispieces by Carnicero and Arnal, repeated (4 in total), a portrait of Cervantes by Joseph Del Castillo, 14 ornate lettering, 22 vignettes at the head and headbands and 20 caps by Ballester, Brieva, Carnicero, La Cuesta and Zimeno and 31 out-of-text figures by Barranco, Brunette, Del Castillo, Ferro and Gil and a folding map with coloured boundaries. A large format copy in-4 (h=305mm), printed on laid paper. The figures are printed before the letter. The bookbinder Pasqual Carsí y Vidal, active at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, worked in Madrid under D. Carlos III, D. Carlos IV and D. Fernando VII and was among the best known bookbinders of that period. He developed a neoclassical style influenced by his trip to England at the expense of D. Carlos III. From 1803 onwards, he ran a workshop in Madrid. Carsí y Vidal was "Encuadernador de Cámara" from 1799, "Librero de Cámara" in 1806 and principal bookbinder for Principe D. Fernando from 1807. After the return of D. Fernando VII to Madrid after the Napoleonic invasion, Carsí was also "Jefe del Obrador de Encuadernaciones" of the Royal Printing House of Spain. Bookbinder's label printed on blue paper "Pasqual Carsi y vidal lo enquaderno. Madrid"; the gilt signature repeated on the tail of each spine reads "Pasqual Carsi lo encuaderno". Provenance: Library of Count Pierre Louis Roederer (1754 1835) with his ex libris. Sent in 1809 to Spain by order of the Emperor, he wrote a report on the second kingdom of Joseph Bonaparte. His library was dispersed on August 2, 1836 and the following days in Paris. Library of Doctor Armand Ripault, Paris, Drouot 7/02/1924, number 506 with his armorial bookplate with his motto "d'espérer servira".