John Evelyn Lot n° 7

⁂Please note, the description of this lot has changed. Evelyn (John) Sculptura; or, the History and Art of Chalcography, and Engraving in Copper, second edition, engraved portrait frontispiece, plate and folding mezzotint plate by Prince Rupert of the Rhine after Ribera, light offsetting, marginal water-staining to folding plate, bookplate of Henry Yates Thompson with his manuscript note of acquisition "Quaritch Sep 30th 1885" and presentation label from his widow, later diced calf, gilt, a little rubbed, 8vo, for J. Payne, 1755. ⁂ Originally published in 1662 this was the first book in English to describe the process of mezzotint engraving and to include a mezzotint print, 'The Executioner' by Prince Rupert of the Rhine after Ribera. Mezzotint was invented by Ludwig von Siegen in the 1640s and the process was developed and brought to England by Prince Rupert, whom Evelyn credited with the invention. This edition includes 'The Little Executioner', a copy of Rupert's version; itself a reduced version of the head in Rupert's masterpiece, the much larger 'Great Executioner' of 1658.