CALLOT (J.). Les Misères et les Malheurs de la... Lot 12

CALLOT (J.). Les Misères et les Malheurs de la guerre représentez par Jacques Callot Noble Lorrain et mis en lumière par Israel son amy. A Paris, 1633, Avec Privilège du Roy. Gr. in-8 oblong, tel. full green green chagr. spine, corner finial and small dent. on boards, inner dent. gilt (Rel. circa 1860). COMPLETE SET OF 18 ORIGINAL EAUX-FORTES (82 x 187 mm.) in superb proofs of the 2nd state (of 3), before the Privilege and Excudit of Israel were erased, with good margins (112 x 212 mm.) on watermarked paper. (Rouss. to supports). Trained in painting and engraving from the age of 12 in Italy, initially as a runaway, Jacques Callot entered the service of the Medici in 1612 with the consent of his family, where he acquired a great reputation. He returned to Nancy in 1621 at the request of Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine. He produced this celebrated suite, often referred to as Les grandes misères, shortly after Louis XIII's armies laid siege to the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine in 1633. Renowned for his incomparable talent, Jacques Callot was asked by the King of France to engrave the decisive event of the Thirty Years' War, the siege of Nancy. Three years earlier, Callot had already produced Le Grand siège de La Rochelle (The Great Siege of La Rochelle) for the same illustrious patron. But the engraver from Nancy was a patriot and would have replied: "Sire, I am from Lorraine and believe I must do nothing against the honor of my Prince and my country." These engravings by a great master not only show the war, but also depict with striking realism the various aspects of military life, from enlistment to corporal punishment. If the suite bears the date Paris (and not Nancy) 1633, this is because the prints were made by the artist's compatriot and friend, Israël Henriet, who had been the exclusive publisher of Callot's works in Paris since 1629. Enclosed are 2 ORIGINAL DRAWINGS (80x161 mm). VERY RARE IN SUCH FINE CONDITION.