Cris et petits métiers d'Espagne [Los Gritos de Madrid]

First edition of this complete suite of 18 numbered intaglio plates enhanced in colour, on 'J. Honig & Zoonen' laid paper, depicting 72 merchants accompanied by captions beneath each figure.
First printing, subsequent editions will feature individually numbered figures surrounded by a border.

Bound in half sienna morocco with corners, smooth spine, title stamped in gilt throughout, tiger patterned paper boards, combed paper endpapers and flyleaves, first cover retained, gilt head.
 
Extremely rare and the earliest known suite of prints depicting itinerant merchants and pedlars in Spain. Each figure is accompanied by the profession or advertisement shouted by the vendor in Castilian dialect.

The tradition of costume collections, widely embraced in other European countries such as France and England, emerged relatively late in Spain. As Karen F. Beall notes:
 

'The theme of street vendors does not appear to have attracted the attention of Spanish artists before about 1800, except incidentally. A series of street cries from Valencia [Madrid], consisting of eighteen plates, each containing four images, is among the earliest. [...] The captions are difficult to decipher because they are not only written in dialect but also phonetically transcribed to reflect the emphasis and intonation used by the vendor when shouting or singing. This effort at accuracy deserves recognition, even if it complicates interpretation.'

 
This exceptionally rare series was created by Miguel Gamborino, a celebrated engraver and illustrator, one of whose works inspired Goya's Tres de Mayo. The occupations range from fishmongers to fruit and sweets sellers, as well as merchants offering household goods such as chairs, pots, mats, and charcoal. Some scenes carry humorous elements, such as the potted plant vendor exclaiming, "If only I had a balcony!" (Si yo tubiera balcon). As well as the attention paid to the phonetic transcription of the hawkers' cries, the figures, delicately enhanced in colour, are strikingly realistic:

'The poses, gestures, and attitudes achieve a degree of authenticity far surpassing earlier works, anticipating the Romantic customs that would culminate in Les Espagnols peints par eux-mêmes and Les Vendeurs de Madrid by Eusebio Zarza' (Valeriano Bozal, La formación del costumbrismo en la estampa popular española del siglo XVIII).

 
A superb and exceptionally rare set, offering a vivid historical depiction of Madrid's popular life in the early 19th century.
 
Copies in the Biblioteca Nacional de España and the Metropolitan Museum, New York, one trimmed and restored copy in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Provenance: library of Marcel Lecomte (ML stamp on the front cover).
Karen F. Beall, Kaufrufe und Strassenhändler: eine Bibliographie, 291-293: erroneous attribution to José Ribelles y Helip; Colas 1933, I, 507, 1335; Brunet 1810, II, p. 1760.