Les principales avantures de l'Admirable Don Quichotte

At J. F. Bassompierre | in Liège 1776 | in-4 (23 x 29.8 cm) | (8) 330 pp (2) | bound
Illustrated edition in its second print of a vignette by J. V. Schley and of 31 figures, including 25 by Coypel and the others by Boucher and Cochin, Lebas, Picart and Tresmolier, engraved by Fokke, Picart, V. Schley and Tanjé. Title page in red and black.
Superb illustrations and highly sought-after book according to Petit and Cohen, mainly for the many figures by Coypel.
Copy with a crowned monogram of Louis-Philippe, King of France. Once on the throne of France, Louis-Phillipe no longer used the arms of the Duke of Orléans but instead his crowned monogram which symbolised his title as constitutional king, later in his reign, his crown will even be removed, leaving only the bare monogram.
Ex-dono by Jules Janin: “Sans être un cosaque du Don, ami Paul, je te donne en don, Don Quichotte et l'ami Sancho. Pense à nous donc. Ton ami chaud. Passy, le 1er janvier 1866.” “Without being a Don Cossack, my friend Paul, I give to you as a gift, Don Quixote and his friend Sancho. So think of us. Your hot friend. Passy, 1st January 1866.”
Near contemporary binding restoration in red straight-grained morocco, attributable to Simier, Louis-Phillipe's binder, spine decorated with two large, long rococo finishing tools, title page in black morocco, plates with the gold tooling crowned monogram of Louis-Philippe in the centre, large ornamental rococo composition, finishing tools in the spandrels with patterns of interlaced fillets, gilt edges, rich interior frieze. Light restorations to the upper and lower joints, two lower corners with slight pieces of leather missing, fresh paper, to all margins, with some pale foxing on the tissue between the text and illustrations, small dark stains on the boards, signs of rubbing, joints slightly darkened.
Superb copy in a highly decorative binding with Louis-Philippe's monogram. Extremely rare work which brings together a great text, a memorable illustration and a rich binding of renowned provenance.
Les Principales Avantures de l'Admirable Don Quichotte is a fairly unique experiment in the history of the picture book. Each of the book's plates is accompanied by a chapter of Don Quixote making it possible to reproduce the illustrated scene. The book, therefore, does not contain the entire text, but was designed by its illustration (the pre-eminence being clearly given to the figure). In fact, it should be noted that a luxurious portfolio containing the engravings was published in 1724, and Coypel paid particular attention to the engravers, it was later that the editorial idea came to life, because Coypel had never thought of illustrating the text. Between 1715 and 1734, Charles Coypel produced 28 paintings of Don Quixote, in no particular order, but featuring episodes from the book (Twenty-five boxes are kept at the Château de Compiègne) and some tapestries were also made from these paintings, since it seems that they were mainly intended for the Gobelin manufactory. Coypel has not designed the work of an illustrator in his series, but rather the vision of a painter, that is why it was undoubtedly the first time that Don Quixote was depicted in such a sophisticated way, the aesthetic of which also pulls the work towards the French Fête galante rather than towards the arid Mancha. Additionally, it is one of Charles Coypel's major works; he also came from the greatest dynasty of French painters during the 17th and 18th centuries and was very interested in theatre and comedy (he himself wrote several such works), which is evident in Quixote's mise en scene.