From the library of Duke Max

R[everoni] S[aint-]C[yr, J. A.]. Essai sur le perfectionnement des beaux-arts par les sciences exactes ou calculs et hypothèses sur la poésie, la peinture et la musique.

€ 2,500.00

First and only edition, very rare.

Art-historical work by Baron Jacques-Antoine de Saint-Cyr (1767-1829), who served in the French army and wrote several plays as well as a few novels. This work, printed in only a small number of copies, has been little noted by bibliographers, although it is revealing for an understanding of contemporary aesthetic ideas.

The engravings show dimensional ratios and anatomical studies for sketching purposes, as well as musical notes which relate musical expressions to cloud formations, waves, and architecture.

Bindings rubbed and with slight worming and defects; spines finely preserved, with handsome shelf appearance. Interior very clean; partly uncut. From the library of Duke Max in Bavaria (1808-88), father of Empress Elizabeth of Austria, with his shelfmark label.