La Chine en Miniature, au Choix de Costumes, Arts et Métiers de cet Empire.
4 vols. 12mo. With 4 hand-coloured engraved frontispieces and 76 plates, all in original hand-colour. Contemporary French calf gilt, spines gilt-stamped in compartments with giltstamped Chinese figures, leading edges gilt, inner dentelle gilt. Marbled endpapers. Stored in custom-made cloth and marbled board slipcase.
€ 4,500.00
First edition.
The plates, some of which are copied after G. H. Mason's "Costumes of China", include various costumes, punishments, musical instruments, weapons, boats, rice processing, puppet shows, professions (tobacconist, barber, toy-salesmen, etc.), hunting wild ducks, weaving cloth, porcelain selling, etc. While two additional volumes of the work were published in 1812, Colas states that "les quatres premiers volumes forment un ensemble complet." The title-pages call for a total of only 74 plates.
Some minor occasional spotting; extremities insignificantly rubbed. A beautifully coloured and bound set from the library of Jean R. Perrette with his bookplate on the pastedown.
Cordier (Sinica) I, 64. Lipperheide Le 23 (1524). Colas 433. Brunet II, 1225. Quérard I, 505. Cf. Lust 1243 (1812 English ed.).