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GESSNER. MONSIAU, Nicolas-André.
The Death of Abel, a poem by Gessner.
Paris: Defer de Maisonneuve, 1793.
The Death of Abel, a poem by Gessner.
Paris: Defer de Maisonneuve, 1793.
Large 4to. (2)-161 pp., 6 colour engravings printed on fine laid paper. Contemporary green and fawn-coloured glazed calfskin, smooth spine decorated with gilt scrolls and fleurons, red morocco-bound title label, fine gilt scrolls and garland framing the covers, fine marbled paper on the endpapers, gilt scrolls framing the inside covers, double gilt fillet on the edges, gilt edges (binding slightly rubbed on the lower edges, corners and clamps, caps worn down, scattered small foxing spots, discreet restoration to one endpaper).
Cohen, 436. Monglond, II, 1021.
First French edition of the text.
A fine copy with wide margins, still in fresh condition.
Adorned with an allegorical frontispiece featuring a bust portrait of the author and five beautiful colour engravings in stippling, hand-coloured by Colibert, Casenave and Clément, based on the original drawings made for the work by Nicolas-André Monsiau (1754–1837) in 1793.
First proof of the plates, prior to pagination and pre-lettering, with date and signatures engraved with a point.
At the time, “regarded as a fine example of successful colour engraving”.