Die Kunst in Kupfer zu stechen, sowohl vermittelst des Aetzwassers als mit dem Grabstichel: ingleichen die sogenannte schwarze Kunst, und wie die Kupferdrucker-Presse nach ietziger Art zu bauen und die Kupfer abzudrucken sind ehemals durch Abraham Bosse, gewesenen königl. Kupferstecher in Paris etwas davon heraus gegeben; jetzo aber aufs neue durchgesehen, verbessert und um die Hälfte vermehret, auch mit neunzehn Kupfertafeln versehen; aus dem Französischen ins Deutsche übersetzt…

Engraved frontis.; eight engraved vignettes and head- & tailpieces, 19 finely engraved plates (most folding) & some engravings in the text. 18 p.l., 254, [36] pp. of index & errata. Thick 8vo (160 x 105 mm.), late 18th-cent. marbled boards (extremities a little rubbed & worn). Dresden: [C. G. Nitzsche], 1765.

An important German edition of Bosse’s Traité des manières de graver en Taille douce (1st ed., in French: 1645), considerably augmented for the German audience. This work was translated and published by Carl Gottlieb Nitzsche (truncated) from the 1745 Cochin edition. The Cochin edition was the first to promote etching with hard etching-ground (vernis dur), instead of the soft etching-ground (vernis mol), to imitate line engraving. It also featured long sections on Le Blon’s color printing and the refining of mezzotint illustration. In the present book, we find four illustrations of the rolling press, which Cochin had updated to account for several design upgrades. There are also several diagrams and cross-sections of printing presses.

This book is richly illustrated with plates and vignettes executed by Carl Gottfried Nestler (1730-80) that depict various techniques, equipment, and the interiors of print shops. Nestler reworked the engraved title-page from the 1645 first edition for this book’s frontispiece.

A very good copy, internally fresh. Unidentified engraved bookplates with the initials “G. F.” on front and rear paste-downs.

❧ Benezit, Dictionary of Artists, Vol. 10, p. 258 (Nestler). (Inventory #: 6726)