first edition Hardcover
1792 · Paris
by Milton, John
Paris: Chez Defer de Maisonneuve, rue du Foin S. Jacques, no. 11, 1792. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Quartos, 2 volumes. In Very Good minus condition. Bound in full straight-grain red morocco. Newly rebacked in paneled red leather, two black labels with gilt lettering. Boards with gilt roll along edges, board edges, and turn-ins. Mint green endpapers. With both half-titles, lacking final blank leaf in volume 2. Consistent foxing throughout. Some plates with tissue-guards. Text in both English and French, verso English and recto French; Prose translation by N.F. Dupré de Saint-Maur, rev. by C.J. Chéron de Boismorand--cf. British Museum Catalogue. Also attrituted to Louis Racine - cf. Bibliothèque Nationale Catalogue.; "Vie de Milton," p. [i]-viii.; 12 figures engraved in color by Clement, Colibert, Denionchy and Gautier after Schall.
Shelved case 0. One of the earliest French color-printed books. The plates here are noted for their early use of the fascinating color stipple process developed by Francis Bartolozzi, a process involving the tedious inking of each plate with the colors, so that the plate would be printed with one single pull. It was not only tedious but also extremely expensive and apparently only five books were illustrated by this process (La Fontaine, Milton, Gessner, Florian, and Vade - Milton being the only English poet to be included), and those five were done in Paris at the height of the French Revolution. [Wickenheiser]
Wickenheiser 775. Coleridge 158.b. ESTC T134616. Cohen de Ricci 708. 1378124. Shelved Dupont Bookstore. (Inventory #: 1378124)
Shelved case 0. One of the earliest French color-printed books. The plates here are noted for their early use of the fascinating color stipple process developed by Francis Bartolozzi, a process involving the tedious inking of each plate with the colors, so that the plate would be printed with one single pull. It was not only tedious but also extremely expensive and apparently only five books were illustrated by this process (La Fontaine, Milton, Gessner, Florian, and Vade - Milton being the only English poet to be included), and those five were done in Paris at the height of the French Revolution. [Wickenheiser]
Wickenheiser 775. Coleridge 158.b. ESTC T134616. Cohen de Ricci 708. 1378124. Shelved Dupont Bookstore. (Inventory #: 1378124)