first edition Engraved allegorical frontispiece by Schley. 2 parts in one volumes. 1 vols. 4to
1740 · La Haye
by (History of Printing) [Marchand, Prosper]
La Haye: La Veuve Le Vier et Pierre Paupie, 1740. First edition. Engraved allegorical frontispiece by Schley. 2 parts in one volumes. 1 vols. 4to. Contemporary French mottled calf, gilt spine, marbled endpapers. Upper joint starting at bottom, and apart from some minor toning, this is a lovely, unsophisticated copy in contemporary dress. First edition. Engraved allegorical frontispiece by Schley. 2 parts in one volumes. 1 vols. 4to. Printed by Prosper Marchand, a Huguenot publisher and journalist who fled France in 1709, the work appeared at the 300th anniversary of the invention of printing. Marchand writes that he produced the book "a la sollicitation de quelques amis qui ont cru que le troisième jubile ou la troisième année séculaire, de l'imprimerie, reveilleroit infailliblement la curiosité du publique touchant l'origine de ce bel art [at the request of some friends who believed that the third jubilee, or the tercentenary of printing, would infallibly wake the public curiosity concerning the origin of this beautiful art]." The allegorical frontspiece by J.V. Schley show Minerva and Mercury, descending from Heaven, granting the gift of printing to Germany who in turn gives it to England, Holland, France, and Italy. Bigmore & Wyman II, p. 22
(Inventory #: 36937)