Watch List notes:

Stosch, Philippe de. PIERRES ANTIQUES GRAVÉES, SUR LESQUELLES LES GRAVEURS ONT MIS LEURS NOMS. DESSINÉES & GRAVÉES EN CUIVRE SUR LES ORIGINAUX OU D'APRÈS LES EMPREINTES, PAR BERNARD PICART. TIRÉES DES PRINCIPAUX CABINETS DE L'EUROPE, EXPLIQUÉES PAR M. PHILIPPE DE STOSCH, CONSEILLER DE S. M. LE ROI DE POLOGNE, ELECTEUR DE SAXE, DEDIÉES À SA M. IMP. & CATH. CHARLES VI. ET TRADUITES EN FRANÇOIS PAR M. DE LIMIERS, DE L'ACADEMIE DE BOLOGNE. Amsterdam: Chez Bernard Picart, 1724. Folio [47 by 35 cm]; original full red morocco, decorated and lettered in gilt; spine with seven raised bands, decorated in gilt; green morocco spine labels, gilt; all page edges gilt; professionally rebacked, with head of spine replaced and original spine laid on. Latin and French title pages printed in red and black with printer's devices engraved and signed by Picard; (6), xxi, (1), 97, (1) pages; headpieces and initials engraved by Picard; 70 outstanding full-page engravings by Picard depicting engraved gems within descriptive framework. Bilingual (Latin and French). Early handwritten annotation; minor marginal discoloration and occasional foxing to text; plates well-printed and generally clean. Housed in custom-made blue cloth book box with black leather spine label, gilt. Very good. One of the truly outstanding classic works on engraved gems, with extraordinary engraved plates. The work of three men: Philippe de Stosch (1691–1757), who wrote the Latin text; Henri-Philippe de Limiers (d. 1728), who translated Stosch's text into French; and Bernard Picart (1673–1733), the bookseller and engraver who produced the engravings for which this folio is renowned. (Sinkankas notes that a fourth man, Francesco Valesio, may have written much of the text anonymously.) J.J. Winckelmann published a full catalogue of Stosch's collection in 1760, which is also included in this sale. Cicognara 3016. Cohen 959. Sinkankas 6379: "Choice engraved gems depicted and described from among the many in the great collection assembled by Baron von Stosch. The splendid plates, much enlarged over the originals, but indicating size with scale, were designed and engraved by the famous Parisian engraver & bookseller Bernard Picart..." Ex John Kyle Wood Library, with his bookplate on pastedown.