2705

Antique Gems. Fascinating book, n.d. but c. 1

Currency:USD Category:Antiques Start Price:250.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 750.00 USD
Antique Gems. Fascinating book, n.d. but c. 1
Antique Gems. Fascinating book, n.d. but c. 1785, A Collection of Fifty Prints from Antique Gems. In the Collections of The Right Honourable Earl Percy, The Hon. C.F. Greville, and T.M. Slade, Esq. Engraved by John Spilsbury, pub. by John Boydell, Engraver, London. 7 x 11, unpaginated, original marbled boards and brown calf. Exquisitely produced, with one petit steel engraving per leaf, sunk in blind paneled frame, centered on cold-pressed art paper. Depicting scenes of the Classics, each of medallic quality, including Mercurius, Hercules et Omphale, Scipio Africanus, Cupido Piscator, Bacchus et Ariadne, Cleopatra, Ajax et Ulysses, Neptunus, Venus, Medusa, Gladiator, and many others. Latest date within an engraving is 1784. Two different old, highly ornate bookplates. Top segment of spine lacking, some rubbing, internally very fine and clean. A magnificent showcase of the eighteenth-century engraver's art. Very scarce. A significant and delightful item.