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Chretien de Mechel on Hedlinger Medals

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:475.00 USD Estimated At:700.00 USD
Chretien de Mechel on Hedlinger Medals
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Mechel, Chretien de. EXPLICATION HISTORIQUE ET CRITIQUE DES MÉDAILLES DE L'OEUVRE DU CHEVALIER HEDLINGER, PRÉCÉDÉE DE L'ÉLOGIE HISTORIQUE DE CE CÉLÈBRE ARTISTE. Basel, 1776-78. Two volumes, bound in one. Folio [35 by 26.5 cm], nineteenth-century brown half morocco, signed by Hatchard & Co., London; front board impressed with the heraldic device of the Earl of Derby in gilt; spine with five raised bands, lettered in gilt and decorated in blind; marbled endpapers; page edges red. Finely engraved title; finely engraved dedication with a superb vignette; 40 magnificent engraved plates of medals; xxxiv, (2), 64 pages; finely engraved headpiece and tailpiece; woodcut tailpieces. Some ink annotations throughout. Moderate rubbing to binding; near fine. One of the most handsomely produced of all eighteenth-century works on numismatics. Johann Karl Hedlinger (1691-1771) was a Swiss medalist known mainly for his historical medals, many of which he executed as medalist of the court at Stockholm. Having previously worked as a goldsmith and in the Lucerne, Paris and Stockholm mints, he ended up serving as chief engraver of the Stockholm Mint for much of his career. Chretien de (Christian von) Mechel (1737-1817) was a highly skilled Swiss engraver, being "graveur de S.A.S. Monseigneur l'Électeur Palatin et membre de diverses académies," according to the 1778 title page. [Online description truncated: see printed or PDF catalogue for full description.]