180

Ricaud de Tiregale on Russian Medals

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:1,400.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 USD
Ricaud de Tiregale on Russian Medals
A buyer’s premium of 18% will be added to the cost of all lots purchased by absentee bidders. The premium is reduced to 15% for floor bidders. See shipping info and full terms.
Ricaud de Tiregale, P. MÉDAILLES SUR LES PRINCIPAUX EVÉNÉMENS DE L'EMPIRE DE RUSSIE DEPUIS LE RÈGNE DE PIERRE LA GRAND JUSQU'À CELUI DE CATHERINE II AVEC DES EXPLICATIONS HISTORIQUES. À Potsdam: chéz Sommer Imprimeur de la Cour, 1772. Folio [35 by 24 cm], later brown half leather and marbled sides; spine with seven raised bands, six compartments integrating earlier gilt-decorated calf; silk marker; all page edges red. Magnificent engraved frontispiece portrait of Catherine II; title printed in red and black with engraved printer's vignette; (4), 111, (3) printed leaves; finely engraved allegorical dédicace; woodcut decorations; 111 fine engravings of medals, each followed by descriptive text: seven leaves are well-executed reproductions. Intermittent foxing and discoloration. Fine, with replacement leaves noted. A fine example of this rare classic work, with seven leaves being well-produced reproductions executed by the New York Public Library on laid paper in 1948. Modeled on the French Médailles sur les principaux événements du règne de Louis le Grand (Paris: Académie Royale des Médailles et des Inscriptions, 1702), this exquisite work is among the very finest of the outstanding works on medals published during the eighteenth century. Each page depicts the obverse and reverse of a medal, generally at its actual size, with descriptive text and culs-de-lampe. The magnificent portrait frontispiece was engraved by Daniel Berger (1744-1825) following a painting by Pietro Rotari (1707-62). Berger and J.C. Krüger engraved most of the medals (some remain unsigned), while the dédicace is by Berger after Jean Gerin. While the typography and printing may not be up to the very high standards set by the French precedent, Ricaud de Tiregale's opus remains a beautifully illustrated classic work on medals and a high-point of any numismatic library. Ex Leon Grinberg, who had the restoration work done over 60 years ago. Arefiev, Belustigungen page 27; Supplementum III, page 2. Clain-Stefanelli 14957. Gromachevskii 289.