Date of Printing: 1749 • Medium: Copperplate Engraving (hand colored) • Subject Category: Natural History - Mammals • Signed: Plate signed, Lower Left • Period Created: Enlightenment (1700 - 1799) • Plate Size HxWxD cm: 21 x 17 • Leaf Paper Size HxW cm: 27.5 x 23 • Style: Original Vintage • Print on Verso: Blank on verso • Condition: Excellent, with minor toning at edges • Edition Type: 1st Edition - Limited • Paper Type: Laid Paper • Framed: Print only
LE GRAND DANOIS. After Jacques De Seve (active 1742-1788)Histoire Naturelle, Generale et Particuliere. Published Paris: 1749-1783.Original hand colored engraving. In overall very good to excellent condition. Remnant of previous binding on edge of sheet. Very minor toning on edges.
We are pleased to offer this beautifully original hand colored dog engraving byJacques De Sevefrom his monumental work entitled Histoire Naturelle, Generale et Particuliere. Comprised of a total of 44 volumes, the encyclopedic Histoire Naturelle, Generale et Particuliere revolutionized the study of natural history and was instrumental in both popularizing and elevating the field to the status of a serious discipline. With its comprehensive descriptions, exhaustive theories on botany, geography, zoology, and geology, and innovative approach to topics such as species classification and evolution, Buffon's publication was regarded as the seminal work on natural science. Issued in numerous successive editions in multiple languages, Histoire Naturelle was an overwhelming success that "rivaled Diderot's Encyclopedie in prestige and circulation, and ranks with that Enlightenment classic as an apotheosis of an age which sought to set down and explain everything" (Kestner, p.122). The publication of this monumental work established Buffon's reputation as the chief authority on natural history and as one of the most prominent figures of the Enlightenment.
Jacques de Seve was a prolific artist, who contributed illustrations to Buffon's Receuil de Vingtquatre Plantes et Fleurs (1772) and completed plates and vignettes for the works of Duhamel du Monceau, Perrault and others. His son, Jacques Eustache also worked as an artist and engraver.
References: Cf. Dibner, Heralds of Science 193; cf. Kastner, A Species of Eternity (1977); cf. Benezit, Dictionnaire de Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs, vol. 12, p. 713.
Printed on thick stock laid paper, these plates have amazing detail. They frame up very well and look great individually or in a grouping.