[ALMANACH]. - Lot 6

[ALMANACH]. Blumenstrauss für Musen Freunde zum Neujahrsgeschenke 1797. Vienna: Georg Friedrich Kraus, 1797. - In-32, 95 x 60: frontispiece, title, (73 ff.), 22 plates, 3 music plates. Red half-maroquin, boards with a thin plate of gilt and lacquered metal, featuring a large engraved medallion vignette in the center, ornate smooth spine, mirror on first flyleaf, gusseted pocket on second flyleaf, gilt edges, contemporary old red long-grain morocco slipcase, modern red morocco box by Devauchelle (contemporary binding). Very rare Austrian almanac featuring a frontispiece, 10 copper-engraved out-of-text figures by Benedict after several artists and 12 attractive fashion engravings in color. The songs are accompanied by 3 fold-out music plates. Delightful and very rare binding decorated with two engraved and lacquered scenes from Don Quixote. Attributable to Georg Friedrich Kraus, trained in England and active from 1791 to 1824. He was the official bookbinder to Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, Governor of the Austrian Netherlands. Each plate features a thin metal plate decorated with an engraved and lacquered scene from Don Quixote. This type of decoration is extremely rare. It is comparable to the so-called "Martin varnish" bindings by Théodore-Pierre Bertin, produced at the turn of the 19th century in France and sought after by the greatest collectors. A superb example. Provenance: Adrian Flühmann, with bookplate (cat. 30).