DORAT (Claude-Joseph). - Lot 7

DORAT (Claude-Joseph). Fables nouvelles. La Haye, Paris : Delalain, 1773. - 2 parts in one volume, in-8, black morocco, triple gilt fillet and gilt fleuron at corners, ornate ribbed spine, gilt roulette and gilt fillet inside, gilt edges, slipcase (Zaehnsdorf). Cohen, 163-164. Sought-after edition illustrated with a frontispiece, two engraved titles, a title vignette and 198 vignettes, i.e. 99 bands and 99 culs-de-lampe, all engraved on copper after compositions by Clément-Pierre MARILLIER (1740-1808). According to Cohen, this is "Marillier's masterpiece, in terms of the finesse of execution and the spirit that reigns in all the pretty subjects that adorn it". A fine copy bound by Joseph Zaehnsdorf (1816-1886), an English bookbinder of Austro-Hungarian origin, or by his son Joseph William Zaehnsdorf (1853-1930), who succeeded him. It comes from the library of the Earl of Cromer, certainly the diplomat and statesman Evelyn Baring (1841-1917), 1st Earl of Cromer, with his heraldic bookplate engraved by Henry Badeley. Rubbing to hinges and nerves. Provenance: Earl of Cromer, with bookplate. - Evelyn Cavanagh, with bookplate.