[KÜSLIN (KÜSEL), Christiana and Magdalena] - Lot 42

[KÜSLIN (KÜSEL), Christiana and Magdalena] Dess Alten Testaments Mittler. Collection of engravings from the Old Testament. In German, engraved on paper. Germany, almost certainly Augsburg (?), circa 1690. Miniature format, 131 ff, preceded by a paper guard and followed by three paper guards, engravings on recto only. Bound in black chagrin, smooth spine, brass clasp, combed marbled paper endpapers (period binding). Dimensions: 55x45mm Engraved on the title: "et Magdalena Küslin f[ecit]". It was rare in the 17th century for women engravers to sign their work. Johanna Christina (or Christiana) Küsel (b. 1665, active c. 1700), draftsman, and Maria Magdalena Küsel (active c. 1688-1702), engraver, were members of an engraving family. Both sisters were originally from Augsburg. The grandfather of the Küsel or Küslin sisters was Matthaeus Merian (1593-1650), a German-Swiss engraver and author of Icones Biblicae (Frankfurt, 1625). In 1617, Merian married the daughter of his employer Théodore de Bry, Maria Magdalena de Bry, and settled in Basel. His second marriage brought him a daughter, Anna Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), who became a painter of flowers and insects. This collection consists of engraved images of scenes from the Bible. It is the first part of a set of two works: "Dess Alten Testaments Mittler". The work is sometimes accompanied by a second part dealing with the New Testament: "Dess Neuen Testaments Mittler" (see complete copy of both parts, The Courtauld Gallery, London, O.1966.GP.40.1 and O.1966.GP.40.2). A copy in silver binding can be found in the Louvre, in the former Sauvageot collection (Musée du Louvre, Dépt. Objets d'arts, OA 649).