Details
[BILLARDON DE SAUVIGNY, LOUIS-EDME. Histoire Naturelle des Dorades de la Chine, gravées par F.-N. Martinet... Accompagnées d'observations et d'anecdotes relatives aux usages, aux moeurs et au gouvernement de cet empire], Paris, 1780, small folio, contemporary quarter dark green morocco, green cloth-covered boards, smooth spine gilt, red morocco lettering-piece, speckled edges, joints and spine very worn, 48 PLATES OF DELICATELY HAND-COLORED ENGRAVED ILLUSTRATIONS OF GOLDFISH, HIGHLIGHTED IN GOLD AND SILVER, (plates only, lacking text, half-title cut out in 3 pieces and mounted on first leaf). Nissen/Zoology I, 3606 and II, p. 257.
The goldfish, sacred in China, had become fashionable in France in 1750, when the Marquise de Pompadour received a particularly magnificent set of specimens as a gift from the French East India Company. François-Nicolas Martinet's 48 engravings after Chinese paintings paintings depict 88 different species. Rare.
The goldfish, sacred in China, had become fashionable in France in 1750, when the Marquise de Pompadour received a particularly magnificent set of specimens as a gift from the French East India Company. François-Nicolas Martinet's 48 engravings after Chinese paintings paintings depict 88 different species. Rare.