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Lot Essay
In 1786 the Parisian printer and publisher Pierre-François Basan (1723-1797) acquired around eighty etching plates by Rembrandt from the estate of his fellow Parisian dealer C.-H. Watelet (1718-1786). The so-called Basan recueil was first published in 1789 and constituted a landmark not only in the history of Rembrandt scholarship, but also in the development of the academic study of art. For the first time a volume containing an overview of Rembrandt's work printed from his own plates was available to the collecting public. It was, in many respects, the first illustrated catalogue of an artist's work. Such was its success that the recueil continued to be issued until 1846, first by Basan's sons Antoine-Simon-Ferdinand (1763⁄64-1798) and Henry-Louis (d. before 1819), then by the Parisian publisher Auguste Jean (d. 1820), and finally, on his death, by his widow.
This particular, very fine and early example is unusual in that the plates have been printed together directly onto thin grey sheets of laid paper, a characteristic of the very first copies published by Pierre-François. In later issues, the plates were printed onto heavier sheets of laid paper. Even later, each plate was printed separately and then pasted individually onto album sheets. The present album is one of only two known examples of the earliest issue, the other being at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, from the Rovinsky Collection.
This particular, very fine and early example is unusual in that the plates have been printed together directly onto thin grey sheets of laid paper, a characteristic of the very first copies published by Pierre-François. In later issues, the plates were printed onto heavier sheets of laid paper. Even later, each plate was printed separately and then pasted individually onto album sheets. The present album is one of only two known examples of the earliest issue, the other being at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, from the Rovinsky Collection.