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Die schonsten Ornamente und merkwurdigsten Gemalde aus Pompeji, Herkulanum und Stabiae. - Les plus beaux ornements et les tableaux les plus remarquables de Pompei, d'Herculanum et de Stabiae. Berlin: Georg and Dietrich Reimer, 1828-1829, 1842-1844, 1852-59.
Details
ZAHN, Wilhelm (1800-1871)
Die schonsten Ornamente und merkwurdigsten Gemalde aus Pompeji, Herkulanum und Stabiae. - Les plus beaux ornements et les tableaux les plus remarquables de Pompei, d'Herculanum et de Stabiae. Berlin: Georg and Dietrich Reimer, 1828-1829, 1842-1844, 1852-59.
Ambitious in vision, important as an historical and artistic record, ground-breaking in its early use of chromolithography, and monumental in sheer size, Zahn’s work documents the discoveries made at Pompeii and Herculaneum as they were being unearthed for the first time since the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. He visited the sites near Naples starting in 1825 and recognised both his privilege in seeing the paintings in their most vibrant colours before degrading on exposure to fresh air or physical destruction and his responsibility to record them. For this he embraced the new technique of chromolithography, and indeed his first series is regarded as the earliest collection of ornament to be printed in lithography (Stuart Durant, Ornament from the Industrial Revolution to Today, NY: 1986, p. 12). He reproduces ornament in its original size or indicates its scale as well as gives a verbal description of the colours even for the black-and-white plates.
After his first field trips, Zahn returned in 1830 to participate in new discoveries being made at Herculaneum. He comments in the second series that ochre colours had turned red through the heat of the volcanic mass, and that red turned to black. For the third series, he claimed to have improved the lithographic process for even better colour reproduction.
Owing to the size and beauty of the plates, complete or near-complete copies are rare on the market and only one other such copy is cited by RBH in over 50 years. BAL RIBA 3736 (first ten parts only). Owing to the discrepancies shown in surviving institutional copies and therefor the difficulty in establishing an ideal collation, the set is sold not subject to return.
3 volumes containing First Series (pts 1-10), Second Series (pts 1-10) and Third Series (pts 1-10), broadsheet folio (723 x 600). 1st series: 11 chromolithographic titles (general, 10 part-titles), 10 leaves of letterpress text (one in each part), and 111 lithographic plates, of which 30 are coloured, some mounted (consisting of 10 [3 coloured] in each part, an unnumbered tailpiece in pts 2-10 [missing from pt 1] and a-b plates for nos 1 and 50); 2nd series: 2 chromolithographic titles (one each for parts I-V, VI-X), 10 leaves of letterpress (one in each part), 97 (or 100, missing 1, 2, 10) plates, of which 41 are coloured; 3rd series: 2 general titles (one each for parts I-V, VI-X), 10 leaves of letterpress (one in each part), 100 plates, of which 40 coloured and one tinted; each series separately numbered, text in German and French. (Labelled removed from verso of each general title, some variable spotting, occasional browning, off-setting, very occasional short marginal tear, dampstain at fore-edge of III:4-7 intruding into a few images, gentle creasing in a few first or final sheets, one plate folded in to preserve edge.) Contemporary quarter calf over yellow patterned-paper boards, sides with a gilt roll-tool border and crown at corners, flat spines tooled in gilt with black leather label, bright green edges (some light scuffing, discreet repairs at extremities). Provenance: Fernand Pouillon, French architect (1912-86; ‘Artium Genio’ bookplate, sold Picard / Drouot, Paris, 12 June 1995, lot 80) – [Collection of Prince and Princess Henry De la Tour d'Auvergne Lauraguais (Sotheby’s, 3 May 2012 – Antonio Bonchristiano].
Die schonsten Ornamente und merkwurdigsten Gemalde aus Pompeji, Herkulanum und Stabiae. - Les plus beaux ornements et les tableaux les plus remarquables de Pompei, d'Herculanum et de Stabiae. Berlin: Georg and Dietrich Reimer, 1828-1829, 1842-1844, 1852-59.
Ambitious in vision, important as an historical and artistic record, ground-breaking in its early use of chromolithography, and monumental in sheer size, Zahn’s work documents the discoveries made at Pompeii and Herculaneum as they were being unearthed for the first time since the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. He visited the sites near Naples starting in 1825 and recognised both his privilege in seeing the paintings in their most vibrant colours before degrading on exposure to fresh air or physical destruction and his responsibility to record them. For this he embraced the new technique of chromolithography, and indeed his first series is regarded as the earliest collection of ornament to be printed in lithography (Stuart Durant, Ornament from the Industrial Revolution to Today, NY: 1986, p. 12). He reproduces ornament in its original size or indicates its scale as well as gives a verbal description of the colours even for the black-and-white plates.
After his first field trips, Zahn returned in 1830 to participate in new discoveries being made at Herculaneum. He comments in the second series that ochre colours had turned red through the heat of the volcanic mass, and that red turned to black. For the third series, he claimed to have improved the lithographic process for even better colour reproduction.
Owing to the size and beauty of the plates, complete or near-complete copies are rare on the market and only one other such copy is cited by RBH in over 50 years. BAL RIBA 3736 (first ten parts only). Owing to the discrepancies shown in surviving institutional copies and therefor the difficulty in establishing an ideal collation, the set is sold not subject to return.
3 volumes containing First Series (pts 1-10), Second Series (pts 1-10) and Third Series (pts 1-10), broadsheet folio (723 x 600). 1st series: 11 chromolithographic titles (general, 10 part-titles), 10 leaves of letterpress text (one in each part), and 111 lithographic plates, of which 30 are coloured, some mounted (consisting of 10 [3 coloured] in each part, an unnumbered tailpiece in pts 2-10 [missing from pt 1] and a-b plates for nos 1 and 50); 2nd series: 2 chromolithographic titles (one each for parts I-V, VI-X), 10 leaves of letterpress (one in each part), 97 (or 100, missing 1, 2, 10) plates, of which 41 are coloured; 3rd series: 2 general titles (one each for parts I-V, VI-X), 10 leaves of letterpress (one in each part), 100 plates, of which 40 coloured and one tinted; each series separately numbered, text in German and French. (Labelled removed from verso of each general title, some variable spotting, occasional browning, off-setting, very occasional short marginal tear, dampstain at fore-edge of III:4-7 intruding into a few images, gentle creasing in a few first or final sheets, one plate folded in to preserve edge.) Contemporary quarter calf over yellow patterned-paper boards, sides with a gilt roll-tool border and crown at corners, flat spines tooled in gilt with black leather label, bright green edges (some light scuffing, discreet repairs at extremities). Provenance: Fernand Pouillon, French architect (1912-86; ‘Artium Genio’ bookplate, sold Picard / Drouot, Paris, 12 June 1995, lot 80) – [Collection of Prince and Princess Henry De la Tour d'Auvergne Lauraguais (Sotheby’s, 3 May 2012 – Antonio Bonchristiano].
Brought to you by
Eugenio Donadoni
Senior Specialist, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts