[8], 472, [12] pp. With engraved allegorical added title, 2 double-page engraved maps, 260 copper-engraved portraits & views on some 121 plates, many double-page, some foldout, 38 engraved illustrations in the text. (folio) 34x20.5 cm (13½x8"), 20th century half morocco & marbled boards, spine ruled & lettered in gilt.
An exceptional copy of Le Brun's account of his trans-Asia expedition, noteworthy especially for the superb engraved plates, many double page and a number folding. Includes area fold-out panoramas of Moscow (on three folding sheets); Ispahan (also on three folding sheets); and Persopolis (on four folding sheets). These are sometimes counted as just one sheet each, and sometimes double-page plates with two parallel views are counted as two plates, so the plate count varies in some listings - the present copy is complete except for the frontispiece portrait. The book has an interesting and curious history, as related in notes by its longtime owner, from whose estate the book was acquired by the present consignor: "As a 16-year-old boy at an antique auction in Amsterdam, I put a (for me, then a huge) $10.- bid on a mysterious, fat bundle of papers, tightly bound in ancient string with a red wax seal. I was not disappointed: it was a still-unbound copy of a book that came from the basement of the then 250-year-old, still operational Amsterdam printing and bookbinding firm located in an old alley called 'Rusland'. The book had some 300 amazing illustrations and maps of Russia and the near East, all a boy could ever dream of. I saved my money and went to the bookbinder where it had been found and who still had the ancient original binding tools and who made restored covers for musea. They were very nice and made me a period cover at a greatly reduced price, but they did not want to cut the edges and refold some of the large fold-outs. That was 70 years ago (note: now more than 80!). Both the alley and the 350 year old printer/bindery are no longer, but the book is, with its fold-outs still sticking out.” The very clean internal condition of the book, and the crispness of the impressions of the engravings, are testimony to the unused state of the book over the majority of its existence. A truly remarkable copy.
Condition:
Some rubbing and wear to the boards, spine head worn with short tear; some of the edges of the plates with chips or short tears where they extend from the book, a few neat repairs, very nice, fresh copy.