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two old books sitting on top of each other on a white surfacean old book with a picture of a man and a woman standing in front of a buildinga drawing of a large building with a clock on top of itan open book with a drawing of a garden in the middle of itan open book with a drawing of a gate and a hand holding itsomeone holding a book open to a drawing of a building
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14 - BLONDEL, Jacques-François.
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Estimate €600 - €800
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Description
BLONDEL, Jacques-François. On the Layout of Country Houses and the Decoration of Buildings in General. Paris: Charles-Antoine Jombert, 1737–1738. 2 volumes, large quarto, (4) folios including frontispiece and title page, XVI–198 pp., 44 plates, and VII–(1)–180 pp., 116 plates, titles in red and black, text framed. Contemporary marbled and waxed fawn sheepskin, decorated ribbed spine, gilded floral panels, title label and volume number in red and fawn morocco, gilded title, double blind-stamped line on the covers, red edges. (A few re-waxed leather patches, discreet restorations, some browning on a few leaves, a few scattered marginal stains). First edition. Dedication to Turgot with a headband engraved with his full coat of arms. A fine copy, with generous margins, of this exquisite engraved series comprising 160 large intaglio plates designed by the author and partly engraved by him, some of which are fold-out plates. Includes the allegorical frontispiece after Cochin. Headpieces and initial letters engraved by Cochin. Albums depicting façades, cross-sections and perspectives of buildings; French gardens, fountains, fireplaces, colonnades and wood panelling, as well as numerous ornamental details. The nephew of the architect Blondel, Jacques-François Blondel (1705–1774), one of the great theorists of the art of building in the 18th century, ran a school of architecture in Paris and contributed to *L’Encyclopédie*. He is also known for works such as the plan for the beautification of Metz, projects for Strasbourg and plans for the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Moscow. His *Distribution des maisons de plaisance* was regarded at the time as the ideal French-style château under Louis XV, and proved popular amongst the elite at a time when, under the Enlightenment, privacy and comfort were beginning to supplant the status and etiquette inherited from the Grand Siècle. DECORATIVE ARTS. BAL, I, 297. Berlin Catalogue, 2410.
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About the sale Books & Manuscripts
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Auction time 10/30/2026 at 2:00 PM
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