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an old book that is sitting on a white surfacean old book with a picture of a man riding a horsean old book with a drawing of a building on itan old book with a drawing of a building and a diagram of a buildingan old book with a drawing of a clock tower and a drawing of a boat
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68 - LA RUE, Jean-Baptiste de. [COMPAGNONS DU DEVOIR].
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Estimate €500 - €600
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Description
LA RUE, Jean-Baptiste de. [COMPAGNONS DU DEVOIR]. Treatise on the Cutting of Stone, or by a Method Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1728. Folio, 185 pp. Contemporary havana calfskin, ribbed spine (binding worn with losses to the head and foot, some pages loose, rare faint water stains and a few foxing spots, a tear without loss to a fold-out plate, some tarnished edges). An exceptional working copy, belonging to a 19th-century ‘Compagnon du Devoir’, of the first edition of La Rüe’s work. With its large handwritten ex libris, dated 1860 at the head of the volume: “This book belongs to Madelaine Auguste Alexandre / Stonemason’s Apprentice – Year 1860” in capital letters written in pen to imitate engraved lettering. Superimposed on this is a bookplate by the same person in graphite, dated 1835. Bookplate marks by the same person bearing his full name as a ‘Compagnon’, the nickname portion of which has been scraped away: “Madelaine (...) de Carcagny”. He was in fact originally from Normandy, and his family can be traced in the regional archives for Carcagny, now in Calvados. An illustrated copy comprising 69 black copperplate engravings, 38 of which feature the same print on both the front and back, by Antoine Coquart. The work comprises five parts devoted respectively to doors and lintels, main vaults, trompes, descents and lintels, and finally to staircases. These are followed in the appendix by a *Short Treatise on Stereotomy Applied to the Cutting of Stone*. The work features two sketches of ‘trompes’ based on tracings by the journeyman, with annotations and signed ‘Madelaine’. It features an allegorical frontispiece by Bertin, engraved by Thomassin and dated 1738, with a large vignette bearing the coat of arms in the title. Antique bookplates redacted with ink. Provenance: from the library of Pierre Séjourné. STEREOTOMY. BUILDERS. Brunet, III, 852. Not currently listed in the Musée du Compagnonnage database.
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About the sale Books & Manuscripts
Auction location
Auction time 10/30/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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