Susanne Schulz-Falster Catalogue Ten

The book proved popular: an English edition was published the following
year under the title Management of the Tongue.
Cioranescu 12888 (Paris edition).
Italian Literature
45 BORSA, Matteo. Del Gusto Presente in Letteratura Italiana. E
accompagnata da copiose Osservazioni relative al medisimo
Argomento da Stefano Arteaga. [Venice, Zatta & Figli]. 1784. £500
8vo, pp. xii, 150, [2] privilege & errata; contemporary marbled calf,
spine gilt in compartments, gilt-lettered spine label; a Wne copy.
First and only edition of this essay written in response to a prize question at
the Academy of Mantua on the topic of current taste in Italian literature.
Borsa (1751–1798), pupil and nephew of Bettinelli, identiWes a number of
inXuences on contemporary literature, such as that of French writing, Enlightenment
philosophy, and Xuid borders between literary genres. In a
separate chapter on how to elevate current taste to a higher level, he discusses
in detail English inXuences, which he argues have led to blind imitation
in Italy. The second half of the volume is taken up by Arteaga’s
response to and close analysis of Borsa’s work.
OCLC lists copies at Yale, Duke and University of Wisconsin only.
Large Paper Collectors’ Copy – from the De Thou Library
46 BOSSE, Abraham. Traicté des Manières de Graver en Taille
Douce sur l’Airin. Par le Moyen des Eaux Fortes, & des Vernix Durs
& Mols. Ensemble de la façon d’en Imprimer les Planches & d’en
Construire la Presse, & autres choses concernans les dits Arts. Paris,
A. Bosse, 1645. £5500
8vo, (204 x136 mm), pp. [vi], 75, with engraved title bound after the
printed title, and second engraved title bound after the preface, with
eleven leaves of plates, with sixteen full-page copperplate engravings
(numbered 1–16, some repeated); contemporary full tan calf, spine gilt
in compartments with de Thou’s monogram, sides with gilt supra-libros
of the arms of de Thou; short split to head of upper joint, upper corners
a little rubbed; a very attractive copy with the book plates of Hector de
Backer, Marcel Duchemin and Chevalier RuWgny to front paste-down.
Large paper copy from the de Thou collection of the Wrst edition of the Wrst
manual of copperplate etching and engraving and the printing of intaglio
plates. Bosse’s manual was aimed both at the amateur and the professional
engraver and is extensively illustrated, with Wne engravings by Bosse himself.
Bosse’s manual was highly inXuential, not only was it translated into
Dutch, French, English and German, but a number of subsequent editions
and revisions, updating the manual to contemporary practice, were published,
most notably in 1701 and 1745 by Le Clerc and Cochin respectively.
susanne schulz-falster rare books catalogue ten
This indicates that Bosse’s manual remained the standard work throughout
the eighteenth century, and is of use not just for the historian, but also for
the practicising engraver.
Provenance: It is particularly appealing to have the fundamental text in the
history of book production from the famous collection of de Thou, with
the characteristic tooling to both boards and monogram to spine. Jacques-
Auguste de Thou (1553–1617), a French diplomat, lawyer and historian
had one of the great private libraries of the sixteenth century. After his death
in 1617 his arms and monograms were continued to be used by his family,
which explains the use of his tools on this work published in 1654. After the
de Thou library was dispersed in 1788, further well-known collectors secured
the book, and for a period this copy was in the library of Hector de
Backer (1843–1925), the president of the Belgium bibliophiles, Marcel
Duchemin and Chevalier RuWgny.
Bigmore–Wyman, I, 72; Cicognara 254; En Français dans le Texte, 92; E. Olivier,
G. Hermal, de Roton II; Fletcher, Bookbinding in France, p. 37–39.
Etching, Engraving and Print-Making
47 BOSSE, Abraham. De la Maniere de Graver a l’Eau forte et au
Burin. Et de la Gravûre en Maniere noire. Avec la façon de
construire les Presses modernes, & d’imprimer en Taille-douce.
Nouvelle Édition, revue, corrigée & augmentée du double; et
enrichie de dix-neuf Planches en Taille-douce. Paris, Charles-
Antoine Jombert, 1745. £1800
8vo, engraved frontispiece, pp. xxxii, 186, [6], with 19 numbered
engraved throw-out plates; some light browning and spotting,
especially in foremargin; small tear to last leaf; contemporary full
mottled calf, spine gilt in compartments, gilt-lettered spine label; head
of spine chipped and corners a little bumped; a good copy.