CERVANTES, El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de... Lot 29

CERVANTES, El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Nueva edicion. Corregida por la real Academia Espanola. 1780. 4 volumes in-folio. Full brown chagrined basane, smooth spine decorated with gilt irons. I : Frontis, cover, portrait, xiv-ccxxiv-199 pp. 6 plates, 1 folded map -II : Frontis, cover, (2), 418 pp. 9 plates. III: Frontis, cover, XIV-304 pp. (of 306), 7 plates. IV : Frontis, cover, (2), 346 pp. 9 plates. The great edition of Don Quixote, superior in artistic beauty to all those that had been produced until then in Spain and abroad. It contains 4 engraved frontispieces, 31 full-page engraved plates, 14 historiated capitals, 46 headings and ornaments, and a large folded map. This copy lacks the last page of the third volume (pp.305-6) with the variants, the folded map is from a later edition. To illustrate the work, it was sought that the images faithfully reflect the historical moment in which the narrative takes place and the artistic quality of both the drawing and the engraving. The plates were drawn and engraved by A. Carnicero, J. del Castillo, J. Brunete, B. Barranco, P. Aral, J. de la Cruz, F. Montaner and other important artists. The portrait of Cervantes is a copy of the one given to the Royal Academy by the Count of Aguila, and the map is the work of the intelligent Tomás López. For the text, the first edition, that is, Cuesta's second edition of 1605, was used as a model, comparing it with others (notably Cuesta's own of 1608) and modifying certain passages. "The Life of Cervantes" and "The Analysis of Don Quixote" are by Vicente de los Ríos, documented works that leave far behind anything that had been published up to that point on the same subject. The paper was made in Catalonia and new types were cast. As we have seen, the title was also changed, and the work was subdivided into two parts, believing everything to interpret the ideal of Cervantes. 1,600 copies were launched, which cost 60,000 pesetas and were put on sale at a price of 320 reais. Naturally, as much for the intrinsic value of the work as for the typography, this edition is coveted by lovers of fine books; that is why it is listed in the best public and private libraries. Very good clean jemplar with wide margins, delicately cleaned, lacking one leaf and with the map of another later edition as mentioned above. References: Suñé 60; Palaos 52024; Register 1564; Rico 79; Rius 53; PMM, fine printing, 123; Uplike, printing types II, f.73; Suma Artis XXXI, p.603-604.