OVIDE Lot n° 15

OVIDE ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATED BOOKS OF THE 18th CENTURY The Metamorphoses, in Latin and French; with historical explanations Paris, Panckoucke, 1767-1768 [then] Delalain, 1769-1771, 4 volumes In-4°. Contemporary full glazed shagreened calf. Spine with 5 nerves decorated with gilded caissons and fleurons. Red morocco title and giblets. Triple gilt fillet around covers. Gilded lace on back covers. All edges gilt. 2 damaged headbands, wear rubs to spines and corners (some dulled). Minor foxing, mainly to plates. Magnificent edition printed by Prault and shared between several booksellers: this copy, in particular, bears the name of Panckoucke on volumes I and II, and Delalain on volumes III and IV. The French translation, printed opposite the Latin text, is the work of Abbé Bannier; it had already appeared in Amsterdam in 1732. Its illustration, which makes it one of the most gallantly illustrated works of the entire century (Cohen), consists of a title-frontispiece, a 3-page dedication to the Duc de Chartres entirely engraved in intaglio, and a large cul-de-lampe printed outside the text by Choffard, 139 mythological figures engraved after artists such as Boucher, Eisen, Gravelot, Moreau le jeune and Saint-Aubin, and 30 head vignettes by Choffard, including 26 originals and 4 after Monnet. Each of the 4 titles is adorned with a fleuron by Choffard, with the exception of the fourth, which he engraved after Monnet. A very fine copy.