Knüppeln, Friedrich Julius (et al.)Busts of Berlin... Lot 713

Knüppeln, Friedrich Julius (et al.)Busts of Berlin scholars and artists with foreign currencies. With woodcut title vignette. Leipzig Easter Fair (i.e. Stendal), 1787. XIV, 1 p., 396 p. 8°. Central paperback with gilt lettering and gilt embossed ribbed label, red edges (somewhat rubbed and bumped, spine with defects). Berlin Knüppeln, Friedrich Julius (u.a.) Büsten berlinscher Gelehrten und Künstler mit Devisen. With woodcut title vignette. Leipzig Easter Fair (i.e. Stendal), 1787. XIV, 1 p., 396 p. 8°. Central paperback with gilt lettering and gilt embossed ribbed label, red edges (somewhat rubbed and bumped, spine with defects). First edition. - VD18 10168729. - Holzmann-B. I, 8435 - The work with the somewhat misleading title is a collection of characteristics, not biographies, of the scholars and artists of Berlin at the time of the transition from the enlightened rule of Frederick II to the obscurantist rule of his nephew Frederick William. It is an authentic portrayal of the intellectual situation that was later referred to as the "Berlin Enlightenment". Among those characterized in detail are Bernoulli, Biester, Büsching, Carmer, Chodowiecki, Dohm, Engel, Herz, Herzberg, Krünitz, Meil, Moritz, Mendelssohn, Nicolai, Ramler, Reichardt, Zedlitz. - Separate library copy, with stamps on title and elsewhere. Title page reinforced at inner margin. Overall a clean copy on bluish paper.