JEAN-BAPTISTE LE PRINCE (1734–1781) Oeuvres de Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, peintre du Roi, contenant plus de cent soixante planches gravées à l’eau-forte, & à l’imitation des dessins lavés au bistre ; le tout d’après ses compositions, représentant divers costumes & habillements de différents peuples du Nord, où ce célèbre artiste a séjourné quelque temps. [Works by Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, Painter to the King, Containing More than One Hundred and Sixty Plates Engraved in Etching and in Imitation of Drawings Washed in Bistre; All after His Own Compositions, Depicting Various Costumes and Dress of Different Northern Peoples, among Whom This Celebrated Artist Spent Some Time]. Paris: Basan Frères, 1782.

Containing more than one hundred and sixty plates etched and in imitation of bistre wash drawings, after his compositions representing various costumes and dress of the peoples of the North, where this celebrated artist stayed for some time. 163 engraved plates on 53 leaves; folio (57.3 x 42.7 cm). 19th-century half calf with leather spine and corners, gilt-tooled spine. In good condition. Minor rubbing and a crack to the spine, light soiling and rubbing to the leaves without affecting the images. Engraved armorial bookplate on the endpaper ‘Iz knig L.V. Islavina’ [From the books of L.V. Islavin]. The French etcher and painter Jean-Baptiste Le Prince (1734-1781), a pupil of François Boucher, painted genre scenes, landscapes and portraits. He lived in Russia in 1757-1762. Besides St Petersburg and Moscow, he also visited Ukraine and Siberia, where he made many ethnographic sketches that later formed the basis of his works. He depicted the life of Russian peasants, paying most attention to costume and interiors and giving his scenes an exotic flavour. The album contains one hundred and sixty-three etchings and aquatints depicting the costumes and daily life of the various peoples of Russia. Literature: Soloviev N. Rare Books. Catalogue no. 105, no. 367: ‘a most rare edition of the works of this artist, who lived for a long time in Russia and devoted most of his engravings to our fatherland. Superb impressions on the best thick paper’. Provenance: Lev Vladimirovich Islavin (1866-1934), diplomat and Actual State Councillor, cousin of Sofia Andreevna, wife of Leo Tolstoy. In 1897 he was appointed vice-consul in Vienna, from 1901 consul in Rome, from 1904 consul general in Nice and in 1907-1914 in Vienna. He was known as an amateur artist, bibliophile and collector, and was one of the founders of the N.V. Gogol Russian Reading Room (library) in Rome (now part of the National Central Library in Rome).