MAVELOT, Charles - Lot 36

MAVELOT, Charles New drawings for the practice of heraldic art Amsterdam, by the author, 1696 A FINE COPY WITH A STRONG, CONTRASTING PRINT: TO KNOW THE FIGURES. ORIGINAL EDITION In-4 (237 x 175 mm) COLLATION and ILLUSTRATION: engraved title, dedicatory frontispiece to the Duc du Maine engraved by Mavelot, engraved dedication, 20 plates of coats of arms and 20 plates of figures of the most important members of parliament or holders of high court offices, 12 plates of emblems. CONTEMPORARY BINDING. Speckled calf, very ornate spine, speckled edges. PROVENANCE: Arthur-Auguste Brölemann (1826-1905; ex-libris) -- ex-libris "PAW" -- Librairie Lardanchet (1993) Two plates slightly browned. Minimal damage to binding. Charles Mavelot (active in Paris circa 1680-1742), esquire and valet de chambre to the Duchess of Burgundy, is the author of several books on figures and cartouches, such as Livre de differens Cartouches fort recherché utille a toutes sortes de personnes, qui se meslent du dessein, which he dedicated to Louis II de Bourbon. The book presented here is dedicated to the Duc du Maine. Each person's coat-of-arms is followed by his or her mysterious, knotted cipher, so difficult to decipher. BIBLIOGRAPHY : Brunet, Suppl. I, 987-989 -- Guilmard, Les Maîtres ornemanistes, pp. 109-110 -- Saffroy 2683 (who stresses the work's rarity) -- Paultre, 47-48