FER (Nicolas de). - Lot 47

FER (Nicolas de). Introduction to fortification. Dedicated to Monseigneur le Duc de Bourgogne. Paris, J. F. Benard, s.d. [1723]. Oblong folio, speckled calf, ornate spine, red speckled edges (contemporary binding). A handsome collection by Nicolas de Fer (c. 1647-1720), engraver, publisher and geographer to the King, comprising a title-frontispiece, an engraved table leaf (Table des Forces de l'Europe..., dated 1723), 17 plates (12 plates for compass practice, division of fortifications, canals, etc., and 5 others for descriptions), 180 plates of views and plans of fortified towns, and a fold-out leaf for the Table géografique [sic]. The plates mainly concern cities in France, Germany, Italy and Spain, but there is also a fine view of Constantinople, another of the Dardanelles, and views of Tripoli, Algiers and Batavia. A fine copy, including one plate not mentioned in the table: a plan of the city of Quebec and its surroundings at the time of the English siege in 1670, engraved by Hermann van Loon and published by Nicolas de Fer in 1705. Small crack at the fold of the geographical table, not serious, and small restoration at the foot with loss of a few letters. Traces of wetness on the boards, spine rebacked.