1751 Diderot Encyclopédie Big Folio Hand-Colored Engraving: GRAVURE, Printmaking

Description: 1751 Rare, Large Folio Hand-Colored Copper-Plate Engravingby Louis-Jacques Goussier (?) & J.A. Defehrt from: ENCYCLOPÉDIEOUDICTIONNAIRE RAISONNÉDES SCIENCESDES ARTS ET DES MÉTIERS Pl. III GRAVURE en Taille-douce (Intaglio Engraving Techniques) This handsome hand-colored Folio engraving originates from the famous Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, published in France between 1751 and 1772. Appears to be printed on the original, chain-lined laid verge cotton fiber paper. This one is from the section on Gravure (engraving), showing how the incredibly fine hatching (shading) lines are hand-cut into copper plates with a sharp steel burin, as well as examples of various hatching techniques. An engraving about Engraving! It's especially rare to find these hand-colored & in such clean shape. The hand water-coloring looks to me to be as beautiful & crisp as the day it was painted. The Volumes:Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (French for 'Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts and Crafts'), better known as Encyclopédie. It was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis Diderot and, until 1759, co-edited by Jean le Rond d'Alembert. It was about the most influential & revolutionary early encyclopedias, a founding document of the Age of Reason & the Enlightenment.The Encyclopédie is most famous for representing the thought of the Enlightenment. According to Denis Diderot in the article "Encyclopédie", the Encyclopédie's aim was "to change the way people think" and for people to be able to inform themselves and to know things. He and the other contributors advocated for the secularization of learning away from the Jesuits. Diderot wanted to incorporate all of the world's knowledge into the Encyclopédie and hoped that the text could disseminate all this information to the public and future generations, an early & epic example of democratization of knowledge. The work consisted of 28 volumes, with 71,818 articles and 3,129 illustrations. The first seventeen volumes were published between 1751 and 1765; eleven volumes of plates were finished by 1772. Engraver Robert Bénard provided at least 1,800 plates for the work. The Publisher & Printer:Charles-Joseph Panckoucke (1736 – 1798) was a French writer and publisher. He was responsible for numerous influential publications of the era, including the literary journal Mercure de France and the Encyclopédie Méthodique, a successor to the Encyclopédie by Denis Diderot (the present work) The Prints & Technique:Line-engraving or Copperplate engraving is a highly exacting & labor-intensive process for intaglio printmaking. The original drawing is cut into the surface of a copper plate, with shading created by many fine cut lines, or hatching. Before printing takes place, the plate is heated, covered with ink. The warm ink seeps into the finest of depressions and fills the lines and textures of the drawing. The rest of the plate is cleaned off. The copper plate is now pressed with a printing press on to moistened paper which soaks up the ink from the depressions in the plate. The copperplate-engraving technique is very exacting, time-consuming and exhausting for the engraver, who needs a lot of strength for it. Condition:Appears to be in Excellent condition for a 235-year-old engraving. The hand-coloring appears to remain as beautiful as the day it was printed. Very little if any age-toning for an antique print. Appears to be on the original laid, chain-lined handmade cotton fiber paper. These prints are very old & may have imperfections expected with age, such as age-toning of the paper, oxidation of the old original watercolors, spots, text-offsetting, artifacts from having been bound into a book, etc. Please examine the photos & details carefully.Text Page(s): This one comes without the original text page. I've included a scan of the title page of one of the volumes for reference, it's not part of the listing. Size: 15 x 9-5/8 inches approximately. Combined Shipping:Multiple prints combine into one USPS Flat-Rate package. Ebay should auto-combine multiple prints if you put them in your shopping cart & check out all at once. Or if you purchase individually, & eBay assesses multiple shipping charges for one combined package, I will endeavor to refund the shipping overage asap. Please note that the eBay international Shipping Program can apparently only combine shipping if you put your selections in your shopping cart & check out all at once. For some reason, eBay won't allow us to combine after individual purchases are made, & we can't refund the overage after multiple purchases. Hope this gets fixed... EBay's domestic shipping, however, does let us combine after, & allows us to refund the shipping overage. Thanks for Visiting!

Price: 52.93 USD

Location: Great Barrington, Massachusetts

End Time: 2024-11-30T01:13:34.000Z

Shipping Cost: 15 USD