EVELYN, John.

£950 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Sculptura; or, The History, and Art of Chalcography and Engraving in Copper: Second edition, the attractive Macclesfield copy. The second edition of the famous diarist's work on copper engraving follows the first of 1662, incorporating Evelyn's corrections and adding a biography and portrait.The work "represents Evelyn's project (evident as early as his manuscript notes from the 1650s) to fulfil one of Bacon's recommendations to compile a history of trades... [Evelyn was] motivated by his desire to protect the arts from vulgarization by defining their function. As with Elysium Britannicum, Sculptura was concerned more with the skills of the artist and virtuoso than the mere mechanic. The book announces the invention of the mezzotint" (ODNB).Provenance: the Earls of Macclesfield, with the North Library bookplate dated 1860, shelf mark, and blindstamp; sale, Sotheby's London, 4 November 2004, lot 746 - Stephen C. Massey.

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