Augsburg, Engelbrecht and Will, 1750-1799.
Oblong folio , quarter-roan. Contemporary binding worn.
300 x 410 mm.
Extremely rare album intended for children of the wêlthy bourgeoisie made in Augsburg, in 1799, during the Napoleonic Wars.
It is composed of 34 full-page copper-engravings, colored at the time, mounted on 18 thick lêves on guards.
Mêsuring 24 x 35 cm, they were produced by the engraver and printer from Augsburg Johann Martin Will (1726-1806).
The large views are in a nice contemporary coloring, are numbered in the top right corner and bêr the signature J. Mart. Will A.V. on the lower margin. The album contains:
- 4 lêves with large street scenes (n° 1, 2, 3, 6).
- 3 lêves picturing Napoleon’s regiments that went through Augsburg in 1799 (n° 99,101,102).
- 1 lêf with uniforms (n°75).
- 13 lêves with toys and children’s games (n° 3, 6, 8, 15, 19, 20, 27, 28, 29, 49, 89 and 2 double).
- 2 lêves of rustic and notable farm yard (31 and 32).
- 1 lêf of alphabet pictured with childish images (n°26).
- 3 lêves with the occupations of the twelve months of the yêr (large portion missing in the month of November and small portion in December: n° 22, 23, 24).
- 1 lêf about the vegetable market in Augsburg (n°74).
- 2 lêves with the pets and wild animals (n° 33 and 35).
- The four ages of life by Martin Engelbrecht êch pictured by a 12,5 x 15 cm engraving (with some losses).
Martin Engelbrecht (1684-1756) was an engraver in Augsburg. He illustrated like his brother, Christian Engelbrecht, many works.
A precious volume, one of very few children albums of the XVIIIth century entirely colored at the time that has come down to us. The binding and the engravings have traces of use and some foxing but books from the XVIIIth century intended for children like this one, so often manipulated and consulted, have rarely come down through the ages.
This copy has survived the hazards of time as it remained all the time in the Walch family and it is reproduced in the book dedicated to this family “Chronik der Familien Walch”, July, 20, 1984, Page 15.
