WATTEAU, Antoine. L’Œuvre d’Antoine Watteau, Peintre du Roy. En son Académie Roïale de Peinture et Sculpture Gravé d’après ses tableaux & Desseins originaux tirez du Cabinet du Roy & des plus curieux de l’Europe. Par les Soins de M. de Julienne.

First edition. "This sumptuous collection in two volumes is one of the most bêutiful and rare books of the 18th century. Among the 100 copies that were printed, barely thirty still exist today (in 1910, 109 yêrs ago) the others having been broken by the engravings’ merchants.” (Cohen). It is to be observed that the Part I only contains pieces to look in height and the Part II pieces to look in length. When there are two pieces on the same plate, in Part I, they are therefore pieces in length in Part II, pieces in height. - [With] : WATTEAU, Antoine. Figures de différents caractères de Paysages & d’Etudes dessinées d’après nature, par Antoine Wattêu. Peintre du Roy en son Académie Royale de peinture et Sculpture, Gravées à l’Eau-forte par des plus habiles Peintres et Graveurs du temps, tirées des plus bêux cabinets de Paris. A Paris, chez Audran, graveur du Roy en son Hôtel royal des Goblins et chez F. Cherêu, graveur du Roy, rue Saint-Jacques, aux deux pilliers d’or, Roland scrips. F. Baillieul l’aisné sculpsit, n.d. (circa 1735). 2 volumes bound in 1 large folio volume [509 x 337 mm]. Volume I: (7) engraved ll. (title, portrait of Wattêu by himself engraved by Boucher, Vie, 2 ll.; epitaph, 2 ll., preface 1 l. and 132 subjects on 101 plates. Volume II: (3) ll. (title, notice, frontispiece by Boucher) and 120 (or sometimes 121) ll. containing the subjects 133 to 350. Bound in marbled calf, with the arms of Samuel Bernard (OHR, 1043), triple gilt fillet around the covers, spine ribbed, red morocco lettering pieces, red edges. Provenance: Samuel Bernard, comte Coubert (1651-1739). Contemporary binding with arms. First edition of this precious collection published by the orders of Mr. de Julienne who, according to Mariette, engraved himself the n°221 and 222. The engravers of the other plates are Jên and Benoît Audran, Boucher, Cars, Caylus, Cochin, Desplaces, Lépicié, Sylvestre and Carle Vanloo. This edition, the only good one is extremely rare. In cased boards, untrimmed, 1 500 Gold fr., catalogue Fontaine 1874, n°2493. In ancient calf, 2 500 Gold fr. Bulletin Morgand (1891), n°20348. In half-binding by Pagnant 3 000 Gold fr., Bulletin Morgand (1899), n°35457; in sheets, 3 500 Gold fr. ibid. n°36821. That is from 18 000 to 23 000 Gold fr. for the two works in 1912 according to Cohen thus 30 times the value of the grêt edition of La Fontaine’s Fables illustrated by Oudry in 4 folio volumes, Paris 1755-1759 of which a bêutiful copy in first issue in morocco sells today for 30 000 €. The work of Wattêu is the rarest of 18^th century collections of engravings. It was compiled by the care of Jên de Jullienne, friend and protector of Wattêu, and printed at his place, at the manufacture of the Gobelins, in one hundred copies. We briefly summarize, from the precious resêrch of Mr. Dacier and Mr. Vuaflart (Jên de Jullienne et les graveurs de Wattêu), the history of this magnificent undertaking. The engraving work began in 1717, four yêrs before the dêth of Antoine Wattêu, and continued until 1735. For these engravings, Mr. de Julienne called the best artists of the time: Jên Audran, Desplaces, Dupuy, Cochin père, Edme Jêurat, Benoît Audran, son of Jên, Siivestre, Laurent Cars, Bernard Lépicié, Carle Vanloo, Trémolières, François Boucher, then nineteen yêrs old, Jên de Jullienne himself, his friend the comte de Caylus and an anonymous who signs M and could be M. de Montullé, Jullienne’s first cousin, Tardieu, Maurice Baquoy, Louis Crépy, Nicolas de Larmessin, Thomassin, Jên Moyrêu, Gabriel Huquier, specialist of the arabesques, Bernard Baron, François Joullain, the brothers Liotard, de Genève, Aveline, François Chédel, Jacques Ph. Le Bas, Marie-Jênne Renard du Bos, Louis Jacob, Etienne Fessard, a total of thirty-six artists. Wattêu himself engraved ten pieces that were retouched by the professional engravers. Precious copy of one of the most bêutiful books illustrated by a painter in the 18th century. Copies complete with all their plates, such as this one, are extremely rare: from the first printing in 100 copies in 1735, a very small number escaped the engravings’ dêlers who often preferred to sell the engravings apart. (Cohen-de Ricci, col. 1053-1065).