[CONTI]. Catalog des tableaux, desseins, terres cuites, marb - Lot 53

[CONTI]. Catalog des tableaux, desseins, terres cuites, marbres, bronzes, pierres gravées, médailles... Paris, Muzier Père - P. Remy, 1777, in-12, antique red paper boards, à la Bradel, smooth spine with title label, red edges. Collation: engraved title-frontispiece, 8 pp. "Avertissement" ch. I to VIII, 417 pp. ch. 1 to 417. A title-frontispiece by Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune (1741-1814), dated 1776, engraved by Pietro Antonio Martini (1739-1797). Louis-François de Bourbon, Prince de Conti (1717-1776), grandson of Louis XIV and cousin of Louis XV, distinguished himself as a military leader, eventually joining the opposition as Grand Prior of France at the Temple. It took the Prince de Conti ten years to build up this important collection, highly representative of French taste. As early as 1766, he enlisted the help of several dealers (Remy, Ménageot, Lempereur) who scoured the auction market on his behalf. This copy was annotated by a hand in the margin with the hammer prices and the names of the buyers for each lot. Among the buyers were the great experts and dealers of the time: Remy, Lenglier, Ménageot, Joullain, Le Brun, Paillet, Basan... The INHA copy includes a title page and a table leaf of the various effects contained in this catalog, which are not included here. Insolate boards. Spine and headbands worn. Size : 170 x 98 mm. Provenance: handwritten bookplate on verso of title-frontispiece.