CROZE-MAGNAN (S.-C.). L'Arétin d'Augustin Carrache ou Recuei - Lot 66

CROZE-MAGNAN (S.-C.). L'Arétin d'Augustin Carrache ou Recueil de postures érotiques d'après les gravures à l'eau-forte par cet artiste célèbre avec le texte explicatif des sujets. À la Nouvelle Cythère, [Pierre Didot, Paris, 1798], gr. in-4°, havana morocco, boards framed in gilt fillets with corner scrolls, ornate ribbed spine, crowned HS figure at foot, interior gilt roulette, gilt edges (early 19th century binding). Collation: 1 f. title, 1 f. title, 10 pp. preface ch. 1 to 10, 1 f. table and errata (v°), 80 pp. ch. 1 to 80, 20 plates. 20 out-of-text erotic etchings and burin engravings by J.-J. Coiny (1761-1809). Louis Dunand and Philippe Lemarchand have suggested that these 20 plates were interpreted from a suite they call Les Amours des dieux, executed in burin by Pieter de Jode l'Ancien (1570-1634) after drawings by Augustin Carrache (1557-1602), but according to specialists, there are too few clues to support this attribution. It would appear that Coiny was inspired by 17th-century Italian engravings, themselves copies of 16th-century engravings found in the second half of the 16th century associated with Arétin. The text is by Simon-Célestin Croze-Magnan (1750-1818), and he extends it with quotations from "the most famous erotic poets": Virgil, Ovid, Corneille, La Fontaine, Voltaire... Bound in the cipher of the English dandy Henry Seymour (1805-1859). Son of the 3rd Marquess of Hertford, Henry Seymour was one of the most prominent and facetious dandy figures on the Parisian Boulevard. He introduced to France sporting practices imported from England, such as fencing, boxing and, above all, horse-riding. In his private mansion, on the first floor of which was the famous Café de Paris, the finest Parisian aristocracy would come to enjoy the luxury and refinement of their host, on the pretext of boxing and fencing sessions. A passionate horseman - his stable was famous - and an inveterate gambler, he devoted part of his fortune to founding the Jockey Club, a mecca of aristocratic elegance "à l'anglaise", of which he was the first president. He bequeathed most of his fortune to charity and to... his horses! Alphonse Simier (ca. 1795-1859) was one of Seymour's regular bookbinders. He succeeded his father, René Simier, in 1824. Several boards were broken at the bowl, and have been reinforced, mostly on the verso. Edges rubbed. Dimensions: 304 x 234 mm. Provenance: Henry Seymour. Dutel (J.-P.), Bibliographie des ouvrages érotiques, I, A-96 ("This work is sometimes considered one of the finest erotica of the 18th century"); [...], L'Enfer de la Bibliothèque. Éros au secret, BNF, 2007, p. 88 n° 31, pp. 61 to 72 for reproductions; [...], Éros invaincu. La bibliothèque G. Nordmann, 6; Dunand (L.) - Lemarchand (Ph.), Augustin Carrache. Les amours des dieux, 1990, pp. 1009-1033.