BERNARD PICARD (Paris 1673 - Amsterdam 1733) 11 original Dutch etchings with text in French from the book “Religious ceremonies, customs, rituals and deities of various indigenous communities of the world” published in 1726 The etchings depicts subjects such as funeral ceremonies of the Hottentots, the Bramins devotional ceremonies to the gods, greetings and customs in Guinea, magicians and sorcerers in China amongst many others Bernard Picard was a French engraver. His father Etienne Picart was also an engraver. He moved to Antwerp in 1696, and then spent a year in Amsterdam, before returning to France at the end of 1698. After his wife died in 1708, he moved to Amsterdam in 1711. Most of his work was illustrations of books, including the Bible and works by Ovid. His most famous work is Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde, which appeared from 1723 to 1743 and was an immense effort to record the religious rituals and beliefs of the world in all their diversity, as objectively and authentically as possible.