Alexander Ver Huell - Zie daar! - 1878

Alexander V. H. — Zie daar!
Suite of satirical and moral plates – Arnhem, P. Gouda Quint / Is. An. Nijhoff en Zoon – 19th century**
Beautiful and rare illustrated album of the 19th century entitled “Zie daar!”, work by Alexander V. H., a remarkable set of etchings and moral plates engraved on stone.
The work presents itself in its spectacular cobalt blue publisher’s binding, richly impressed in blind and adorned with gilt titles in a neo-Gothic style.
The second cover plate is decorated with a golden allegorical composition representing a winged figure armed with a scythe, a moral symbol evoking human vanity and the passage of time — characteristic iconography of 19th-century social satire.
The lithographed title page announces,
“Zie daar! — Schetsen uit de portefeuille van Alexander V.H. — Nieuwe Uitgave”
Printed in Arnhem, by P. Gouda Quint Firma Is. An. Nijhoff en Zoon.
This album gathers a sizable series of lithographed plates accompanied by an introductory text entitled “Een woord tusschenbeiden”.
The plates develop a genuine moral and philosophical narrative, organized into 48 scenes, whose full list appears in the table “Volgorde der platen van den bundel”.
The themes addressed are multiple: human life and its stages, social illusions, bourgeois morality, satire of human behaviors, destiny and moral conscience.
All is set within the great tradition of European satirical cycles inspired by Hogarth, blending humor, social critique and moral meditation.
The plates present highly elaborate compositions, often allegorical, narrative scenes illustrating the different stages of life, symbolic compositions featuring death, conscience and human destiny, humorous and satirical scenes of 19th-century society, and detailed drawings of great graphic finesse.
Some plates are particularly remarkable, notably, “De Visch en de Mensch”, a grand satirical composition around fishing and the human condition,
“Het Geweten”, a dramatic scene illustrating guilt and moral conscience, various scenes of manners mixing humor and psychological observation.
The quality of the drawing and the finesse of the line testify to lithographic work of excellent craftsmanship, typical of Dutch artistic productions of the 19th century.
The work includes an old ex-libris “El Boekenogen”, evidencing its belonging to a private library.
Original publisher’s binding, deep blue cardboard, blind-decorated, gilt titles,
rich ornamental frame, second plate with a large golden symbolic motif.
A particularly elegant and decorative presentation, very representative of Dutch editor productions of the 19th century.
Good overall condition for a work of this type,
solid binding with normal wear,
light foxing in places, interior well preserved, plates clean and well printed.
Album complete and well preserved.
This work presents a triple interest,
artistic, for the quality of the lithographs,
historical, as a testimony of 19th-century social satire, bibliophilic, thanks to its spectacular decorative binding.
Illustrated satirical albums from this era, especially complete and with decorated publisher bindings, are today increasingly sought after by collectors of illustrated books and moral iconography.
A decorative and bibliophilic piece remarkable, ideal for a collector of European 19th-century satirical illustration or a connoisseur of old lithographed works.
The photos are an integral part of the description.
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