Abbé Grand / Adrien César Égron - Venezia 1842 – La Terra Santa – 2 Parts in 1 – Extremely Rare – 71 Hand-Coloured & Varnished - 1842

EXTREMELY RARE VENEZIAN EDITION FROM 1842 – TWO PARTS IN ONE HISTORICAL BOUND VOLUME – 71 HAND-COLOURED AND FIRNISED LITHOGRAPHS + COLOURED FRONTISPIECE

Title:
La Terra Santa ed i luoghi illustrati dagli Apostoli. Storia, descrizione e costumi attuali con vedute pittoresche secondo Turner, Harding ed altri celebri artisti.

Author / Editor: Abbé Grand / Adrien César Égron
Publisher: Venice, G. Passeri Bragadin, 1842
Artists / Lithographers: Melchiorre Fontana (1804–1873), Giovanni Kirchmayr et al. / Litografia Veneta
Execution: Two parts in one historical volume

Bibliographical rarity – Venice 1842

Very rare Venetian edition of this richly illustrated work on the Holy Land, Jerusalem and the sites connected with biblical and Christian history.

While the earlier Turin edition of 1837 regularly appears in the antiquarian book trade, the present Venetian edition by G. Passeri Bragadin, 1842, is exceptionally difficult to verify.

The Venetian edition possesses an independent and significantly expanded lithographic image apparatus.

Exceptional hand-coloured and firnised plate work

The special quality of this copy lies in its exceptionally extensive graphic embellishment:

– 71 numbered lithographic plates, Plate 1–71
– all numbers present without gaps
– in addition 1 unnumbered coloured Frontispiece “LA TERRA SANTA”
– total 72 graphic sheets
– elaborately hand-coloured
– with clearly visible historic glossy surface finishing / firnish layer

The varnish is particularly visible on the original when light hits from the side. It creates a pronounced surface gloss and gives the colours remarkable depth, saturation and brilliance. This effect can only be reproduced to a limited extent in photographs due to light reflection.

The combination of hand colouring and glossy surface finishing gives many plates a decidedly representative, sometimes almost painterly character.

In appearance and aging, colouring and surface finishing appear historical or contemporary. No scientific examination of the coating material has been carried out; therefore no statement is made about its exact chemical composition.

Melchiorre Fontana and Giovanni Kirchmayr

Numerous plates bear the signature:

“M. Fontana dis.”

This refers to the Venetian draftsman and lithographer Melchiorre Fontana (1804–1873).

On numerous sheets there is also:

“Lit. Kirchmayr”

to the Venetian lithographer Giovanni Kirchmayr. On early plates there is also the designation Litografia Veneta.

Even the unnumbered Frontispiece “LA TERRA SANTA” bears Fontana’s signature.

Monumental image sequence

The 71 plates form an extraordinarily extensive ikonographic sequence of the Holy Land and adjacent regions.

They depict, among other things:
Jerusalem and its city walls, the Temple Mount, the Holy Sepulchre and its surroundings, Bethlehem, Nazareth, the Jordan, Cana, Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee, Mount Tabor, Lebanon and its cedars, Sinai and the Monastery of Saint Catherine.

An extensive concluding sequence shows historical scenes from the Crusades and the Christian Holy Land.

The plates follow the numbering Tav. 1 to Tav. 71 without interruption.

Two parts in one historical volume

The work consists of two parts, bound together in this copy in one historical volume.

The old gold-embossed spine inscription:

“LA TERRA SANTA 1 2”

documents the historical consolidation of the two parts in one volume.

Publication in fascicles

Of particular interest are the notes on various plates “Fasc.” and “Pag.”

They assign the illustrations to specific fascicles or text pages and document the original publication structure of the work in installments.

In the present historical binding, the plates were collected and bound together at the end of the work as a continuous plate section.

Historical provenance

On the flyleaf there is a preserved historical library label:

“Biblioteca Missioni Africane – Verona
Scaff. 18 – Palch. 9”

Next to it is an older handwritten ownership/name entry.

These historical provenance marks have been preserved unchanged.

Binding

Historical half-leather binding with gold-embossed red spine label:

“LA TERRA SANTA 1 2”

d and decorative gilt to the spine.

The binding shows age-appropriate signs of wear, rubbing and partial abrasion of leather and gilding. The historical binding is intact and stable.

Condition

For a more than 180-year-old, heavily illustrated work, overall a very appealing historical condition.

The plates show notably strong and luminous colouring. The glossy surface finishing/firnish layer is clearly visible on the original and well preserved on numerous sheets.

With age, there are varying degrees of foxing, paper browning, minor stains, discolouration, edge and usage marks, and on individual sheets more pronounced age-related deficiencies as well as moisture stains.

All numbered plates Tav. 1–71 have been individually checked against the original and are present.

The additional unnumbered coloured Frontispiece is also present.

The numerous photographs are an essential part of the condition description and should be viewed carefully.

The Venice edition, G. Passeri Bragadin, 1842, is bibliographically documented as a two-volume illustrated work.

The present numbered plate sequence was fully collated against the original: Tav. 1–71 are complete without gaps, in addition to the unnumbered Frontispiece.

For this rare Venetian edition, no contemporaneous detailed publisher’s collation could be found to explicitly state the “71 plates + Frontispiece” as the correct stock. The label as a complete numbered plate sequence refers to the objectively verifiable, gapless sequence Tav. 1–71.

The hand-colouring and the clearly visible glossy surface finishing appear historically or contemporarily according to appearance and aging. Due to the absence of a found contemporaneous publisher’s reference, it is explicitly not claimed that this edition was demonstrably offered as the official coloured “luxury edition” by Passeri Bragadin.

An exceptionally richly illustrated and very rare copy for collectors of Holy Land / Palestine travel books, Italian lithography of the 19th century, historical travel books and hand-coloured books.

The numerous photographs are expressly part of the description and condition. They show the actual copy for sale. Given the large number of pages and plates, it is not possible to photographically show every single page and every minor age-related mark. Please view all photos carefully and consider the age-related condition of this 180+-year-old work.

The sale is conducted privately with exclusion of statutory warranty of defects to the extent permitted by law. This exclusion does not apply to claims based on intentional or grossly negligent conduct by the seller or in cases of injury to life, body or health and does not apply to expressly undertaken guarantees.