Versailles Illustrated, or Divers Views of the Several Parts of the Royal Palace of Versailles; as likewise of all the Fountains, Groves, Parterras, ye Labyrinth & other ye most Beautiful Parts of the Gardens, ….
London: John Bowles & Son, [ no date, but circa 1755]. Oblong folio (12 x 15 1/2 inches; 305 x 395 mm). Engraved throughout, title with four integral vignettes and 29 plates (numbered "a" to "ff). Early marbled paper wrappers. Condition : title-page browned and slightly spotted, some other light spotting; upper wrapper with small chip at lower left corner, backstrip lacking, stitching broken. a remarkable series of folio copperplates, giving an excellent overall view of the wonders of versailles, but also including perhaps the most imteresting section illustrating “the fables of aesop as represented by divers fountains in the famous labyrinth at versailles” . The fable fountains no longer exist and are now only known through engravings such as the present examples. This section is on seven leaves, with each leaf divided into six compartments. These contain a map of the Labyrinth giving the location of each fountain, a single compartment of engraved text describing the concept, a view of the entrance to the Labyrinth with its statue of Aesop, and 39 images of selected fountains, each of these latter images is accompanied by a verse translation of the fable above and a description of the sculpture below. The actual garden was designed by the architect Andre Le Notre (1613-1700) and was considered amongst his most original concepts; it was installed in 1672 and described by Charles Perrault 1675 in a miscellany of anonymous poems, afterwards published as a separate text in 1677 to accompany a series of engravings by Sebastien Leclerc (and redone as a folio in 1679, reprinted many times). Our copperplate series of prints by John Bowles appears to be the first English language version of both the Labyrinth text and illustrations. Lowndes mentions an edition dated 1726, the imprint of the present example shows that is later: John Bowles was joined by his son Carrington Bowles for a brief period from 1754. Cf. Lowndes p.2704 (1726 edition).
Versailles Illustrated, or Divers Views of the Several Parts of the Royal Palace of Versailles; as likewise of all the Fountains, Groves, Parterras, ye Labyrinth & other ye most Beautiful Parts of the Gardens, ….
London: John Bowles & Son, [ no date, but circa 1755]. Oblong folio (12 x 15 1/2 inches; 305 x 395 mm). Engraved throughout, title with four integral vignettes and 29 plates (numbered "a" to "ff). Early marbled paper wrappers. Condition : title-page browned and slightly spotted, some other light spotting; upper wrapper with small chip at lower left corner, backstrip lacking, stitching broken. a remarkable series of folio copperplates, giving an excellent overall view of the wonders of versailles, but also including perhaps the most imteresting section illustrating “the fables of aesop as represented by divers fountains in the famous labyrinth at versailles” . The fable fountains no longer exist and are now only known through engravings such as the present examples. This section is on seven leaves, with each leaf divided into six compartments. These contain a map of the Labyrinth giving the location of each fountain, a single compartment of engraved text describing the concept, a view of the entrance to the Labyrinth with its statue of Aesop, and 39 images of selected fountains, each of these latter images is accompanied by a verse translation of the fable above and a description of the sculpture below. The actual garden was designed by the architect Andre Le Notre (1613-1700) and was considered amongst his most original concepts; it was installed in 1672 and described by Charles Perrault 1675 in a miscellany of anonymous poems, afterwards published as a separate text in 1677 to accompany a series of engravings by Sebastien Leclerc (and redone as a folio in 1679, reprinted many times). Our copperplate series of prints by John Bowles appears to be the first English language version of both the Labyrinth text and illustrations. Lowndes mentions an edition dated 1726, the imprint of the present example shows that is later: John Bowles was joined by his son Carrington Bowles for a brief period from 1754. Cf. Lowndes p.2704 (1726 edition).
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