La vie des peintres flamands, allemands et hollandois, avec des portraits gravés.

4 vol., 8vo: front.-xvi-429-[11], [4]-480-[8], xvi-402-[6], viii-302-[24] pp. (sm. foxing, occ. marg. staining, marg. holes in p. 191 of vol. II and p. 339 of vol. III).

Contemp. marbled calf, covers ruled with triple gilt fillet, gilt. orn. flat spines, marbled edges matching endpapers (partly rubbed, sm. lack to heads of vol. I-III).

First ed. of these still useful biographies of hundreds of painters by J.-B. Descamps (1714-1791). Engr. ill. : front. by J.-P. Le Bas after Descamps in vol. I, 2 engraved headpieces by N. Le Mire after Descamps and 168 half page portraits of painters i.a. Quinten Metsys, Bernard van Orley, Maarten van Heemskerck, J. Holbein, P. Brueghel, Maarten de Vos, Abraham Bloemaert, A. Van Dyck, Jan Steen, Gérard de Lairesse, etc. Woodcut ornaments on titles. Titles printed in red and black.
Ref. Conlon 53:598. - Cioranescu 23117. - Arntzen & Rainwater H88. - Cohen 287. - BL London (2). - BnF.
Prov. Joseph Dochy (1900-1959), priest from Bruges and school principal. He was President in 1958 of "De Vrienden van de Brugse Musea" (bookpl.). - Frères Périsse, printers and booksellers in Lyon (bookpl.). - Unidentified bookpl. with motto "Tout passe, le livre reste".