SAUVIGNY, Louis-Edme Billardon de (1738-1812) - photo 1
SAUVIGNY, Louis-Edme Billardon de (1738-1812) - photo 2
SAUVIGNY, Louis-Edme Billardon de (1738-1812) - photo 3

SAUVIGNY, Louis-Edme Billardon de (1738-1812)

Lot 219
13.07.2022 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 27 720
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 794489
Lot 219 | SAUVIGNY, Louis-Edme Billardon de (1738-1812)
Estimate value
£ 25 000 – 35 000
SAUVIGNY, Louis-Edme Billardon de (1738-1812)

Histoire naturelle des dorades de la Chine ... Accompagnée d'Observations & d'Anecdotes relatives aux Usages, aux Mœurs & au Gouvernement de cet Empire. Paris: De l'Imprimerie de Louis Jorry, 1780.

First edition, extremely rare, of the first monograph on goldfish printed in the West, complete with 48 remarkable plates by François-Nicolas Martinet (1725-1804), all hand-coloured in various shades of orange, brown, red and pink, on a blue-green glazed 'water' background. The work is based on a manuscript notebook and a roll of Chinese paintings sent to the sinophile and minister of Louis XV, Henri-Léonard Bertin (1720-1794) by two Chinese seminarians Aloys Ko (Gao Ren, 1732-1790) and Étienne Yang (Yang Zhide, 1733-1798). These are now kept at the Natural History Museum under shelfmark Ms 5066. Bred from the Prussian carp, the goldfish was domesticated in China in the 10th century, and it has always been sought-after by emperors and high Chinese dignitaries because of its beauty and diversity of forms. It was introduced to Europe by the Portuguese during the 17th century, with specimens arrivin gin France a century later. In the present work, the plates are numbered from 1 to 48 and represent 88 varieties from the family of Cyprinidae. The text stops at p.32 with the catchword 'Sans', but no more letterpress was published. It is extremely rare: we can only trace 3 defective copies selling at auction in the past century: Binoche et Giquello, sale 26074 in 2016, lot 58, EUR 40,322.504; Christie's New York, 17 May 1991, lot 8; and Sotheby's 24 January 1949, lot 286. Nissen ZBI 3606.



Quarto (335 x 253mm). Half-title. 48 hand-coloured engraved plates with glazed backgrounds and heightened with gilt (occasional light spotting and staining, but overall in fresh condition). Contemporary speckled calf, covers with gilt flower-and-rosette border, red morocco gilt lettering piece to spine, edges gilt, marbled endpapers (extremities lightly rubbed). Provenance: Jan Pietr Suchtelen (1751-1836, Dutch-born Russian bibliophile, nobleman, and ambassador to Stockholm; large armorial bookplate).





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No VAT on hammer price or buyer's premium.
Place of origin:Western Europe, France, Europe
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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13.07.2022 – 13.07.2022
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