RIDINGER, Johann Elias.
[Naturhistorisches Original-Thierwerk].
[Augsburg, Engelbrecht, 1825]. Oblong folio. With 127 numbered engraved plates including frontispiece incorporating a small portrait of Johann Elias Ridinger (1698-1767) in profile on a base with his name and profession, surrounded by animals, and plates showing all kinds of animals classified in 9 (of 10) sections. Lacking the title-page and part of the text, but with all plates complete. Contemporary diced half calf, gold-tooled spine, marbled sides. 28 pp. plus 127 plates.
€ 12,500
Rare edition of a very fine series of attractive animal prints, originally published in 7 instalments, here lacking the general title-page and section 1. The extremely rare first edition, with the title Das in seiner großen Mannigfaltigkeit und in seinen schönen Farben nach Original-Zeichnungen geschilderte Thier-Reich and text in German and French, was published posthumously by the artist's sons Martin Elias (1730-1780) and Johann Jakob (1736-1784), in 1768. The present edition, with German text only and with an etched frontispiece by Martin Elias Ridinger, is divided into 9 sections numbered 2 to 10, ranging from monkeys to big animals such as elephants and rhinos, starting with brief descriptions of the animals followed by the plates, with captions in German and Latin. The plates are printed on paper watermarked "G.R. Thurniesen", used around 1825. Bridon-White and Graesse both list a variant edition also published by Engelbrecht in Augsburg, 1825, in 7 instalments with the same number of plates but a different collation of the text pages.
Besides Ridingers series on hunting, definitions of breeds of horses, illustrated lessons for riding and war horses, he produced the present print series depicting wild and domestic animals. The prints show the animals in characteristic movements and positions in landscapes. The frequent reprints of Ridinger's most popular series well into the 19th century bear witness that his work was held in high esteem, as does their adaptation to other media, such as wall decoration, porcelain and ceramics.
From the library of Duke Bernard van Saksen-Weimar, a high officer in Dutch service, with his bookplate on front paste-down, and from one of the finest Dutch private collections, with its blind stamp in first free endpaper. Occasional very slight foxing, final plate wrinkled, 1 plate slightly loose, but still in good condition. Hinges cracked but sewing supports still intact; boards slightly worn at the extremities. Bridson & White D436 (127 plates in 7 instalments); Engelmann, p. 364 (127 plates in 7 instalments); Graesse VI, p.120 (in 7 instalments); Heinsius, Alg. Bücher-Lexikon, 3 (2), col. 216 (in 7 instalments); Le Blanc, vol. 3, p. 333, Ridinger 819-945 (127 plates) cf. Nissen ZBI, 3408 (1st ed.); Schwerdt III, 145-146 (1st ed.); Thienemann pp. 197-232, nos. 974-1102 (1st ed.).
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