2002 Tampa, FL: Graphicstudio, U.S.F., 2002, 133x182x56mm, 576 pages non paginées, tranches dorées, relié sous couverture toilé bleu nuit.Signé et numéroté au colophon 136/230 +21 AP. (104213)
Reference : 104213
Un "Livre sculptural" signé par Ruscha, les mots "Me" et "The" imprimés sur la gouttière du bloc de texte qui apparaissent lorsque l'on courbe les feuilles d'abord dans un sens puis dans l'autre. Une feuille d'information de l'éditeur et jointe. État neuf.
Librairie Chloé et Denis Ozanne Déesse sarl
M. Denis Ozanne
21 rue Monge
75005 Paris
France
+33 1 48 01 02 37
Conforme aux usages de la librairie ancienne et moderne, tous les ouvrages présentés sont complets et en bon état, sauf indication contraire. L'exécution des commandes téléphonées est garantie mais sans règle absolue, la disponibilité des livres n'étant pas toujours vérifiable lors de l'appel. Les frais de port sont à la charge du destinataire. Les livres sont payables à la commande. Nous acceptons les règlements par chèque bancaire ou postal, mandat postal ou international, carte bancaire, Visa, Eurocard, MasterCard et virements bancaires dans certaines conditions.
London, Printed for Nathaniel Thompson, next dore to the Sign of the Cross-Keys in Fetter-Lane, 1680.
Folio. (VIII),243,(1 blank) p. Calf 32 cm (Ref: ESTC Citation No. R4123; Hoffmann 3,82; Ebert 16760 'Wurde verboten, weil man die Noten antichristlich fand'; Graesse 5,274) (Details: Back with 5 raised band. Blind tooled double fillet border on both boards. Title in red and black. Woodcut text illustration, which represents a diagram of the philosophic schools in antiquity) (Condition: Binding scuffed. Back rubbed. Joints weak, partly starting to split. Boards spotted. Paper browning and foxed. Endpapers worn and browning) (Note: Few books have over a long period of time aroused so much upheaval among Christians as this biography of the neopythagorean ascetic and wandering philosopher Apollonius of Tyana, written by the Greek sophist and rhetor Philostratus at the beginning of the 3rd century A.D. This is the first English translation of the first 2 books (of 8) of this Life of Apollinius of Tyana. The translation was speedily condemned and suppressed by the Church of England, because it was held to be a most dangerous attempt against the church. Only a few copies were sent abroad. Apollonius was born in the same year when Jesus Christ is supposed to be born. It is almost impossible to reveal Apollonius' true identity, or to decide wether this is a biography of a real or fictionalized hero, or just an Heliodoran romance or a romantic hagiography, or even a documentary romance. The question can be dealt from so many angles, that the Philostratean studies constitute a separate branch in the research of the culture of the Early Roman Empire. The problem is 'that Philostratus, as a man of letters and sophist full of passion for Greek romance and for the studies in rhetoric, was hardly interested in the historical Apollonius'. (Dzielska,M., 'Apollonius of Tyana in legend and history', Rome 1986, p. 14) A fact is that contemporary sources reveal next to nothing about Apollonius. Philostratus wrote the biography at the behest of the empress Julia Domna Augusta. 'To satisfy the empress's demand, who asked him (Philostratus) to narrate the life and achievements of Apollonius, he had to invent this figure as it were anew. Thus using his literary imagination, this moderately gifted writer turned a modest Cappadocian mystic into an impressive figure, full of life, politically outstanding, and yet also preposterous'. (Idem, p. 14) Nothing proves that the 'Vita Apollonii Tyanensis' was widely read in the 3rd century. It would probably not have survived, were it not for the gouvernor of Bithynia, Sossianus Hierocles, one of the inspirators of the persecution of the Christians in 301 A.D. in his province under the emperor Diocletian. At the beginning of the 4th century he published his 'Philaletes', a treatise against Christianity, in which he ridiculed the divine attributes of Christ, and praised Apollonius' virtues and thaumaturgic abilities. In the 'Philaletes' Hierocles propagated his pagan Christ Apollonius. The Christians were furiously enraged, because Hierocles dared to contrast Apollonius with their Saviour. The Christians won under Constantine, and the 'Philaletes' vanished soon from the face of earth. It is only known through the 'Against Hierocles', a treatise of the Churchfather Eusebius. The 'Vita Apollonii Tyanensis', in which it was believed that Apollonius was presented as the equal, if not the superior of Christ, survived however the burning of pagan literature by Christian mobs in early christianity. Translations of the 'Vita' which began to appear in the 16th century were immediately put under ecclesiastical ban. The English translation of 1680, by the leisured gentleman Charles Blount, 1654-1694, a deist and freethinking philosopher, and especially his notes, raised such an outcry among christian believers in England that the book was condemned by the Church of England in 1693, banned and its further publication forbidden. Hoffmann observes that the stock might have been burned (vielleicht verbrant). On what ground he thinks so, is not clear. Still, 'fierce passions were let loose. Sermons, pamphlets and volumes descended upon the presumptuous Blount like fireballs and hailstones, and his adversaries did not rest until the authorities had forbidden him to print the remaining six book of his translation'. (R.W. Bernard, 'Apollonius, the Nazarene', 1956, p. 10) Blount persisted that if the miracles of Apollonius were untrue, so were those of Jesus. In his preface Blount is very cautious. He presents the 'Life' as being 'no more than a bare narrative of the Life of a Philosopher, not of a new Messiah'. Philostratus never even mentions Christ, he says. 'And if one Heathen Writer (Hierocles) did make an ill use of this History, by comparing Apollonius with Christ, what is that to Philostratus, who never meant nor design'd it so'. (Preface p. A2 verso) Blount had already finished the translation of all 8 books, he tells the reader, 'when I found the Alarm was given in all parts what a Dangerous Book was coming out; (...) which might therefore prove of pernicious consequence of the Publick'. He fears for his life he says, and therefore publishes only the first 2 books. 'I have thought fit to proroque the remaining part of this history'. (p. A3 verso) Especially Blount's very elaborate illustrations and annotations to the text were considered to be dangerous atheist freethinking. A century later Blount's notes were translated into French and published in Amsterdam in 1779. It was ironically dedicated to Pope Clement XIV by one 'Philaletes') (Collation: A-Z4, Aa-Gg4, H6) (Photographs on request) (Heavy book, may require extra shipping costs)
Paris, Goupil & Cie Editeurs, no date (1868)
< This course taught Vincent van Gogh how to draw human figures> Loose-leaf plates on grey paper with the original white/grey paper backing. Dimensions: 44 x 59 cm. All plates are numbered. The following plates from the first series (Première partie) are on offer here: 1, 2, 5, 7, 9-12, 15-17, 19-22, 24-26, 28-29, 32, 36, 40, 42, 46, 49, 52-53, 56. Details: All plates have a small printed colophon in a frame, with the general title, the part number and title, the plate number and the publishers name. In fine print at the bottom of the sheets the name of the printer Lemercier in Paris is mentioned on most plates. 27 plates also have a small blind stamp of the firm Goupil in the lower margin. See for this stamp the French database 'marquesdecollections', stamp no. L.1090. Condition: Mosts lithos are in rather good condition. The plates have evidently been used, a few have tiny pinholes. Some of them have been folded, showing creases. Most of the plates are frayed and worn at the edges, with a few small tears and dog-ears. Several plates are foxed or spotted. Four plates are in lesser condition: plate 2 has large folds, the lower corners are damaged and there is foxing; plate 26 has two long creases and a large tear; plate 36 has a crease, a damaged corner and a tear of six cm.; plate 56 is almost torn through the middle. Note: The beautiful plates of the famous Drawing Course (Cours de dessin) by Bargue and Gérome were made for beginning students of drawing schools and art academies to copy. In this way they could become familiar with the principles of contour, light, and shade, and at the same time develop an appreciation for 'good taste' by looking at examples of great art. The drawings of the first part of the course were made after plaster casts of famous classical and renaissance statues. The series starts with simple forms of isolated body-parts and then offers images of gradually increasing complexity. To help the student to manage the essential forms of a head or torso, many plates are divided into two parts. A schematic outline with straight lines and angles stands beside the finished drawing. The plates of the drawing course are now hard to find. Of the original publication of 197 loose-leaf lithography plates, divided into three parts, there are only a few complete sets known. Our collection is a part of the first volume: 'Modèles d'après la bosse' (Models after casts), which consisted of 70 plates. It was published in 1868. The second series, completed in 1870, was: 'Modèles d'après les Maîtres de toutes les époques et de toutes les écoles' (Models after masters of all periods and all schools). The third series, completed in 1873, was: 'Exercices au fusain pour préparer à l'étude de l'académie d'après nature' (Charcoal exercises in preparation for drawing the academic nude). The first two sections were meant for schools for design and decorative arts. The third section with live models was used only in art academies. There were no instructions published with the plates, that was left to the teachers in the schools. It was common practice in the schools to start with copying prints and drawing from plaster casts of classical statues. As a second stage, students copied old masters. In the art academies, they then went on to live models. This training was part of the tradition of 19th century neoclassicsm. The imitation of nature was the only goal for artists. Objects and human bodies should be drawn and painted meticulously. Works of art were both realistic and idealistic, following the concept of 'good taste'. In France, this resulted in smooth and finished works, influenced by the standards of the French 'Académie des Beaux-Arts'. This so-called 'Academic Art' came under criticism at the end of the 19th century when the concept of art changed radically. The Drawing Course is the last great document of the 19th century tradition of art education. It was widely used in France and England. Vincent van Gogh writes about it in his letters, he has worked through the whole course at least once. Van Gogh worked very hard on this course because he hoped to gain some income with the sale of his drawings. In a sketchbook owned by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam there are several pencil drawings made after Bargue's plates. Nowadays, the didactic and artistic quality of the course is greatly admired by both amateur and professional artists. The firm Goupil & Cie was an important publisher of original prints and art reproductions in Paris. They hired skilled engravers and lithographers and used the latest techniques. The firm also developed into a renowned art dealer. The 'Cours de dessin' sold very well for Goupil, and loose plates were still sold until the firm was dissolved around 1920. Charles Bargue (1826-1883) was a French draughtsman, lithographer and painter who has left a small number of paintings. Jean-Léon Gérome (1824-1904) was a French painter and sculptor, an esteemed representative of academic art. The main source for information on the course is: G.M. Ackerman. Charles Bargue with the collaboration of Jean-Léon Gérôme, Drawing Course. Paris, ACR, 2017 (first edition 2003). A copy of this book is added.