Portraits of the Most Celebrated Painters of all the Schools: with a Memoir of their Lives and a short Notice of their most Celebrated Works

Fair copy only of a rare collection of lithographic portraits of famous artists.

Impressive set of 18 large, bold portraits of the Old Masters

Six numbers with 18 plates and text biographies only (it ran to 20 numbers with 60 plates), lacking title page

Plates drawn by HvH, mostly after self-portraits by the original artists

Printed by Godefroy Engelmann, 1788-1839, the pioneer Franco-German lithographer

The subjects include:
Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Flemish Baroque artist, 1599-1641
Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Spanish Baroque painter, 1618-1682
Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance artist, 1452-1519
David Teniers the Younger, Flemish painter, 1610 -1690
Michelangelo, Italian Renaissance painter, 1475-1564
Frans Snyders, Flemish painter 1579-1657
Salvator Rosa, Italian Baroque painter, 1615-1673
Nicolas Poussin, French Baroque artist, 1594-1665.
Albrecht Durer, German Renaissance painter, 1471-1528
Hans Holbein the younger, German Renaissance artist,1497-1543
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Dutch painter, 1606-1669
Gerhard Douw, Dutch artist of the Golden Age, 1613–1675
Otto van Veen, Flemish painter, 1556-1629
Francesco Mazzola, Italian Mannerist painter, 1503-1540
Titian, Italian Renaissance painter, 1488-1576
Adriaen Brouwer, Flemish painter, 1605-1638
Jan Brueghel the Elder, Flemish painter 1568-1625
Annibale Carracci, Italian painter 1560-1609

Black leather spine lacking 6cm from bottom, gilt title Eminent Painters and five raised bands, front board detached, marble boards chipped and stained, leather corners worn or missing, text and plates age toned and water-stained throughout.

Fair copy of a very rare item: only one copy found in WorldCat at the State Library of NSW, Australia.