Residences Memorables De l'incomparable Heros de nôtre Siecle ou Representation exacte des Edifices et Jardins de Son Altesse Serenissime Monseigneur Le Prince Eugene Francois Duc de Savoye et de Piemont...Augsburg, 1731-40 [Bound with:] Kleiner, Salomon. Representation des animaux de la menagerie de S.A.S. Monseigneur le prince Eugene François de Savoye et de Piemont ... Augsburg, 1734 by Kleiner, Salomon

2 works in 1 vol. Oblong folio, early three quarter blind-stamped brown calf with mottled brown paper over boards. 97 of 102 engravings, 11 of which are folding.

A spectacular set of engravings after drawings by Salomon Kleiner picturing one of the most extraordinary estates of the eighteenth century, Prince Eugene of Savoy's Belvedere, in Vienna, designed by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt, court architect to the Hapsburgs.

Residences Memorables comprises a series of engravings published in ten separately issued parts, each with its own title page in French and German, and is bound here, as usual, with Kleiner's supplementary series illustrating the Prince's menagerie. Of the 102 engravings found in a complete set of these works—issued serially and thus often incomplete—97 are present here, with plate 9 of part 5 and plates 9-12 of Representation des Animaux lacking. Of the 10 parts, the first consists of a title page, the dedication text and plate, and 8 plates, numbered 2-9 and the 9 following (except part 5) consist of a title page and 9 numbered plates.

These splendid views document in minute detail the exteriors and richly ornamented Baroque interiors of the Belvedere estate's two palaces, as well as its extensive gardens and its menagerie. Part one begins with a dedication plate depicting Prince Eugene in the form of a statue set among classical ruins and the spoils of war, closely attended and admired by angels, putti, and Zeus and Athena. It is followed by a plan of the gardens and buildings, an exceptionally handsome bird's eye view of the same, and illustrations of the two palaces edifices, entryways, and entrance halls. Subsequent parts, each with their own dedication plates, depict countless other grand rooms-the gallery, the game room, the coffee room, the conference room, the "Chambre de Conversation pour l'Eté"-as well as multiple plans, views, or cutaways of other aspects of the architecture and grounds, including gates, gardens, fountains, etc. The scenes are populated with elegantly dressed gentry, occasional dignified pet dogs, and, where appropriate, horses and their handlers. The plates depicting the menagerie show gatherings of exotic animals, many with strikingly varied and intelligent facial expressions, frolicking, ambling, and pausing among classical marble statues, fountains, and other elements of lavish garden architecture.

Prince Eugene de Savoy (1663-1736), French-born but thrown out of the court of Louis XIV, was indeed a military and strategic giant, as alluded to by the floweringly humble dedication from the printer and publisher, Jeremie Wolff. Wolff ran the largest printing and engraving operation of his time, and employed Salomon Kleiner, and Kleiner's teacher Johann August Corvinus, whose engravings also appear here. Other engravers are: J. J. Sedelmayr, Jacob Wangner, Jacob Gottlieb Thelot (also Thelott), Gottfried Pfauz, Georg Lichtensteger, Johann Jacob Graeßmann, Nicolaus Mettel, Balthas Sigmund Stlezky, Matthias Werlin, Johann Bernhard Hattinger, Johann Balthasar Probst, and Jacob Andreas Friedrich.

A splendid Viennese view book.

CONDITION: Upper and lower covers worn, extremities rubbed; leather at lower right and left corners chipped; binding tight, no cracking at inner or outer hinges; occasional light foxing and soiling, mainly confined to edges, pages intact with no chips or tears; handsome bookplate from an unknown Güde in the art nouveau style on front paste down, offsetting to front fly leaf.