Holbein

1803 · rif. 22501803 — London W. Smith for John Scott 1803. Small 4to. contemporary red straight grain morocco expertly rebacked with a half-inch wide decorated border surrounding a blind-tooled border; spine with four raised bands and elaborate decorative gilt tooling. A.e.g. The work contains a total of fifty plates of which 46 are devoted to the Dance of Death. The plates are printed without the decorative borders found in copies printed by S. Gosnell for John Scott the same year. In this copy they are interleaved with the letterpress text. As to the Dance of Death plates themselves 30 are copies from Hollar’s designs the rest are from the spurious editions of Holbein’s cuts with variations. The work was first published in Edinburgh in 1788. According to Aldred Warthin "The paper used in the Edinburgh edition is extremely poor which may account for the poor impressions of the plates. Two other editions of Deuchar were printed by S. Gosnell London in 1803 one WITH and one WITHOUT the Diepenbeke borders. The prints in these London editions are much better than those of the Edinburgh and a better quality of paper is used." It would appear that Warthin was unaware that there were two printings in 1803 for Scott by two different printers. In our experience the Smith printing is the rarer of the two. See" Warthin Aldred S. The Physician of the Dance of Death. pp. 79-80. Douce Francis. The Dance of Death. pp. 135-36. Minns Collection. AAA Catalogue 1922. No. 268 "Large uncut copy of this rare edition of Deuchar's plates. Printed on heavier paper than the first edition and with very fine impressions of the plates.". IN A FINE RED MOROCCO BINDING London W. Smith for John Scott hardcover books