Nuremberg, [1768-1778].
3 folio volumes [410 x 259 mm] of: I/ 1 portrait, (3) ll., 59 pp., 1 engraved title, 127 plates including 10 on double page ; II/ (3) ll., 159 pp., 78 plates including 3 on double-page ; III/ pp. 1 to 172, 68 plates including 2 on double-page.
Full red morocco, covers decorated with a large rocaille dentelle, spines ribbed and decorated with a rich gilt grotesque decoration, inner gilt border, gilt edges. Contemporary dentelle binding.
First French edition “more sought after than the first German edition”. (Brunet)
Brunet, III, 682; Nissen 2232; BMC (NH), II 998.
Unique Presentation copy on large paper with a special title sumptuously bound in red Parisian morocco with large rocaille dentelle and with the spines decorated with a superb grotesque gilt decor, illustrated with an aquatint portrait of Walch after J. Elias Haid, 273 engravings, 15 of which on double page, printed in color and enhanced by hand, in contemporary binding without part IV and the text of part III, “as often” (Graesse: “The second part of the third volume, containing the table, is often missing”).
Knorr, a German engraver, was born in Nuremberg on December 30, 1705. He first learned the trade of a turner, which he did until the age of eighteen. But he also took up engraving. He even cultivated painting, and painted some landscapes. Later, reading books on natural history gave him a taste for this science, to which he mainly devoted his talent.
A splendid set of this French edition, « plus généralement recherchée que l’originale » (Brunet) of an outstanding scientific work on fossils. The plates include the d-p. plate of the famous Solenhofen quarries.
A very attractive work; the plates in superb condition.
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