CALLOT (Jacques). Les Misères et les Mal-heurs de la guerre. - Lot 9

CALLOT (Jacques). Les Misères et les Mal-heurs de la guerre. Représentez par Jacques Callot Noble Lorrain et mis en lumière par Israel son amy. A Paris, 1633, Avec Privilège du Roy. In-8 oblong, full, maroq. rouge, dent. intér. gilt (Thibaron-Joly). COMPLETE SET OF 18 ORIGINAL EAUX-FORTES (82 x 185 mm) in fine second state proofs (of 3), before the Privilège and Excudit d'Israël were erased, with good margins on watermarked laid paper (123 x 221 mm). VERY FINE SUITE IN SECOND STATE OF CALLOT'S MASTERPIECE. Trained in painting and engraving from the age of 12 in Italy, initially as a runaway, Jacques Callot entered the service of the Medici in 1612 with the consent of his family, where he acquired a great reputation. He returned to Nancy in 1621 at the request of Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine. He produced this celebrated suite, often referred to as Les grandes misères, shortly after Louis XIII's armies laid siege to the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine in 1633. Well-known for his incomparable talent, Jacques Callot was asked by the King of France to engrave the decisive event of the Thirty Years' War, the siege of Nancy. Three years earlier, Callot had already produced Le Grand siège de La Rochelle (The Great Siege of La Rochelle) for the same illustrious patron. But the engraver from Nancy was a patriot and would have replied: "Sire, I am from Lorraine and believe I must do nothing against the honor of my Prince and my country." These engravings by a great master not only show the war, but also depict with striking realism the various aspects of military life, from enlistment to corporal punishment. If the suite bears the date Paris (and not Nancy) 1633, this is because the prints were made by the artist's compatriot and friend, Israël Henriet, who had been the exclusive publisher of Callot's works in Paris since 1629. A VERY FINE COPY OF THIS SUITE, ONE OF THE MASTERPIECES OF ENGRAVING, IN A FINE BINDING SIGNED BY THIBARON-JOLY. Ref : Meaume, 564 to 581 ; Lieu re, 1339 to 1356.