DEZALLIER D'ARGENVILLE (Antoine-Joseph). L'Histoire naturell - Lot 17

DEZALLIER D'ARGENVILLE (Antoine-Joseph). L'Histoire naturelle éclaircie dans une de ses parties principales, la Conchyliologie, qui traite des coquillages de mer, de rivière et de terre augmenté de la zoomorphose. New edition. A Paris, chez De Bure l'Aîné, 1757; two parts in one vol. in-4 (290 x 215 mm) of xxij pages, 379 [+1] pages, 29 plates; pages 381-394, 18 pages, 84 pages, cvij[+i] pages, [12] plates, contemporary brown morocco binding, three gilded fillets framing the boards, ribbed spine decorated with gilded floral motifs, inner lace and gilded edges (Rel. anc.). A very fine and rare work, with a gouache-engraved frontispiece by Chedel after François Boucher and 40 intaglio plates of shells by J. - J. Flipart, also gouache-engraved with great care at the time, representing all kinds of sea, freshwater and land shells after models probably by Jacques de Favanne. The aim of Conchyliologie was to facilitate the identification of marine, fluvial and terrestrial shellfish. D'Argenville was preparing a third edition, which his death (1765) left unfinished. The painter-engraver Jacques de Favanne and his son Jacques-Guillaume published it in 1780. Antoine-Joseph himself had assembled an important collection of works of art as well as natural curiosities. VERY GOOD EXAMPLE, wide-margined and bound in contemporary morocco (old engraved bookplate pasted on the endpaper). endpaper).