Gautier d'Agoty | Unique copy, with distinguished provenance, of his earliest color-printed plates of minerals, Paris 1777

Gautier d'Agoty, Jean-Fabien (& Jean-Baptiste-Louis Romé de l'Isle)

Histoire naturelle, ou exposition générale de toutes ses parties gravées et imprimées en couleurs naturelles, avec des notes historiques. Paris: De l'Imprimerie de Moutard, Imprimeur-Libraire de la Reine, de Madame, & de Madame de la Comtesse d'Artois, 1777

Folio (307 x 230 mm). Letterpress title-page with woodcut coat-of-arms, single-leaf letterpress “Avant Propos,” 8 color-printed engraved plates delicately finished by hand to resemble original watercolors, with borders and text captions suppled in manuscript, each plate accompanied by letterpress “Explication.” Contemporary French olive morocco gilt, gilt French fillet border, inner fleuron cornerpieces, central gilt arms of Louis-Antoine-Sophie de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu (Olivier 408), spine gilt in six compartments, second with red morocco title label, third with black morocco label lettered "FACIC. UNIQ, marbled endpapers, gilt edges; extremities rubbed, joints restored. Marbled board slipcase.

The only known copy of these extraordinary plates in this state, proofs before letters, issued as a prospectus by Fabien Gautier D'Agoty for his Histoire naturelle Règne Minéral (see following lot for publishing information). They were bound for the Duke de Fronsac, Louis-Antoine-Sophie de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu (1736–1791), probably a gift in return for royal patronage. The plates were published with obvious permission and patronage from the queen, Marie Antoinette (also the subject of an earlier mezzotint by Fabien). This prospectus was unknown to Wendell Wilson when he wrote his article on the publication of the Histoire naturelle (see References below).

The plates in this prospectus are truly magnificent, virtuosic displays more worked and detailed than those published later. The first seven plates of the published work are represented (prospectus plates 1–4,6–8) as well as one specimen, “Mine de fer cristalle,” that is untraced in the 1781 work. In some cases it appears that new plates were made or the old ones changed, especially for plates 1 and 6 of the prospectus. The short text of the “Avant propos” published here for the first time was later expanded for the full 1781 edition.

Jean-Fabien Gautier d'Agoty was the fifth son of the now famous French innovator in the development of fine color printing, Jacques Fabien Gautier d'Agoty, renowned for his anatomical illustrations, in particular Exposition anatomique de la structure du corps humain, en vingt planches imprimées avec leur couleur naturelle (Marseille, 1759Jean-Fabien, like his four brothers before him, was trained in his father's atelier. By 1776 Fabien was working on an illustrated book devoted to natural history, specifically animals, plants and minerals. This prospectus shows that by 1777 he was well advanced, having worked out a formula, made his paper choice, and tested his technique in revealing the visual qualities of minerals. Ten “decades” of ten plates each were projected for the minerals; with his premature death, however, only thirty were finished under his direction.

“This prospectus advertises the upcoming publication of d'Agoty's Histoire Naturelle and solicits subscribers for the project. Included are 8 engraved plates of minerals created by the Le Blon/d'Agoty color printing process, and finished by hand. In 1776, a royal permission was granted to d'Agoty for the publication of a major work illustrating in color the three kingdoms of natural history in realistic depictions. This prospectus provides a sample of d'Agoty's vision. He writes in the preface that black and white representations cannot show minerals realistically, therefore his Histoire Naturelle will utilize printing in colors to convey nature authentically to the reader” (Schuh, Annotated Bio-Bibliography of Mineralogy and Crystallography 1469–1919).

The minerals depicted were from the collection of the celebrated crystallographer Jean-Baptiste-Louis Romé de l'Isle, who supplied the text.

REFERENCES

“Fabien Gautier D'Agoty and his Histoire Naturelle Règne Minéral,” in Wilson, Mineral Books, pp. 65–76; Wilson, Mineral Collecting, pp. 52–53

PROVENANCE

Louis-Antoine-Sophie de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu (supralibros) — Hans Fürstenberg (morocco booklabel) — Otto Schäfer (Sotheby's London, 7 December 1995, lot 244) — Joseph A. Freilich (Sotheby’s New York, 10 January 2001, lot 200)