THE PRINCIPLES OF PAINTING, by Roger de Piles - 1743 [1st English trans.]
The Principles of Painting
to which is added The Balance of Painters
by Roger de Piles
First English translation from the French. London: J. Osborn, 1743
Hardback is overall in VERY GOOD- condition.
- Full calf binding with gilt borders and ruled spine bands.
- Boards show age, wear, some dings, edgewear. Corners are bumped and frayed, with exposed board. See photos.
- Spine has gilt ruled bands, no text, and is worn, with chipped ends. See photos.
- Binding is intact but fragile. Cover boards show signs of separation. See photos.
- Pastedowns and feps have some staining at edges, writing on front fep, first three sheets show adhesion at gutter. See photos.
- Illustrations - two engraved plates following pg. 66 and pg. 230 - are present. See photos.
- Interior is gently age-toned, shows some paper warping. Text quality is very nice.
- Inside pages are free of writing and intentional marks.
- Text block edges have a few marks.
- PS2023.0323
300 pages. 4.75 x 7.75 inches
First English translation of Roger de Piles's treatise on painting, first published in French in 1708. De Piles, a connossieur and collector, introduced the term "clair-obscur" (Chiaroscuro) into the vocabulary of aesthetics. He used the term to highlight the effect of color in accentuating the tension between light and dark in a painting.
The Balance of Painters is appended to de Piles' text on painting. It is a list of fifty-six major painters with whose work he had acquainted himself as a connoisseur during his travels. To each painter in the list he gave marks from 0 to 18 for composition, drawing, color and expression.
The translator is anonymous, identified only as "A Painter."
AS IS! Please see photos. More photos available upon request.
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