Beschreibung:

PICART, Bernard (1673-1733). Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde . Amsterdam: J.F. Bernard, 1723-43. 8 volumes in 9. -- Superstitions Anciennes et Modernes: Prejugès Vulgaires . Amsterdam: Jean Frederic Bernard, 1733, 36. 2 volumes. Together 11 volumes, 2 o (444 x 274 mm). Half-titles. (Without half-title in volume III, volume IX with stain on title and preliminaries, some occasional browning and spotting throughout.) Together 266 engraved plates, some folding. Contemporary Dutch vellum gilt, the covers panelled with a central lozenge stamped in gilt, the spines in 9 compartments with 8 raised bands, brown morocco lettering pieces, edges gilt (some waterstaining to the last three volumes). Provenance : unidentified arms stamped in gilt on covers; Catherine de Courlande (contemporary ownership signature on titles); P. H. (booklabel on pastedowns). A FINE SET OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THIS IMPORTANT COSTUME BOOK. Bernard Picart (1673-1733), son of the famous engraver Étienne Picart, was born at Paris into Catholicism but later converted to the Reformed faith. In 1710 he moved to Holland seeking religious freedom. Upon doing so, he began his study of the various religious practices and costumes of the world, engraving a series of highly decorative plates to illustrate text edited by the publisher Bernard and written by R. Simon, J. Abbadie, Boulainvilliers and others. The work is partially sought after for the plates of Jewish ceremonies which depict contemporary Jewish life. Picart "earned a place in the history of Jewish art by his realistic portrayal of Jewish religious rites. These constitute an invaluable record of Dutch Jewry in the early eighteenth century ... Picart sought out Jews in the synagogue and in their homes in order to acquaint himself with their ceremonies. In his picture of a Passover celebration the artist himself can be seen, hatless, participating in the meal." Encyclopedia Judaica 13,498. The work attempts to describe all religious practices, and even discusses tenets of deism and freemasonry. The work has been reprinted many times, but the first edition is preferred due to the superior quality of the earlier impressions of the engravings. Brunet I:1742; Cohen-de Ricci 134; Hiler 708; Sabin 4931. (11)