Premium pages left without account:

Auction archive: Lot number 468

CAUS, Salomon de (1576-ca 1626) Hortus Palatinus, a Frideric...

Estimate
US$25,000 - US$35,000
Price realised:
US$25,000
Auction archive: Lot number 468

CAUS, Salomon de (1576-ca 1626) Hortus Palatinus, a Frideric...

Estimate
US$25,000 - US$35,000
Price realised:
US$25,000
Beschreibung:

CAUS, Salomon de (1576-ca 1626). Hortus Palatinus, a Friderico Rege Boemiae Electore Palatino Heidelbergae Exstructus . Frankfurt: Theodor de Bry 1620.
CAUS, Salomon de (1576-ca 1626). Hortus Palatinus, a Friderico Rege Boemiae Electore Palatino Heidelbergae Exstructus . Frankfurt: Theodor de Bry 1620. 2 o (383 x 248 mm). Engraved title-page within architectural border incorporating symbolic and allegorical figures, 30 numbered engraved plates of garden views, fountains, landscape designs and various aspects of garden architecture, including two large folding plates, and one double-page plate (large folding plate with several small holes along folds, plate 13 with upper corner torn away, plate 29 with paper flaw affecting image border). Contemporary flexible vellum gilt (chipping of vellum at top of front cover, lacking ties). Provenance : Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt (bookplate; withdrawn 1985, sold to William Wyer); acquired from Marlborough Rare Books, 1985. FIRST EDITION OF THIS EXCEEDINGLY SCARCE WORK ON THE LANDSCAPED GARDENS AND ARCHITECTURE DESIGNED BY SALOMON DE CAUS FOR THE ELECTOR PALATINATE FREDERICK V. The extraordinary large folding panoramic view of Heidelberg was engraved by Matthias Merian after the painting by Jacob Focquier, while the other plates illustrate the fountains set in verdant grottos, as well as sculpted fountain pools, parterres and various garden ornaments and architecture. Salomon de Caus French architect and engineer, worked at the Court of Albert and Isabella in Brussels until 1610, before becoming chief architect to Henry, Prince of Wales. He was the drawing master for the Princess Elizabeth and went with her to Heidelberg when she married Frederick V. Starting in 1612, Caus laid out plans for the great garden at the Palatine in Heidelberg and made additions to the castle. "This slim volume of plates, published in 1620, is one of the most moving monuments to the fragility of gardens, however great. Caus had designed and supervised the creation of the renaissance marvel, built on an intractable site beside the castle, high above the town and the river Neckar. The text of his book is an au lecteur of only three [ sic : four] pages, in which he speaks of the 'delay to the work' which has occurred," precipitated by the wars of Bohemia. His work was never finished, and what had been built was soon abandoned, but its aspirations were unquestionable: "It had delights within and without--Alberti could not complain about the view--and the intricacy and variety respond to the magnitude of its scale. In the eighteenth century, the debased successors to the formal gardens at Versailles will be grand, but empty. At Heidelberg, every section is 'curious', with the excitement in detailed work which inspires the sculpture of fountains in the palazzo Borghese in Rome, or the knots in the garden at Gaillon" (Christopher Thacker, The History of Gardens , 1979, p. 134). VERY RARE: NUC lists only four copies, and no copies are traced at auction in at least 100 years. Brunet I:1691; Graesse II:90; Hunt 204 (this copy).

Auction archive: Lot number 468
Auction:
Datum:
20 Jun 2013
Auction house:
Christie's
20 June 2013, New York, Rockefeller Center
Beschreibung:

CAUS, Salomon de (1576-ca 1626). Hortus Palatinus, a Friderico Rege Boemiae Electore Palatino Heidelbergae Exstructus . Frankfurt: Theodor de Bry 1620.
CAUS, Salomon de (1576-ca 1626). Hortus Palatinus, a Friderico Rege Boemiae Electore Palatino Heidelbergae Exstructus . Frankfurt: Theodor de Bry 1620. 2 o (383 x 248 mm). Engraved title-page within architectural border incorporating symbolic and allegorical figures, 30 numbered engraved plates of garden views, fountains, landscape designs and various aspects of garden architecture, including two large folding plates, and one double-page plate (large folding plate with several small holes along folds, plate 13 with upper corner torn away, plate 29 with paper flaw affecting image border). Contemporary flexible vellum gilt (chipping of vellum at top of front cover, lacking ties). Provenance : Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt (bookplate; withdrawn 1985, sold to William Wyer); acquired from Marlborough Rare Books, 1985. FIRST EDITION OF THIS EXCEEDINGLY SCARCE WORK ON THE LANDSCAPED GARDENS AND ARCHITECTURE DESIGNED BY SALOMON DE CAUS FOR THE ELECTOR PALATINATE FREDERICK V. The extraordinary large folding panoramic view of Heidelberg was engraved by Matthias Merian after the painting by Jacob Focquier, while the other plates illustrate the fountains set in verdant grottos, as well as sculpted fountain pools, parterres and various garden ornaments and architecture. Salomon de Caus French architect and engineer, worked at the Court of Albert and Isabella in Brussels until 1610, before becoming chief architect to Henry, Prince of Wales. He was the drawing master for the Princess Elizabeth and went with her to Heidelberg when she married Frederick V. Starting in 1612, Caus laid out plans for the great garden at the Palatine in Heidelberg and made additions to the castle. "This slim volume of plates, published in 1620, is one of the most moving monuments to the fragility of gardens, however great. Caus had designed and supervised the creation of the renaissance marvel, built on an intractable site beside the castle, high above the town and the river Neckar. The text of his book is an au lecteur of only three [ sic : four] pages, in which he speaks of the 'delay to the work' which has occurred," precipitated by the wars of Bohemia. His work was never finished, and what had been built was soon abandoned, but its aspirations were unquestionable: "It had delights within and without--Alberti could not complain about the view--and the intricacy and variety respond to the magnitude of its scale. In the eighteenth century, the debased successors to the formal gardens at Versailles will be grand, but empty. At Heidelberg, every section is 'curious', with the excitement in detailed work which inspires the sculpture of fountains in the palazzo Borghese in Rome, or the knots in the garden at Gaillon" (Christopher Thacker, The History of Gardens , 1979, p. 134). VERY RARE: NUC lists only four copies, and no copies are traced at auction in at least 100 years. Brunet I:1691; Graesse II:90; Hunt 204 (this copy).

Auction archive: Lot number 468
Auction:
Datum:
20 Jun 2013
Auction house:
Christie's
20 June 2013, New York, Rockefeller Center
Try LotSearch

Try LotSearch and its premium features for 7 days - without any costs!

  • Search lots and bid
  • Price database and artist analysis
  • Alerts for your searches
Create an alert now!

Be notified automatically about new items in upcoming auctions.

Create an alert