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BERTHIER, R. P. J[OACHIM, JOSEPH] : LA PLUS ANCIENNE DANSE MACABRE AU KLINGENTHAL, A BÂLE

P. Lethielleux, Paris, [1897]

Tall 8vo. (10 x 6 1/2 inches), publisher’s wrappers. Fine.The work consists of 100 pages nicely printed on coated paper, and contains 42 illustrations reproducing 40 watercolors executed by Emmanuel Büchel between 1766 and 1768 from the 41 designs in distemper on the cloister walls of the Dominicans of Klingenthal in Basel in 1312. The verses relating to the designs are in French, as is the commentary and the translation of the preface to Büchel's manuscript.The renditions are among the earliest interpretations of how Death eventually comes to embrace every man and woman from every station. This convention endured until Holbein introduced his own ideas on the subject in the 1530's. A surprisingly elusive book, it is not in the Minns catalogue nor is it mentioned by Warthin.

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