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Lot Essay
In 1786 the Parisian printer and publisher Pierre-Francois Basan (1723-97) acquired around eighty etching plates by Rembrandt from the estate of his fellow Parisian dealer C.-H. Watelet (1718-1786). The so-called Basan receuil was first published in 1789 and constituted a landmark not only in the history of Rembrandt scholarship, but also in the development of the academic study of art. For the first time a volume containing an overview of Rembrandt's work printed from his own plates was available to the collecting public. It was, in many respects, the first illustrated catalogue of an artist's work. Such was its success that the receuil continued to be issued until 1846, first by Basan's sons Antoine-Simon-Ferdinand (1763/64-98) and Henry-Louis (d. before 1819), then by the Parisian publisher Auguste Jean (d. 1820), and finally, on his death, by his widow.
In his detailed study on the history of Rembrandt's copperplates, Eric Hinterding highlights the difficulty in dating individual receuils, citing variations in presentation, contents and paper types. There is, however, a gradual, yet discernible deterioration in the quality of later editions, caused by the wear to the plates from intensive printing.
This particular album is unusual in that the plates have been printed directly onto the sheet, a characteristic of the early receuils published by Pierre-Francois, as opposed to each plate being printed separately and then pasted individually into the album, a feature of subsequent editions. However, the inclusion of Henri-Louis Basan's title-page indicates a publication date on or after 1807, when Henri-Louis followed in his father's footsteps and began to publish the receuil under the same title.
Osbert Barnard has pointed out that the quality of the prints in Henry-Louis's albums is far from consistent, and postulates that he printed single impressions on demand, compiling his albums from the impressions he already had in stock. One possible hypothesis may be that some of the sheets in this album were printed much earlier than 1807. However, this is conjectural.
That this album is one of Henri-Louis earlier editions is supported by the presence of Faust (B. 270), in its original condition, before the plate was radically reworked, the original plate of The Death of the Virgin (B. 99), replaced by a copy in later albums, and a fifth state impression of The Pancake Woman (B. 124), prior to the inscription added in 1809 in the sixth, final state. The superior quality of the receuil is consistent with Nowell-Usticke's assessment that 'The first albums published by Henri-Louis are very comparable to his father's receuils in both quality and the paper on which they are printed'.
In his detailed study on the history of Rembrandt's copperplates, Eric Hinterding highlights the difficulty in dating individual receuils, citing variations in presentation, contents and paper types. There is, however, a gradual, yet discernible deterioration in the quality of later editions, caused by the wear to the plates from intensive printing.
This particular album is unusual in that the plates have been printed directly onto the sheet, a characteristic of the early receuils published by Pierre-Francois, as opposed to each plate being printed separately and then pasted individually into the album, a feature of subsequent editions. However, the inclusion of Henri-Louis Basan's title-page indicates a publication date on or after 1807, when Henri-Louis followed in his father's footsteps and began to publish the receuil under the same title.
Osbert Barnard has pointed out that the quality of the prints in Henry-Louis's albums is far from consistent, and postulates that he printed single impressions on demand, compiling his albums from the impressions he already had in stock. One possible hypothesis may be that some of the sheets in this album were printed much earlier than 1807. However, this is conjectural.
That this album is one of Henri-Louis earlier editions is supported by the presence of Faust (B. 270), in its original condition, before the plate was radically reworked, the original plate of The Death of the Virgin (B. 99), replaced by a copy in later albums, and a fifth state impression of The Pancake Woman (B. 124), prior to the inscription added in 1809 in the sixth, final state. The superior quality of the receuil is consistent with Nowell-Usticke's assessment that 'The first albums published by Henri-Louis are very comparable to his father's receuils in both quality and the paper on which they are printed'.