Félibien, Entretiens sur les vies des plus excellens peintres, 3 vols, Paris, 1666-1679, contemporary calf

Félibien, André. Entretiens sur les vies et sur les ouvrages des plus excellens peintres anciens et modernes. Paris: Pierre Le Petit, 1666

Entretiens sur les vies et sur les ouvrages des plus excellens peintres anciens et modernes. Seconde partie. Paris: Sébastien Mabre-Cramoisy, 1672

Entretiens sur les vies et sur les ouvrages des plus excellens peintres anciens et modernes. Troisième partie. Paris: Jean Baptiste Coignard, 1679

First edition, a set comprising the first three volumes of Félibien's artists' biographies; a further two volumes were issued in 1685 and 1688.

André Félibien (1619–1695) was an art historian and founding member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres. Following his appointment as historiographer of the Bâtiments du Roi in 1666, Félibien produced the Entretiens, an extensive work that sought to critique the history of painting from antiquity to the work of Poussin, to whom an entire chapter is dedicated. Two initially unplanned chapters conclude the Entretiens by addressing more contemporary artists including Champaigne, Le Sueur and Mignard. 

3 volumes. i) 4to (249 x 182 mm). Roman and Italic type, 27 lines plus headline. collation: ã⁴ ẽ⁴ ĩ⁴ õ², A-Z⁴ Aa-Tt⁴: 182 leaves. Engraved device on title-page, engraved and woodcut initials and headpieces. ii) 4to (250 x 184 mm). Roman and Italic type, 27 lines plus headline. collation: π¹ A-Z⁴ Aa-Zz⁴ AAa-FFf⁴: 209 leaves. Engraved device on title-page, engraved and woodcut initials and headpieces, manuscript notes on Cc2. iii) 4to (249 x 184 mm). Roman and Italic type, 27 lines plus headline. collation: π¹ A-Z⁴ Aa-Tt⁴ Vu²: 171 leaves. Engraved device on title-page, engraved and woodcut initials and headpieces, 4 full-page engravings. (Occasional minor spotting and browning).

binding: Contemporary French brown calf (258 x 192 mm), spine gilt in compartments, title on red morocco label in second compartment, gilt board edges, edges sprinkled red. (Bindings rubbed, corners bumped, joints weak, some loss to foot of spines of volumes 1 and 2, some loss to head of spine on all volumes.)

acquisition: Purchased in 2012 from Librairie Paul Jammes, Paris. references: cf. BAL RIBA 1039