Le Prince, Jean-Baptiste.

4to (271 x 212mm.), engraved title and 70 plates, modern half calf, red morocco lettering-piece, pages browned at edges, some spotting

Cohen-de Ricci 625-626; Colas 1838ff.

Jean-Baptiste Le Prince (1734-1781) studied under François Boucher in Paris. In 1758 he journeyed to Russia to work for Catherine the Great at the Imperial Palace in St Petersburg. He remained in Russia for five years, and his compositions of Russia and its peoples are based entirely upon his own designs, making his views much more realistic than those of his contemporaries. Le Prince, who is also credited with being the first artist to introduce aquatint into his etched and engraved plates, was elected a full member of the Académie Royale in 1765.