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Medium: Original vibrant handcolored engraving printed on laid paper.  The original description page is included if available.

Source: "Bilderbuch zum nutzen und vergnügen der jugend" by Friedrich Bertuch.

Published: Verlag von Bauer, Vienna, 1810

About: Friedrich Bertuch's famous Picture-Book for Children (Bilderbuch zum nutzen und vergnügen der jugend), an illustrated encyclopedia for children. Plates are accompanied by explanatory text in German and French. The Picture-Book was published in 12 volumes from 1790 to 1843 and eventually included 1,185 handcoloured copperplates. Bertuch wished to reproduce the magic of discovery, and mixed engravings of plants, animals, shells, minerals, volcanoes and technical inventions in a utopian chaos, so that a child could encounter afresh the wonders of the natural world at the turn of every page.

Without a doubt, Bertuch's picture book is one of the greatest works encountered by a children's book collector. It is the epitome of modern thinking, the determination with which children's books anticipate modern nonfiction. Furthermore, it is one of the most precious treasures for the collector of illustrated books" (E. Strobach in Philobiblon XIII (1969).

Full sheet size (with blank margins): app.  8" x 10"

Condition:  Toning, age-staining, creasing, offsetting from the text page. Please examine the scan.

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