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BILDERBUCH FÜR KINDER.
(Weimar: Industrie-Comptoir, [1798]-1830). 240 x 195 mm. (9 1/2 x 7 1/2"). 12 volumes.
Modern quarter calf over paste-paper boards, smooth spine stamped in gilt and blind, red morocco label with gilt titling. With 1,186 HAND-COLORED PLATES (three of them folding, some finished with gum arabic) containing more than 6,000 images. In German and French, with volumes 4-6 and part of volume 7 in German, French, English, and Italian. Nissen ZBI 340; Strobach, E., "Das Bertuchische Bilderbuch und seine Ausgabe," Philobiblon, 13 (1969), p. 255. ◆Minor soiling to spines, light shelfwear to extremities, but the bindings entirely sound, showing little use, and very presentable. Text with a bit of foxing and browning throughout (though not serious, especially given the nature of the paper used), with the occasional plate affected, a few other minor defects internally (volume 4, plate 35 missing the English/Italian text page; volume 6, plate 90 trimmed with very slight loss of image; volume 11, plate 19 with two-inch tear at bottom; plate 20 of same volume reinforced with paper; text page for plate 95 trimmed very close with loss of a small portion of German text; last 34 plates of final volume with minor marginal worming, just encroaching beyond plate mark on a dozen plates). Given the size of the set and the nature of its users, a remarkably well-preserved copy, with the vast majority of the plates clean and richly colored, and the work as a whole extremely pleasing.
This is an uncommonly seen complete copy of Bertuch's "Picture Book for Children," an outstanding example of the pedagogical genre known as "orbis pictus" ("the world pictured") that was popular in the late 18th century. According to Strobach, the present work represents the place "where modern scientific thinking begins, the determination with which children's books anticipate modern non-fiction. Moreover, it is one of the most valuable treasures for collectors of illustrated books." Author and publisher Friedrich Justin Bertuch (1747-1822) explains in the foreword, "A picture book is just as important and even more indispensable a piece of furniture for a child's room as a cradle, a doll or a hobby horse," noting that "nothing is more important than to get the child's eye used to the true representation of objects right from the start." Text was secondary; amusing and interesting pictures would engage children, making learning painless, even fun. The images here fall into 14 groups--four-legged animals, birds, fish, insects, plants, people and costumes, worms, mollusks, corals, amphibians, minerals, architecture, antiquities, and miscellaneous objects--but images from these various groups appear throughout the volumes, with no rigorous ordering by category. Of special interest are images of human anatomy, exotic locales, geological events like volcanic eruptions, early civilizations, and mythological creatures. Bertuch explained that his key concern was attracting and holding children's attention with bright and colorful images (pictures of butterflies are well drawn and memorably colorful), rather than with the classification of objects. Partly to keep the price within the reach of working-class families, "Bilderbuch" was published in 237 inexpensive parts, which were issued over three decades bridging two centuries (1792-1830), with new inventions like the hot air balloon and the steamboat appearing among the work's "miscellaneous objects." Given its protracted publication history and the fact that uncareful children were chief among its users, the work is infrequently found complete, let alone in the well-preserved condition seen here. (ST19817)
Price: $24,000.00