Boccaccio, G. Il Decamerone. London (Paris, Prault), 1757, 5 vols., 5 engr.

Boccaccio, G. Il Decamerone. London (Paris, Prault), 1757, 5 vols., 5 engr. frontisp., 5 title-p., portrait, 110 plates and num. head- and tailpieces mostly after GRAVELOT, the others after i.a. EISEN, BOUCHER and COCHIN, bound by KALTHOEBER in later unif. gilt red straightgrained mor. w. marbled endpapers and all edges gilt over marbling, a.e.g. - Provenance: the library of the Marquiss of Donegall (bookplate in all 5 volumes). Fine copy, with only a few unobtrusive defects: one page and one plate w. closed tear in blank lower margin; occas. trifle foxed in margins. Bindings sl. spotted. = LARGE PAPER copy of the preferred Italian edition, with the rare portrait of Boccaccio by LEMPEREUR after GRAVELOT and with at least 22 plates in the first (paraphed) edition (possibly the paraphs on the other plates were cut off in the binding process). Cohen/ De Ricci 158-160; Cohen 1588; Ray 15 ("one of the masterpieces of the illustrated book"). The binder Christian Samuel Kalthoeber (1775-1817), of German origin, emigrated to London and succeeded his former master Baumgarten, after which he became a sought-after binder. He in turn was succeeded by Frederick Deschlein around 1809. SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE CXLV