1672 – Catalog de Livres d'Estampes et de Figures en Tailles-Douce by Michel de Marolles, Paris.

Rare book, 1672 – Catalog de Livres d'Estampes et de Figures en Tailles-Douce by Michel de Marolles, Paris. Exceptionally Rare Illustrated Catalog with 163 Artists’ Monograms – Original Period Binding with Slipcase. This important and beautifully preserved volume is Michel de Marolles' Catalog de Livres d'Estampes et de Figures en Tailles-Douce, published in Paris in 1672 by Jacques Langlois Fils. It is housed in its original speckled calf binding with five richly gilt spine compartments and custom slipcase adorned. 339 pages. Michel de Marolles (1600–1681), a Benedictine abbot and celebrated print collector, was one of the earliest and most prolific connoisseurs of prints in Europe. This catalog reflects the breadth of his second collection, which he began assembling after selling his first, containing some 120,000 engravings, to Louis XIV in 1667—a founding act of what would become the French national print collection. The volume is notable for its inclusion of 163 woodcut facsimiles of artists' monograms, making it one of the earliest printed works to systematically reproduce artists’ identifying marks. These monograms serve as invaluable references for art historians, collectors, and curators, and helped lay the groundwork for the cataloging systems of later institutions. Text entirely in French. Complete and in very good condition. A cornerstone item for any serious collector of prints, art bibliographies, or French antiquarian books. Size 15x9x1.5 cm.