"Civil Architecture" by Eduard Mezger; 19th Century

Missing Architecture at facsimilium? At least I really was... This amazing collection of civil architecture sketches were drawn by Friedrich Eduard Mezger (1807–1894) a German Architect, Professor and civil Officer of the Royal buildings administration. Mezger studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich (direct link to the academy as it is today founded in 1948, but this Bavarian Academy of fine Arts can be considered as the revival of the "original" Royal Academy, established in 1808). During this period at the academy, Mezger took part in some monumental works in Athens, Greece; promoted by the Academy. After his return in 1833 from Greece, He became professor in civil engineering at the Technical University of Munich (link here to the TUM as it is today), and then in 1846 became "Oberbaurat", that can be literally understood as "Top Architect Officer".

Apart of his sketches, Mezger's collection of aquarelles really impressed me first time I saw it. Following my investigation, I could find that some of them were auctioned by Sotheby's in May 2004, with an average price of around 5.000 EUR (6.500 USD)... fair isn't it? More info see Arcadja web page, link here. Type "Eduard Mezger" on search by artist window (3 results). I couldn't obtain same results by a direct search on Sotheby's (¿?).

For a high resolution, pdf version of this manuscript, contact me (facsimilium AT gmail DOT com).

Amazing aquarelle, see left hand side light entry effect, mixed with colour -turquoise- intensity on top..

The amazing "Book of Hours from Rouen", 15th Century

Three Living and Three Dead

Facsimilium goes back to its origin. We started this biblio-adventure last September (2011) with an amazing example of a traditional -lavish illuminated- european Book of Hours ("Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis cum calendario", 14th Century), link to the post here. And we continue today with probably one of the most amazing Book of Hours I could ever find in any University or digital library available on the internet: The rare Book of Hours from Rouen, France. Why amazing? It has two unusual characteristics. First, was enterely produced and illuminated by a local woman from Rouen, Normandy (but no other information about the author, is a mistery). Second, the codex can be considered as a high detailed chronicle of European gents during medieval ages, as contains several representations of season labors on traditional european farms and villages (shop of money exchange, pruning vines, activities like haymaking, reaping, threshing, treading grapes, baking, feeding pigs, slaughtering of a pig, etc).

Baking

Feeding pigs

Slaughtering a pig (November)

As any other Book of Hours, this codex includes the traditional calendar, Office of the Virgin, Penitential Psalms, Litany, Hours of the Cross, Hours of the Holy Spirit, and the Office of the Dead. It has a large amount of lavish illustrations like the Annunciation, with roundels of Adam and Eve with the serpent, the meeting of Mary's parents at the Golden Gate, the marriage of Mary and Joseph, the Visitation (page 34), the Nativity, with roundels of shepherds with musical instruments (page 45), The Angel and shepherds (page 49), presentation in the Temple (page 55) flight into Egypt (page 57), coronation of the Virgin (page 62), King David and the prophet Nathan, with roundels of David and Goliath and the Last Judgment (page 67); Crucifixion (page 83); Pentecost, (page 86); Three Living and Three Dead (image at the top of this post), etc.

Jonah and the whale (see detail below). Entire codex has been digitized with an amazing resolution, caption below was done with a 400% zoom.

Jonah and the whale (detail)

Flight into Egypt

Presentation at the Temple

Crucifixition

Histoire naturelle des colibris, 19th Century

A male "ruby topaz" specimen from New Guinea

Original title for this codex is "Histoire naturelle des colibris : suivie d'un supplément à l'Histoire naturelle des oiseaux-mouches : ouvrage orné de planches dessinées et gravées par les meilleurs artistes : et dédié A.M. le Baron Cuvier".

Author was René Primevère Lesson (1794-1849), a French surgeon, naturalist, and ornithologist, who served as pharmacist and botanist on Duperrey's round-the-world voyage of La Coquille (1822–1825). During this trip, was the first naturalist to see live birds of paradise in the Moluccas and New Guinea. On returning to Paris, he spent seven years preparing the vertebrate zoological section of the official account of the expedition "Voyage au tour du monde sur La Coquille (1826–39)". Very prolific author, he also produced Manuel d'Ornithologie (1828), Traité d'Ornithologie (1831), Centurie Zoologique (1830–32) and Illustrations de Zoologie (1832–35), several monographs on hummingbirds, and one book on birds of paradise. Lesson received the Légion d'honneur in 1847 (Established by Napoleon Bonaparte, this is the highest decoration in France).

 I found a web page (link here) that offers a facsimil edition of Duperrey's round-the-world voyage of La Coquille.

For a high resolution, pdf version of this manuscript, contact me (facsimilium AT gmail DOT com).

Bizzarie di varie figure, or the 17th century modern cubism prelude

This compilation of amazing engravings called “Bizzarie di Varie Figure”, was published in 1624 in Livorno by Giovanni Battista Braccelli (1600–1650), an Italian engraver and painter of the Baroque period. The complete collection appears a prelude of modern cubism, the art movement pioneered by the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, but 400 years after. Some other engraves trend to Arcimboldo style, with human figures composed of boxes or raquets.

About Braccelli, there’s another famous compilation of engravings, the “Alfabeto figurato” which consists of alphabets constituted by acrobatic calligraphy of human forms. Added to this were some vedute of Rome and Roman artworks. He also published a collection of prints of conventional individuals engaged with playing musical instruments, entitled Figure Con Instrumenti Musicali.

A New System of Sword Exercise, 19th Century

Original title: "A new system of sword exercise, with a manual of the sword for officers, mounted and dismounted; forms to be observed on inspections, reviews, parades, etc". Was written by Matthew J. O'Rourke, Captain of US volunteers and also author of "sword exercise illustrated" and "A treatise on swords and swordsmanship, ancient and modern". I couldn't find too much information regarding Captain O'Rourke BIO on the internet... (appears on Official Army Register of the Volunteer Forces, U. S. Army list, link here).

Preface is significative enough: "... so long as the sword is the recognized weapon for officers, self respect and the requirements of the service demand that they should be thoroughly familiar with its uses". The book itself has two main parts, dismounted and mounted with different subsections. My favourite was first one, with following chapters: draw swords, salutes (halt and march), return swords, dress parade, inspections, etc. Illustrations are didactic enough (see feint for the leg drawing below). Other similar books were -with same or similar titles, but focused on infantry- commissioned also by Richard Francis Burton.


This is the second edition, signed by Matthew J. O'Rourke in New York, May, 1872; published 7 years later of the first edition, that means that was written during the American Civil war and published in 1865, the same year the war finished and one month later of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

The Humpty Dumpty tales, by W.W. Denslow (19th Century)

William Wallace Denslog (1856-1915), was born in Philadelphia, and studied at National Academy of Design. In the 1880s, he came to Chicago for the World's Columbian Exposition, and stayed. Besides very well known titles like The Humpty Dumpty tales or The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Denslow also illustrated Baum's books By the Candelabra's Glare, Father Goose: His Book, and Dot and Tot of Merryland. The royalties from the print and stage versions of these classics were sufficient to allow Denslow to purchase Bluck's Island, Bermuda and crown himself King Denslow the first. However, he drank his money away, and died at the Knickerbocker Hospital in New York City in obscurity, of pneumonia. A sad story.

About the classic Humpty Dumpty, it has its origins as a nursery rhyme although it appears a lot in children literature for english-speaking world: Humpty appears in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass (1872), where he discusses semantics and pragmatics with Alice. Also in L. Frank Baum's Mother Goose in Prose (1901), where the rhyming riddle is devised by the daughter of the king, having witnessed Humpty's "death" and her father's soldiers efforts to save him. Robert Rankin used Humpty Dumpty character as one victim of a serial fairy-tale character murderer in The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse, and so on...

Other tales illustrated by WW Denslow and edited by Dillingham Company, NY

Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio, 19th Century by Nelson E. Jones family

Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio was published in Circleville, Ohio, during in 1886 (no more than 100 copies were made). It is considered to be one of the most notable publications of early American ornithology. And one of my top at “rarest ranking” as no birds are present in this ornithology treatise: only nests and eggs (with counted exceptions, see illustration below). I was really impressed in my investigation about this rare Book when I discover that was created as a companion volume to Audubon’s monumental tome “Birds of America” (which was a previous post on facsimilium, link here.)  

Miss Genevieve Estelle Jones initiated the project and was the principal illustrator of the books (there are 2 volumes) when work began in 1877. Miss Jones died in August of 1879 but the work on the book continued. Illustrations were completed by Mrs. N. E. Jones and Miss Eliza J. Schultz.

There are copies of this Book at Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Adelson Library (They received one of the original books as a gift). The Smithsonian Institution has another 2 copies and considering the low number of originals (as said, less than 100) I’m afraid these 3 located copies are the survivors. I strongly recommend the visit of the amazing monographic that the Smithsonian Institution libraries has dedicated to the Nelson E. Jones family’s, link here. 

Look who's at home!... one of the exceptions on this illustrated rare book about ornitologhy with no birds, only nests and eggs. There're some others, and hard to see;

A medieval love history: “Pontus and Sidonia”, 15th Century

Even with pictures like this -and this codex has a lot- this is a love story between Prince Pontus and Sidonia

The first –so far- love history at facsimilium. It's all about Prince Pontus, son of the king of Galicia, who falls in love with Sidonia, daughter of the king of Britanny. This is the german edition of a classic 12th Century original French text named “Ponthus et la belle Sidonie” based on Anglo-Norman chanson de geste "Horn et Rimenhild".

The most impressing thing about this codex are its illustrations, to be a love story some of them are really cruel, with detailed illustrations about battles against Iberia moorish sultan because Pontus -the Prince-, to gain Sidonia's heart, has to re-conquer his homeland Galicia occupied by moors. The historical context of this love story, is then located after 8th Century when most of Spanish peninsula came under Islamic rule and 10th Century, when all territories of Galicia where liberated by Alfonso and became part of the Kingdom of Asturias.

Illustrations depict jousts between two or more knights, again with high detail and cruelty, where winner knight proudly ports his enemy head, royal audiences, battles and jousts scenes, medieval parties or feasts, etc.

For a high resolution, pdf version of this manuscript, contact me (facsimilium AT gmail DOT com).