A book used by students of art for the study of drawing from life. With 28 full-page woodcuts depicting parts of the body (eyes, ears head, feet, torso etc).
The text on the title page translates as ‘ The Art of Drawing, reviewed, corrected and improved after the antique, with their measurements and proportion; an exact description of the bones and muscles in the human body, and their functions: with easy instructions as to how to learn to draw the figures according to the different aspects they may have.”
The book is an 18th century edition of a famous manual first produced by painter, sculptor and engraver J. Cousin (1520-1590) in 1571.
Condition: Very Good. The book is incomplete. It is missing a cover and frontispiece and several of the back pages. The first numbered page is 4 (this on the reverse side of the title page. ) Other editions have 33 woodcuts. In this collection there are 28. It’s possible the book was taken apart and sewn together again because a few of the pages are in the wrong order. All - from 4 to 68 - are present however. The hand made paper has an uneven texture. The first page of the book is ragged at the edges and grubby. The following few pages similarly damaged to a lesser degree. Many pages are missing their tips. A few of the images are marked by dark spots, or foxing, and a few by sanguine chalk and other crayons once used by students (see last two images).
Fascinating images. The book is easy to dismantle making them ideal for framing.
