Porte-Feuille des Enfans, Bilderbuch für Kinder: Volume X

Volume 10 only of Friedrich Bertuch's famous Picture-book for Children, an illustrated encyclopedia for children.

With 97 (of 100) hand-coloured copperplates (missing plates 4, 36, 58). Explanatory text in German and French.

The Picture-Book was published in 12 volumes from 1790 to 1843 and eventually included 1,185 handcoloured copperplates. Bertuch wished to reproduce the magic of discovery, and mixed engravings of plants, animals, shells, minerals, volcanoes and technical inventions in a utopian chaos, so that a child could encounter afresh the wonders of the natural world at the turn of every page.

Although unsigned, the copperplates were overseen by Georg Melchior Kraus and J.H. Lips, after drawings by Th. Götz, C. Graf, C. Horny, Fr. Kaiser, and W. Waitz, and botanicals by Henriette and Conrad Westermayr, F. Götz and C. Ermer.

With botanicals 159-171, fish 57-64, birds 102-117, animals 99-112, including extinct thylacine or Tasmanian tiger, worms 28-34, insects and reptiles, numerous landscape views, a diving bell, costumes of South African Khoikhoi and San people, gauchos in Argentina, etc.

Half leather binding chipped, five raised bands with gilt title on spine, missing one label, marble boards scuffed, interior with finger smudges and light browning, 3 plates missing, one plate (No. 62) with repaired tear. Copperplates with fine hand-colour, mostly clean and vibrant.