Rencontre de cavalerie l'épée à la main" 1744 Master Engraving of "Cavalry Duel"

Paris: Jacques Philippe Le Bas, 1744. Proof before letters. Loose_leaf. Very Good. Engraving on fine laid paper. Image size: 46.8cm width x 38.7 height. Sheet size: 49.5 cm. width x 43.3 cm height. Trimmed quite close to the plate mark on both sides and top edge. This print is a "Proof before letters"** with none of the engraved titles, cartouche or notes of publication present. There are some faint, indecipherable handwritten notes below the image, most likely a former collector's notes. The title of this print: "Rencontre de cavalerie l'épée à la main" translates to: "Cavalry Duel, Sword in Hand"; it depicts a soldier brandishing his sword and charging, an enemy at his right parrying his attack, below a man and his horse are lying on the ground. 1744 engraving by J.M. Preisler after Charles Parrocel. . We located copies at both the British Museum and the Harvard Art Museum, though the British Museum citation doesn't include an image online. The Harvard Museum image of the copy in their collection is very much worth looking up though (we can't post a link due to rules against posting links in our listings); we think that if you compare Havard's copy with ours you'll agree that our offering is a much superior print: brighter, more detailed in the shadows, and generally more brilliant and alive! (Get in touch if you have trouble locating the Harvard print online it's Object number: R6145). Print Condition: trimmed, with edges curled, creased and showing some dustiness; small scrape to upper right corner area of print showing as small white mark in the sky; evidence of repair to extreme upper right corner of print, just at the edge, a few small crinkles to surface of print - all minor and occuring well out of main image area. Generally a fantastic, bright, dynamically inked print; even more dramatically illustrated in comparison to other copies! **From the Folger Library Print Collection blog: "Publishers began to cater to market demand for proofs by deliberately printing additional copies of the last few stages of a print, then selling them at a premium. For example, a "proof before letters" has a completely finished image, but does not have a title, publication information, or any other lettering in the lower margin." British Museum Curator's comments: "Advertised in 'Mercure de France', January 1744." Cavalry Duel, Sword in Hand."