The Project Gutenberg eBook ofChoffardThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: ChoffardAuthor: Vera SalomonsRelease date: January 16, 2015 [eBook #47998]Most recently updated: October 24, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Denis Pronovost and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHOFFARD ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: ChoffardAuthor: Vera SalomonsRelease date: January 16, 2015 [eBook #47998]Most recently updated: October 24, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Denis Pronovost and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)
Title: Choffard
Author: Vera Salomons
Author: Vera Salomons
Release date: January 16, 2015 [eBook #47998]Most recently updated: October 24, 2024
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Denis Pronovost and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHOFFARD ***
CHOFFARD
Tail-piece from “Contes et nouvelles en vers†by La Fontaine, 1762.
Choffard’s visiting card
XVIIIth CENTURY FRENCH BOOK-ILLUSTRATORS
XVIIIth CENTURY FRENCH BOOK-ILLUSTRATORS
XVIIIth CENTURY FRENCH BOOK-ILLUSTRATORS
CHOFFARD
CHOFFARD
CHOFFARD
BY
BY
BY
VERA SALOMONS
VERA SALOMONS
VERA SALOMONS
ILLUSTRATED WITH 29 PHOTOGRAVURES FROMNEGATIVES BY THE AUTHOR
ILLUSTRATED WITH 29 PHOTOGRAVURES FROMNEGATIVES BY THE AUTHOR
ILLUSTRATED WITH 29 PHOTOGRAVURES FROM
NEGATIVES BY THE AUTHOR
LONDON
LONDON
LONDON
JOHN & EDWARD BUMPUSLtd.MCMXII
JOHN & EDWARD BUMPUSLtd.MCMXII
JOHN & EDWARD BUMPUSLtd.
MCMXII
(ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)
(ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)
(ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)
CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
TOMY MOTHERTHE PRESENT LITTLE VOLUMEIS AFFECTIONATELYINSCRIBED
TOMY MOTHERTHE PRESENT LITTLE VOLUMEIS AFFECTIONATELYINSCRIBED
TO
MY MOTHER
THE PRESENT LITTLE VOLUME
IS AFFECTIONATELY
INSCRIBED
TO THE READER
TO THE READER
TO THE READER
Youmay never have heard ofChoffardand never have seen his work, but if any production from his hand should be brought before your eyes, however insignificant, and you fail to admire it, then it is to confess that no artistic corner exists in your soul!
Of all thevignettists, Choffardis the freshest, most ingenious, and charming. Elegance exists in all his productions equalled, perhaps, by no other artist.
None act so well a love scene on the stage as those who love each other in real life, so with all things and with book writing in particular. To love an artist, gives the author a hand unfettered in dealing with his work; it becomes no longer a forced history of his art, but a work of affection free from affectation.
The author of this little book is a true admirer ofChoffardand you may accept the contents as afaithful representation of the artist and his work. I therefore trust that after you have perused the pages which follow, if not already an admirer ofChoffard,you will have become one.
D. S.
Broomhill,
Tunbridge Wells.
PREFACE
PREFACE
PREFACE
Mostbiographers are so self-confident that they believe the subject of their book will prove interesting to others; the present writer is no exception to the rule and trusts that the following pages may help, in a small degree, to attract the reader’s attention to the work ofPierre-Philippe Choffard.
The 1762 edition of La Fontaine’s “Contes et nouvelles en vers,†which is illustrated by Eisen’s masterpieces and by some of Choffard’s exquisite etchings, is the work of that period best known to British book-lovers; possibly in a measure due to the free character of the stories, yet probably owing to these beautiful plates by Choffard and Eisen. It seems, therefore, fair to assume that art lovers of to-day, who interest themselves in French illustrated books of the eighteenth century, may care to know something more about the artist whose lovely work is a source of so much pleasure and admiration to them.
The achievements of Choffard do not occupy thehigh place they deserve in this country; as a whole, they are too little known to do so, and collectors find such difficulty in obtaining impressions of his etchings in a fine state, that this draughtsman’s great gifts are frequently misjudged in consequence.
One of the best proofs, although commonplace evidence, of the enduring charm which French eighteenth-century design possesses, is that the most admired present day catalogues and business cards are those with reproductions of designs by artists of that period, Choffard’s work being constantly found amongst them.
The author wishes gratefully to acknowledge the kind advice her father has given her on a few difficult points and the valuable assistance he afforded her, by generously allowing the writer to verify the greater part of the volumes mentioned in this booklet, by means of his library. For the description of those works that the author has been unable to see in the above-mentioned collection or in museums she has referred to “Les Graveurs du dix-huitième siècle†by MM. Portalis and Béraldi, and the other equally excellent reference book “Guide de l’Amateur de livres à gravures du XVIIIe. siècle†by Henry Cohen.
V. S.
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
Head-piece from Choffard’s book entitled “>Notice historique sur l’art de la gravure en Franceâ€