The Dance of Death: from the original designs of Hans Holbein

A very scarce, hand-coloured edition of Wenceslaus Hollar's Dance of Death.

With 33 plates engraved by Hollar, comprising 31 hand-coloured engravings of the Dance of Death, one hand-coloured engraving of the Dance of Macaber, and two engraved portraits (of Hollar and Holbein).

According to the exhaustive Dance of Death website dodedans.com, Hollar's engravings are based primarily on Arnold Birckmann's copies of Holbein's woodcuts. Most of the plates have the initials HB (Holbein) and WH (Hollar), apart from the frontispiece, Mortalitum Nobilitas, which is engraved with HB and DD (David Deuchar?).

Hollar's suite of engravings was first published in 1651 and the copperplates "which appear to have been little used, have been till lately preserved in a noble family" according to Francis Douce's introduction. The original plates have been "retouched, ... with the utmost attention to the preservation of their original spirit and character." English antiquary and curator at the British Museum, Douce would later write the seminal history of the genre, The Dance of Death, published by William Pickering, London, 1833.

Hollar's copperplate engravings first reappeared in the 1790s [published for James Edwards?], with new editions appearing for John Harding in 1804, J. Coxhead in 1816, etc. Inspired by the success of the subject, English artists John Bewick, Thomas Rowlandson and Richard Dagley would all bring out their versions in the Regency era.

With 12-page Life of Holbein, 19-page introduction by Douce, 30 plates with explanatory text in English and French to the Dance of Death, and one plate and four pages of text to the Dance of Macaber.

The subjects of the Dance of Death are: Mortalitum Nobilitas, Sin, Punishment, Condemnation to Labour, The Pope Crowning an Emperor, Emperor, Empress, Queen, Cardinal, Elector, Bishop, Count, Abbot, Abbess, Friar, Canoness, Preacher, Physician, Swiss Soldier, Advocate, New-Married Pair, Countess, Merchant, Hawker, Miser, Waggoner, Gamester, Old Man, Old Woman, and Child.

Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) was a prolific and accomplished Bohemian (Czech) artist, etcher and engraver who spent the second half of his life in England.

In a full straight-grain red morocco binding, professionally rebacked with a new spine with five raised bands and gilt tooling, boards scratched and scuffed. Internally clean and bright with only a few light spots, all plates bright and fresh with rich, contemporary hand-colour. Armorial bookplate with motto Perserverando and escutcheon with three ducks.