Prints & Drawings

Studies of Michelangelo's original, un-bowdlerized designs for the Last Judgment, owned by Leopoldo Cicognara

Album of seventy studies after the "Last Judgment", preserving Michelangelo's original fresco designs and thus almost certainly made during his lifetime, as the frescoes were bowdlerized on the orders of the Council of Trent shortly after his death in 1564. From the famous library of the Italian art historian and collector Leopoldo Cicognara (1767-1834).

Unique 18th-Century Watercolors of the Deepest Amazon by the Boundary Commissioner in charge of the Spanish Survey party

A collection of five stunning and previously unknown watercolors illustrating dramatic scenes from the joint Spanish-Portuguese boundary commission sent to demarcate the frontiers of the Amazon following the 1777 Treaty of San Ildefonso between Portugal and Spain.

Stunning illuminated Spanish giant choirbook leaf

This is an astonishing Spanish illuminated leaf, both for decoration and scale, with the four borders finely illuminated, the border is black-ruled on the outside and gold framed on the inside, the background is deep blue with gold and green foliage with white, pink and flowers and strawberries and a butterfly, playing among the foliage fronds are three putti: one holds a club and a shield and is holding a mock-battle with a flightless bird; three large miniatures of angels with multi-coloured wings are shown kneeling on grass holding up the burial cloth of Christ showing the blood of the Five Wounds, each with the inscription "miserere mei”, the backgrounds of the miniatures deep blue with liquid gold penwork. Within the text is a large and elegant initial ‘G’.

Exceptional collection of watercolors from Colombia from the earliest stages of the Republic including works from two well-known Colombian artists

Wonderful iconographic record of Colombia in the last years of the 1830’s, comprised of 27 watercolors, one of the largest groups of watercolors we have seen of Colombia, portraying local costumes, landscapes, city views, the native population, etc., the work of mostly two talented artists: Jose S. Castillo and Joseph Pio Dominguez, all mostly dated from 1837, one dated 1832.

A recently-discovered watercolor of New York, contemporary with the Stamp Act Riots and one of only a handful of manuscript views of the city from before the Revolution.

Artist Pieter Idsertsz depicts New York as seen from the southwest, from a vantage point across the East River in Brooklyn, possibly at Red Hook. The city is shown from the southern tip of Manhattan Island to just above the site of the present Brooklyn Bridge, with many fine residences against a backdrop of a large windmill and impressive churches. At far left two fine vessels sail down the East River toward New York Bay, men fish from a small boat in the foreground, and a crane and a gallows-complete with hanging victim-lend a jarring note at center right.

The Siege of Montpellier, engraved newssheet, apparently the sole copy known

This engraved plan of Montpellier, published in 1622 by Melchior Tavernier, documents the city’s fortifications and its strategic landscape in the aftermath of the siege of Montpellier (1622) during the Huguenot rebellions against Louis XIII. The bird’s-eye view presents the newly reinforced bastioned fortifications, a product of the French crown’s efforts to consolidate control over Protestant strongholds in the south of France. The elaborate star-shaped defenses depicted here reflect the modernized military engineering principles of the early seventeenth century, designed to withstand artillery bombardment and siege warfare.

The 1621 Blockade of La Rochelle, a finely engraved broadsheet

Engraved news map/broadside of La Rochelle at the outset of the first royal operations against the Huguenot stronghold, surveyed by the royal engineer and geographer Jérôme Bachot and issued in Paris by Melchior Tavernier. The plan presents the fortified city and roadstead with a long descriptive text in three columns below, offered to readers as a “true plan” and topographic account of the environs. The publication coincided with Louis XIII’s 1621–22 blockade of the port.

Huguenot Rebellions, the Siege of Montauban, engraved broadside

This engraved siege plan of Montauban, published in 1621 by Nicolas de Mathonière, illustrates the fortifications of the city and the surrounding military encampments during the siege of Montauban by Louis XIII. The bird’s-eye perspective captures the bastioned defenses, siegeworks, and artillery positions, while the accompanying letterpress text provides a historical and tactical account of the siege.

The siege of Jülich, engraved illustrated newssheet, and emergency coinage

This engraved plan of the siege of Jülich (Gulik in Dutch), published in 1622 by Abraham Verhoeven in Antwerp, documents the Spanish and Imperial siege of the fortress town from September 5, 1621, to its surrender on February 3, 1622. The bird’s-eye view presents the fortified city, surrounding siegeworks, and troop formations, illustrating the intensity of the military engagement. The accompanying letterpress text provides a detailed account of the siege, its progress, and the dire conditions faced by the defenders.

Newssheet broadside about the Huguenot Rebellions, the Siege of Saint-Jean-d'Angély

This engraved siege plan of Saint-Jean-d'Angély, published in 1621 by Melchior Tavernier, documents the military operations against the Huguenot stronghold during Louis XIII’s campaign to subdue Protestant resistance in western France. The bird’s-eye view illustrates the city's fortifications, surrounding landscape, and the positioning of royal artillery and encampments.

Siege of Royan, with Mapmaker Portrait in the Lower Left Corner.

Extremely rare broadside plan of the Siege of Royan, an important military engagement in the French Wars of Religion during the early reign of Louis XIII. The Protestant-held city of Royan, a key Huguenot stronghold on the Atlantic coast, was besieged and captured by royal forces in 1622 under the command of Charles de La Vieuville, marking a critical moment in Louis XIII’s efforts to assert Catholic royal authority over the rebellious Huguenot communities.

Superb Spanish Romantic drawings representing the alphabet with mythological themes

Exceptional Spanish drawings of the alphabet allegorical to a Greek or Roman deity, by a Spanish artist, bound in France contemporaneously; each of the drawings represent a letter from the alphabet corresponding to a mythological (mostly Roman) figure, all in strong vibrant colors heightened in gold and silver(?) in baroque or romantic style, naked figures dominate the scene, which leads one to believe the artist, of Spanish origin, probably executed these drawings in France, or studied in France, and which would explain the fact that it is housed in a fine French red morocco.

Illustrated 17th century newssheet, a rarity on the Siege of Vienna

A very rare, separately issued broadside plan of the 1683 Siege of Vienna. This large engraving represents the first known map by the Viennese military engineer Leander Anguissola, prepared in collaboration with the engineer Bartholemeo Camuccio and engraved by Domenico Rossetti. Issued as a news broadside in the aftermath of the siege, it combines a meticulously rendered bird’s-eye plan of the city’s fortifications with an extensive letterpress explanation in French, printed on a separate sheet and joined to the plate at publication.

Thirty Years' War, the Siege of Nuremberg, engraved illustrated broadsheet

This engraved plan of Nuremberg, published in 1632 by Melchior Tavernier, depicts the city and the surrounding military encampments during the siege and blockade of Nuremberg in the Thirty Years’ War. The view captures the fortified city at a moment of extreme strategic importance, with star-shaped fortifications, outlying redoubts, and troop positions illustrating the intensity of the campaign.

Perhaps the first series of landscape prints made in France

Exceptional series of fantastical landscapes by du Cerceau, the first such series printed in France, here transformed with remarkable contemporary color and highlighted with gold; this is also the first series printed by du Cerceau and represents the birth of independent landscape printing in France. This album is the only known copy of these engravings in contemporary color, it is also the only known example of one of the etchings, not present in any of the other 8 copies known; overall, it is a significant discovery for the history of French printmaking history and Renaissance art.