Tassie & Raspe 1791 / A Descriptive Catalogue of a General Collection of Ancient and Modern Engraved Gems Cameos as well as Intaglios
[TASSIE, James (1735-1799)]. RASPE, Rudolf Erich (1736-1794)
A Descriptive Catalogue of a General Collection of Ancient and Modern Engraved Gems, Cameos as well as Intaglios, Taken from the most Celebrated Cabinets in Europe; and Cast in Coloured Pastes, White Enamel, and Sulphur, by James Tassie, Modeller. London: C. Buckton for J. Tassie & J. Murray, 1791. 875 pages.
2 volumes in one, 4to (280 x 221 mm). Engraved frontispiece, half-title, facing title-pages printed in red and black for each vol. I, 58 copper-plate engravings. (Some offsetting, spotting, and soiling). 19th-century half calf, spine gilt-lettered and decorated, blue-speckled edges (covers detached, some wear and staining). Provenance: unidentified former owner (signature on French title-page, dated 1821; some annotations).
FIRST EDITION, with text in English and French, describing nearly 16,000 works by famed Scottish gem engraver Tassie.
Tassie was a Scottish gem engraver and modeller known for reproductions of engraved gems and for portrait medallions. He originally worked as a stonemason in Glasgow. Later, while working as a laboratory assistant, he devised a white enamel composition especially suited for gemstone replicas. In this, he achieved great fame and was commissioned by Catherine the Great of Russia to reproduce thousands of gems from her famous collection now in the Hermitage.