DURER, Albrecht.

Hierinn sind begriffen vier Buecher von menschlicher Proportion.

      Nuremberg, Hieronymus Formschnyder, 1528, - Octobre. In-folio, [dimension: 350 x 220 mm] de 129 ff. [A-M6, N4, O5, P-R6, S6, T4, V-X6, Y5, Z3]. Cartonnage. (Reliure du XIXe.) Edition originale, très rare des "Quatre livres des proportions du corps humain". Elle est illustrée par environ 136 bois gravés qui représentent le corps humain féminin ou masculin à tous les âges. Il manque les deux premiers feuillets (titre et prologue) qui ont été refaits anciennement à la plume, ainsi que trois feuillets, sans illustrations, après le colophon : le privilège, puis "Elegia Bilibaldi Pirckeymheri in obitum Alberti Durer" et un errata. Exemplaire grand de marges, complet de toutes ses illustrations, dont les 4 double feuillets repliés : O2, S4, S5, Y3. "His book on human proportions was prepared for the press after his death by his lifelong friend Willibad Pirkheimer, to whom Dürer had previously dedicated it, and it appeared in October 1528. The first and very rare edition is printed in Gothic type with identures and comprises 132 pages with signatures and many woodcuts in the text, some of them covering the entire page." Choulant-Franck 143. "Dürer's aesthetic rules are firmly based in the laws of optics -indeed, he even designed special mechanical instruments to aid in the attainment of beautiful form. He used the height of the human body as the basic unit of measurement and subdivided it linearly to reach a common denominator for construction of a unified artistic plan. This canon was not inviolable: Dürer himself modified it continually in an attempt to approximate more closely the canon of Vitruvius (which was also the canon most favoured by Leonardo)." (DSB 4, 260). Stillwell, The awakening interest in science 622. Brunet 2, 914. Norman 666 (incomplete copy). Garrison-Morton 149. First edition of Durer's book on human proportions. Illustrated by 136 woodcuts. Five leaves, without illustrations are missing. Norman 666 (had also an incomplete copy, lacking 6 leaves). Garrison-Morton 149. [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]