69 BAUMAN RARE BOOKS Da Vinci’s Important Treatise Of Painting, Scarce Illustrated First Edition In English, 1721 76DA VINCI, Leonardo. A Treatise of Painting. London, 1721. Octavo, contemporary full mottled calf rebacked. $8200 First edition in English of Da Vinci’s treatise on “the force of light and shadow, the management of the pencil, and the mixture of colors, with the knowledge of perspective,” illustrated with engraved frontispiece portrait and 35 finely engraved plates (four folding). “In painting Leonardo had an enormous influence… His writings on painting were influential too; they were first published from his scattered notes as the Trattato della Pittura in 1651, but were well known before then… Leonardo is one of the very few artists whose reputation has from his own times onward constantly remained at the highest level… a reflection of his extraordinary force of intellect, and his virtually single-handed creation of the idea of the artist as genius” (Chilvers & Osborne, 286). One plate (opposite page 135) with shallow marginal wear, not affecting image; title page a little dust-soiled. Plates and text generally clean and fine. Contemporary boards expertly restored. An extremely good copy. “It Brings Calamity Upon Private Men, Peril Upon The State, And Contempt Upon The Law” 77BACON, Francis. The Charge of Sir Francis Bacon Knight, His Majesties Attourney Generall, Touching Duells. London, 1614. Small thin quarto, modern full crimson morocco, raised bands. $8200 First edition of Bacon’s essay against the practice of dueling, a custom that was gaining ground at the time and that Bacon, as newly appointed Attorney General, set out to eradicate. “As attorney-general, among Bacon’s first tasks was to abolish dueling… According to Northampton the best strategy for abolishing dueling was to replace it by a court of honor. Bacon, however, insisted that such a strategy merely served the contrary purpose. By accepting the notion of courtesy, honor, and insult of the dueling theory, the court of honor would encourage men to fight duels. The only way to eradicate dueling, Bacon believed, was to discredit the underlying theory” (ODNB). Bacon here makes the case that duels threaten the authority of the state and go against the will of God. Bookplate of renowned bibliophile Robert S. Pirie. Two small ink smudges to title page, affecting woodcut but not letterpress. Fine condition. Scarce.
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