Todtentanz der Stadt Basel

A good copy of the Dance of Death with lithographs after Jacques-Antony Chovin/Matthaus Merian.

Complete with 42 lithographs reworked from Chovin/Merian with backgrounds removed, some reversed.

The 42 subjects are: The Preacher's Word, Ossuary (Charnel House), Pope, Emperor, Empress, King, Queen, Cardinal, Bishop, Duke, Duchess, Earl, Abbot, Knight, Lawyer, Alderman, Canon, Doctor, Nobleman, Lady, Merchant, Abbess, Cripple, Hermit, Young Man, Usurer, Maiden, Minstrel, Herald, Judge, Headsman, Jester, Pedlar, Blind Man, Jew, Pagan, Paganess, Cook, Peasant, Painter, Painter's Wife, Adam and Eve.

Unlike Holbein's skeleton of Death, the figure of Death here is a gruesome cadaver with rotten flesh still on the bone. In some images, the skin splits to reveal worms, intestines and other organs.

The lithographs are copied from Matthaus Merian's originals first published in 1621 or Chovin's copies from 1744. Merian copied the wall paintings just after they had been restored by Emanuel Bock in 1614-1616. By the time this edition was published in 1852, the murals had been long destroyed, demolished by Basel citizens in 1805 tired of waiting for the council to act.

Matthaus Merian (1593-1650) was a Swiss-born engraver and publisher, father of the pioneering naturalist and illustrator Anna Maria Sibylla Merian.

Jacques-Antony Chovin (1720-1776) was a Swiss engraver, born in Lausanne. "He worked in Basel around the middle of the century where he produced a large number of plates for Daniel Bruckner's Merkwurdigkeiten der Landschaft Basel (Landscape Sights of Basel). In 1744, he also engraved the Dance of Death by Holbein [sic] in 43 plates." [Jean-Pierre Perret, Les Imprimeries d'Yverdon au XVIIe et au XVIIIe siecle, 1981)

Brown cloth covered boards with wrinkling and water staining, gilt title on spine, interior with spotting and age toning throughout, lithographs with offsetting and toning around the image, water stain at top of the gutter.