DANISH ARCHITECTURAL AND GARDEN VIEWS

THURAH, Laurids Lauridsen de. Den Danske Vitruvius Indeholder Grundtegninger, Opstalter, of Giennemsnitter af de merkvaerdigste Bygninger i Kongereget Dannemark, samt de Kongelige Tydske Provinster, Tilligemed en Kort Beskrivelse over huer Bygning i saer. Two volumes. [x], 96; [2], 267, [1] pp. With an engraved frontispiece and 261 plates (numbered I-CXX; 1-161). Folio, 462 x 295 mm, bound in contemporary Danish panelled calf, tooled in blind and gilt, red edges. Copenhagen: Ernst Henrich Berling, 1745-1749.

First Edition of this authoritative eighteenth-century Danish work on "historic buildings" in Copenhagen, the Royal Palaces outside the city, and throughout Denmark, richly illustrated with full- and double-page engraved views of castles, gardens, private estates, many with bird's-eye and sectional views, some depicting minute architectural detail. The text appears in Danish, French, and German in parallel columns.

The above work offers valuable, contemporary illustrated records of works by Johan Cornelius Krieger, the preferred landscape architect of Frederik IV (1699-1730). It was Frederik IV who truly brought the baroque landscape gardening to life in Denmark. At Fredensborg Palace Gardens, Krieger laid out avenues to radiate from the centre of the palace as prescribed by the European ideal. As a new feature of baroque landscape gardening, unity was established between the palace, the gardens and the surrounding landscape. Thurah's Danske Vitruvius shows Fredensborg prior to the extensive modifications instituted by Nicolas-Henri Jardin in the 1760s under the direction of Frederik V (1746-1766), who made Fredensborg the favoured royal summer residence.

Thurah (1706-1759) was the foremost architect in Denmark during the reign of Christian VI (1730-1746), whose work still commands attention to this day (witness the highly idiosyncratic and justly famous spiral tower of the Chuch of Our Saviour in Copenhagen, or the Eremitage Castle at Jægersborg Deer Park north of Copenhagen). Published at the King's expense, and printed by the best Danish printer at that time (E.H. Berling), Thurah's Den Danske Vitruvius was the only large scale work on Danish architecture and landscape gardening of the period; many of the plates were executed by Michael Keyl and C.L. Wüst, two German engravers who were commissioned by Thurah especially for the project. Frontispiece expertly repaired, else, a fine copy.

PROVENANCE: Dudley A.S. Cosby, Lord Sydney of Leix and Baron of Stradbally with his armorial bookplate. Lord Sydney was the English Minister to Denmark from 1764-1765; judging from the strictly contemporary Danish bindings, it seems probable that Sydney acquired the volumes there, either by purchase or presentation.

Berlin Katalog 22. Millard, Northern European 131.

COPENHAGEN ARCHITECTURE

THURAH, Laurids Lauridsen de. Hafnia Hodierna, Eller udførlig Beskrivelse om den Kongelige Residentz- og Hoved-Stad Kiøbenhavn, med en Forklaring om alle de Merkværdigheder, som denne store Stad nu omstunder indbefatter. -- Description circonstantieé de la Residence roiale et capitale de Copenhague, avec une explication de toutes les choses dignes de remarque, que renferme de nos jours cette grande ville. -- Ausführliche Beschreibung der Königlichen Residenz- und Hauptstadt Copenhagen, nebst einer Erklärung aller Merkwürdigkeiten, so diese grosse Stadt zu unsern Zeiten enthält. [14], 368 pp. Illustrated with an engraved frontispiece, 110 engraved plates, plus 12 engraved vignettes in the text. 4to., 277 x 222 mm, bound in contemporary Danish mottled calf, blue edges. Copenhagen: Ernst Henrich Berling, 1748.

First Edition of the finest eighteenth-century description of Copenhagen, written by the most important architect in Denmark at that time, and profusely illustrated throughout. This authoritative work provides important contemporary descriptions, engraved views, and architectural plans of all the principal buildings in Copenhagen, including the three Royal Palaces, other government and public buildings, the townhouses of the aristocracy, and the city's numerous churches. That the text appears in Danish, French, and German in parallel columns made it readily accessible to non-Danish readers; that the work was very carefully designed and printed, with attractive architectural head- and tailpieces, gave it further appeal.

The work compliments, without much overlap, the author's Danske Vitruvius which focused primarily on surrounding areas (such as Fredensborg). Thurah (1706-1759) was the foremost architect in Denmark during the reign of Christian VI (1730-1746); he had a military education and studied in Germany and Italy, where he witnessed large scale Baroque architectural works, and quickly understood the decorative possibilites offered by the Rococo style. Binding a little scuffed, two plates supplied from a smaller copy (namely plates 39 and 44), otherwise in very good, fresh condition.

Berlin Katalog 2260. Not in Millard Collection.