Ridinger – Rohlfs – Hermann Menzler. Johann Elias Ridinger’s Hunting Album. Drawn from the originals of Joh. Elias Ridinger … (as well as of A. Rohlfs, court hunt painter of prince Frederick Charles of Prussia). 3 pts. + 1 suppl. in 1 vol. Berlin, Ludwig Julius Heymann, Tauben=Straße 25, (1863-1865). Fol. Suite of 77 (of 80) toned lithographs in upright (56) + oblong formats of c. 32.6-36 x 23 and 25-27 x 29-29.5 cm resp., printed by A. Renaud, now and then also by A. Hölzer. Dark green broad h. sheepskin vol. with leather corners, gilt lining, gilt ruby red back-plate at the spine and, inlaid, front cover, green Roma-Fabriano laid paper as cover of boards + fly-leaves, gilt reduced Ridinger stag from the Evening (Th. 240) of The Stag’s Times of the Day on the back cover, on its lower interior edge additionally “ridinger handlung niemeyer” in likewise 23.5 cart gilt tooling as well as bound with green 2 ll. title (with princely collection stamp) + announcement for the 1st issue, here laminated against each other, in uniform h. leather slipcase with the stag on both covers.
Schwarz XIX-XXII (XXII supposedly erroneously “After an orig. drawing” instead of after Thienemann 141). – Not in Schwerdt, Souhart, Nissen + Rümann, as practically not known to literature in general. – Subdivided into three divisions of which one sheet each formed a number, that is:
- Representations of the Best-Known Fair Game of Central Europe together with scents or traces, among these an 8-sheet supplement after A. Rohlfs with gallinaceous birds incl. wood grouse, wild ducks + geese, snipes + bustards
- Collection of Rare Stag’s Antlers Abnormities and Stag Pictures
- Album of Interesting Hunt and Group Pictures
Reflecting important works of such major suites as the Representation of the Fair Game (16) , the Most Wondrous Stags (26) , the Fair Game hounded by the Hounds (10) , the Study of the Wild Animals , the Princes’ Hunting Pleasure , the set of the Ways to Capture as well as the Midnight from The Stag’s Times of the Day with nightly green-bluish tone plate, the latter otherwise preponderantly chamois colored, but also i. a. in green. The binding divisionwise according to the respective three division titles with contents shipped after completion of the work though not present here. Only diverging from this by pulling up of I, 2 (The Red Deer) before I, 1 (The Hare) for the optical sake.
Complete belonging to the greatest rarities among the Ridingeriana – so just one complete copy provable here for the postwar decades while a contemporarily bound copy sold here before came to only 75 sheet – also here three sheet are missing, namely II, 15 + 22 as well as III, 6 or 42, 49 + 60, whose later hanging in would be made possible by a prepared fold (for the optical sake for the time being as full white leaf). Only 45 years after publication Baron von Gutmann owned just four single sheets (Schwarz, op. cit.), full negative report with Schwerdt (1928/35) with his rich Ridinger part, missing also with Counts Faber-Castell (1958), while count Radulf of Castell-Rüdenhausen (1922-2004) brought together 46 sheet after all during decades of collecting – only testify to the object.
Thematically the collecting charm of his rendering not least lies in their frequent condensation to the essential. Owed to their lithographic tone print technique, however, the sheets achieve a wonderful warmth and quite particular pictorial effect as achievable with copper engraving only by the aquatint technique not applied by Ridinger anymore. Also for this aspect a Ridingeriana enrichment of degrees then. Here + now then accompanied by – except for a touch of a dog-ear about throughout upper right and a done little injury at the lower white edge of the sheet as well as slight pleat trace in the white margin lower right of sheet 64, the marvelous Pappenheim stag Th. 301 – an overall quality of absolute beauty.
Offer no. 14,993 / price on request
