PICART, Bernard (German, 1673-1733), The Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the Several Nations of the Known World. Represented in a Hundred Copper-Plates, designed by the famous Picart. Together with historical explanations, and several curious dissertations.... London: printed for Nicholas Prevost, 1731-1737. 7 volumes in 6 books. Folio (415 x 265 mm). Contemporary calf binding. Spine with gilded embossed letters and six raised bands. First English edition. 225 plates by Bernard Picart on separate pages (some folding). Titles printed in red and black with engraved vignettes.

LOT NOTES:
Bernard Picart presented to the reader various Catholic and Protestant ceremonies on par with religious rites of the followers of Confucius and Buddhists from China and Japan, Indian Fire-worshipers and Yogi, South American Pagan Indians, and Christian Orthodox sacramentals, as well as aboriginal Shaman spells of Siberia and Canada. He described a wide variety of religious ceremonies that conduct a person throughout life: in birth, marriage, sacrifice, sortilege, and funeral. A separate chapter was dedicated to the Court of the Inquisition. The issue is a valuable historic source that reveals religious and everyday life of the West European Jews in the 17-18 Centuries. Picart's publication had great success thanks to his general religious tolerance and objective judgment.

LITERATURE:
P. Kristeller, History of European Etching of 15-18 Centuries, (Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1939);
A. Sevostianov The Masterpieces of European Illustration, (Moscow: Terra, 1996);
M. Shelkunov The Art of Book Printing, (Moscow - Saint Petersburg: GIZ, 1926).