Pieter Bodart (ca. 1700–1735), etchings; Gerard Hoet (1648–1733), designs.

De voornaamste gronden der tekenkonst [...] waar in, door natuurlyke voorbeelden, veelderlei stant en gedaante van hoofden en tronien, alsmede de beweegingen van handen en voeten, mitsgaders veele volkome beelden, zoo mannen als vrouwen in hunne verscheide gestalten, vertoond worden [...].

Leiden, J.A. Langerak, 1723.

Folio. [10] pp. With a frontispiece, [2] plates, 36 plates numbered 1–36, 69 plates lettered a–ppp (omitting j, u, and w, as in signature marks), and 3 folding plates: 111 plates in total (complete).

Later half calf with marbled sides.

               First and only edition of a very rare Dutch drawing manual with fine impressions of etched plates by Pieter Bodart after drawings by Gerard Hoet. The work illustrates the human figure in art, with studies of anatomy, proportion, and movement. The first series presents heads, hands, and other details, two to a page; the second series offers full-page figures in a wide range of poses. The folding plates depict elaborate mythological compositions showing Hoet’s mastery of grouping and expression. Very rare: only one copy is recorded in the Short Title Catalogue Netherlands (Rijksmuseum), and WorldCat lists the same copy, along with a few digital references. Not mentioned in Kunst op schrift and other reference works.

Hoet, an accomplished painter active in Utrecht and The Hague, was among the most successful Dutch artists of the early eighteenth century, known for his history paintings and for supervising engravings after the masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age. In De voornaamste gronden der tekenkonst, he distilled decades of academic teaching into a visual manual aimed at aspiring artists and students. The plates, quite loosely etched by Bodart with precision and elegance, combine the influence of the classical academic training with the free style of etching of the Dutch school.

Condition: spine partially split, corners and spine rubbed; remains of an old label at the upper corner of the front cover, cancelled library stamp at foot of title-page and early ink number on verso, final sheet detached, containing plates nnn, ppp and one folding plate. Central stain in two parts running through a couple leaves. Occasional light staining and marginal foxing throughout; one folding plate torn along the fold, not affecting the image. Overall, the contents are in quite good condition.