{"product_id":"a-sister-act","title":"A Sister Act","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eJohanna Sibylla Küsel-Kraus (ca. 1650–1717); Maria Philippina Küsel (1676–c. 1705?).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eHistorische Bilder Bibel vorstellend die […] Altes Testaments wie auch was in dem Neuen Testament […].\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eAugsburg, Johann Ulrich Kraus, 1702.\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e8° (20 x 14 cm).\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eWholly intaglio printed in 188 numbered etched and engraved plates including titles and frontispiece. 5 parts in 1 volume.\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eContemporary calf. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-tab-count: 1;\"\u003e              \u003c\/span\u003eA picture Bible consisting of 188 etched and engraved plates executed by Johanna Sibylla Küsel-Kraus and Maria Philippina Küsel. The plates illustrate scenes from both the Old and New Testaments and are generally divided into two pictorial compartments. The upper half presents a biblical event, while the lower half offers an allegorical counterpart, accompanied by an explanatory verse placed between the two scenes.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eParticularly noteworthy is the explicit acknowledgement of both Johanna Sibylla Küsel-Kraus and Maria Philippina Küsel on the title-page. None of the plates are individually signed. Only at the foot of the title-page, in very small lettering, appears the inscription: “Copiert von Johanna Sibijlla Kraussen eine gebohrne Küsslen, mit Maria Phillippina Küsslen”. Such direct recognition of female printmakers remains uncommon in German illustrated books of the period and provides valuable evidence for the prominent role played by women within the Küsel-Kraus workshop.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eThe inscription indicates that the plates were copied in reduced format from the earlier folio edition of the Kraus Bible, one of the most ambitious illustrated Bible projects produced in Augsburg around 1700 and among the workshop's greatest publishing successes. On the title-page of the folio edition the plates are described as having been “gezeichnet und in Kupffer gestochen” by Johann Ulrich Kraus, yet neither Johanna Sibylla nor Maria Philippina are mentioned there and the plates themselves are unsigned. The present octavo edition therefore provides unusually direct evidence for the involvement of female family members in the production of the workshop's illustrated books.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eUnlike the folio edition, the present octavo version is partly reversed in orientation and expanded with the \u003ci\u003eOpus Angelorum\u003c\/i\u003e. Whereas the folio Bible comprises 136 plates, the present edition contains 188. Complete copies with all 188 plates are rare.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eThe plates appear to have been executed using a combination of etching and engraving. The elaborate Augsburg Baroque cartouches are rendered in broader, more freely worked lines, while the central scenes are executed with remarkable delicacy and precision. Together they demonstrate the high technical standard of the Küsel-Kraus workshop at the height of its activity.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eJohanna Sibylla Küsel-Kraus (ca. 1650–1717) and her younger sister Maria Philippina Küsel (1676–c. 1705?) belonged to one of Augsburg's most important printmaking families. They were daughters of the engraver and publisher Melchior Küsel and granddaughters of Matthäus Merian the Elder through his daughter Maria Magdalena Merian. Although women played a significant role in many early modern printmaking workshops, their contributions often remained anonymous or were subsumed under the names of fathers, husbands, or publishers. The present Bible is therefore remarkable in explicitly naming both women on the title-page. The inscription not only documents their participation in one of the largest illustrated publishing projects of the Küsel-Kraus workshop, but also offers a rare glimpse into the collaborative role played by female engravers within a major Augsburg family enterprise. While Johanna Sibylla is today the better-known of the two sisters, this edition demonstrates that Maria Philippina was likewise entrusted with a substantial and technically demanding commission.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eCondition: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;\"\u003ebinding rubbed and worn, with defects at the top of the spine. Slight foxing and thumbing throughout, thin worming line in corner of plates 72-76. Title print slightly rubbed and a corner repaired. Faded stain in corner of last third of contents. Last few leaves toned. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReference:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eVD18 11407824.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eHollstein German XIX, no. 313.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eReichl, \u003ci\u003eKrauss\u003c\/i\u003e (\u003ci\u003eStudien zur deutschen Kunstgeschichte\u003c\/i\u003e, no. 294), pp. 7 ff.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Artem Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53789602808151,"sku":null,"price":3500.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/9248\/9647\/files\/2af58a91-d5a3-4bf3-8a05-696c16114870.png?v=1781534411","url":"https:\/\/artemrarebooks.com\/products\/a-sister-act","provider":"Artem Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}