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FÜSSLI, Heinrich (1755-1829) - [FÜSSLI, Johann Heinrich & Hans Rudolf MAURER]. Sammlung historisch-merkwürdiger Schweizer-Gegenden. Erstes (sechstes) Heft.  Zürich, Füssli et Compagnie, 1796-1802. 6 booklets. Oblong 4° (214-220x300 mm). 254 pp. With 24 hand-coloured outline etchings after Füssli, Ludwig Hess, Daniel Lafond, Xaver Triner, Friedrich Christian Reinermann and Johann Balthasar Bullinger; engraved by Füssli, Johann Heinrich Troll, Achilles Bentz and Conrad Caspar Rordorf. Booklets with publisher's printed wrappers, cased in mid 20th century folder and slipcase. Some foxing to text-leaves, one booklet with split in spine, else perfectly preserved.

Magnificent hand-coloured deluxe edition of one of the most uncommun and beautiful Swiss books. A genuine copy with the original wrappers.

Heinrich Füssli received his artistic training from his uncle Johann Caspar Füssli the Elder (1706-1782) and the circle of Bernese minor masters around the publisher Abraham Wagner (1734-1782). In 1779 Füssli travelled in Wagner's company to Paris, where he worked as a drawing teacher. On his return home, he and the bookseller Johann Heinrich Füssli (1745-1832) founded an art dealership dedicated to the production and distribution of fine prints and books illustrated with Swiss views; also involved as a silent partner was Heinrich Usteri (1754-1802), the founding father of the Zurich Artists' Society.  Over the years, Füssli & Compagnie, in existence until 1868, published a considerable number of works, among which the present one is particularly beautiful and uncommon.

Sammlung historisch-merkwürdiger Schweizer-Gegenden was issued in six instalments between 1796 and 1802, simultaneously in French (Collection de vues Suisses remarquables par rapport à l'histoire) and German. The text of the first four instalments was written by the Zurich historian and councillor Johann Heinrich Füssli and the last ones by the Zurich pastor and teacher at the Carolinum, Hans Rudolf Maurer (1752-1805). The translation into French was entrusted to the writer and journalist Jakob Heinrich Meister (1744-1826). According to Lonchamp, there is also a more affordable edition with aquatints printed in sepia.

The picturesque views show the following historic Swiss landmarks: 1) Rossberg; 2) Zwing-Uri; 3) Bürglen; 4) Attinghausen Castle; 5) Rütli Meadow; 6) Tell Chapel; 7) Windisch and Königsfelden; 8) Morgarten on Lake Aegeri; 9) Habsburg Castle; 10) Gruyère; 11) Laupen; 12) Old Regensberg; 13) Chapel in Sempach; 14) Battlefield near Näfels; 15) Gersau; 16) Am Stoss; 17) Greifensee; 18) St. Jakob near Basel; 19) View of Murten; 20) Rapperswil; 21) Flüeli-Ranft; 22) Dornach; 23) Kappel; 24) Castels Castle and Strahlegg. 

These installments do not include a title page, but the title is printed on the covers and the list of plates on the inside. We traded copies with an engraved title dated 1796 and printed titles and lists of plates dated 1802; these were undoubtedly delivered separately either at the start (engraved title) or after completion of the publication (printed titles and lists of plates).

REFERENCES: Wäber 51; Lonchamp 1122; B. F. Haller, Kunstnachrichten aus der Schweiz, in: Meusel: Neue Miscellaneen artistischen Inhalts (1797), p. 581f.; Brunet II, 1419; Leemann-van Elck, Druck, Verlag, Buchhandel im Kanton Zürich (1950), p. 80.

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