PICART, BERNARD.

Hermanus Uytwerf

Amsterdam

1727-38

Naaukeurige Beschryving der Uitwendige Godtsdienst-Plichten, Kerk-Zeden en Gewoontens van Alle Volkeren der Waereldt. [“Description of the Religious Duties, Manners and Customs of all the Nations of the World.”]Translated from French into Dutch by Abraham Moubach.

One of the most striking illustrated books of the 18th-century. “Bernard Picart was the outstanding professional illustrator of the first third of the eighteenth century, an age during which the designs for the finest illustrated books were typically drawn by leading painters. He worked for the most part in the fading baroque tradition, but there elements in his immense production which herald the new age.” Ray, Art of the French Illustrated Book (1986) p.7. Contained in Volume I, Picart’s plates present an invaluable pictorial record of Jewish life in 18th-century Netherlands.