CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, MIGUEL DE. Les principales aventures de l'admirable Don Quichotte, représentées en figures par Coypel, Picart le romain, et autres habiles maîtres. Title-page printed in red and black with engraved vignette. 25 copper engravings by Bernard Picart after paintings by Charles Coypel, and after the following: Tremollières (2), Boucher (1), Le Bas (1) et N. Cochin (2), engraved headpiece to dedication. 4to, modern 1/2 brown morocco over marbled paper boards, gilt-lettered spine panel with thin crosses stamped in brown; edges trimmed and speckled red, title-page and dedication attached closely along gutter of new endpaper, browned and edges creased with short residual tears and pulled at gutter between pages iv/v, offsetting throughout, occasionally dark, plates generally very clean; custom chemise and cloth slipcase. Paris: Ches Pierre de Hondt, 1746
first edition of one of the most celebrated illustrated editions of don quixote. Coypel first painted the scenes between 1715-20 which were then copied as tapestries. This edition, comprised of reduced versions of the large-scale plates he engraved in 1723-24 after the tapestries, assured their circulation and helped establish the pictorial tradition of the classic tale--Ray, French 4; Cohen/ De Ricci page 216: "Superbes illustrations; livre trés recherché."
