Etching printed in black on very heavy, absorbent cream laid paper, 1778-80. 325x212 mm; 12 3/4x8 3/8 inches, full margins. Probably between the second and third editions (of 4), with the vertical wiping scratches upper left and lower right that appear in the first edition, with the rework in the hair evident in the second and subsequent editions but with the right edge of the plate unbeveled and the other 3 sides apparently with a slight bevel. A superb, dark and evenly-printed impression of this extremely scarce etching.
The second edition (before the plate was beveled) was printed around 1830 and the third edition (after the plate was beveled) was printed in 1868. According to Harris, both editions are very small.
The current impression was printed on a sheet of heavy cream laid paper similar to that used for the first edition and unlike the impressions on wove paper used for the second through fourth editions.
We have found fewer than 10 comparable impressions at auction in the past 20 years. Delteil 21; Harris 21.
