Germain, Pierre, le Roman (1703-1783) Elements d'Orfevrerie Divisés en Deux Parties de Cinquante Feuilles.
Paris: Se Vendent Chez l'Auteur, Place du Carousel à l'Orfevererie du Roy, 1748.
First edition, small folio, two parts in one volume, both signed on title pages by Germain; "avec privilege du Roy" also written in a contemporary hand below the imprint date in first part; both parts engraved throughout, illustrated with 100 full-page plates of various rococo wares for churches and wealthy patrons' homes; some water staining to part two, bound in contemporary half speckled sheepskin, marbled paper-covered boards, two labels on spine, 9 3/4 x 7 1/2 in.
Germain's work was the largest model book for silver- and goldsmiths of its time. A valuable reference to subsequent craftspeople, it has been reprinted, including in Diderot's Encyclopedie. Germain was a royal goldsmith, nearly every design illustrated is his own, with the inclusion of several etchings of sketches by Jacques Roettiers (1707-1784). Roettiers was commissioned to create work for the Dauphin that was uncompleted at the time this book was published. For more, see Hélène Cavalié's "Un manuel d'ornements et son influence : les Éléments d'orfèvrerie de Pierre Germain," https://books.openedition.org/editionscnrs/27751?lang=en.
