Complete set of 21 etchings, 1616. Each approximately 70x90 mm; 3x3 3/4 inches, small margins. Each in the first state (of 2), before the addition of Silvestre's address on the title plate and before the numbers on the other etchings. Superb, richly-inked, early impressions with very strong contrasts and no sign of wear.
Though from the Duchy of Lorraine (an independent state on the north-eastern border of France, southwestern border of Germany and overlapping the southern Netherlands), Callot (circa 1592-1635) worked a significant portion of his career in Florence under the patronage of the powerful Medici family. He made various single plate etchings, but also created numerous serial works, like the celebrated Varie Figure Gobbi. The etchings depict a troupe of grotesque dwarf entertainers known as Les Gobbi who performed in Florence for the Medici court. Callot's printmaking became renowned during his lifetime and his work would influence scores of graphic artists, both for its fluid approach to the etching medium and his diverse (often pedestrian) subject matter, including Rembrandt van Rijn, Francisco José de Goya, and many others in the 19th century. Lieure 279 and 407-426.
