MARTIN, Gabriel.
Catalogus librorum bibliothecae illustrissimi viri Caroli Henrici Comitis de Hoym.
Paris, Gabriel Martin, 1738£1,750.00
Small 4to, pp. (vi), xx, 528, (lx). Roman letter, some Italic. Borders, decorative initials, head and tailpieces, armorial engraving of the arms of Count von Hoym on t.p., all items priced in contemporary hand. Light age yellowing, occasional spotting in places, water stains to blank lower margin and corner of a few ll. A comprehensively marked up copy of this important sale catalogue, in contemporary mottled calf, slightly pitted, blind ruled, spine gilt, rebacked and remounted, red morocco lettering piece, marbled endpapers, original satin page marker; extremities rubbed, corners worn. Armorial bookplate of celebrated bibliographer Anthony Hobson inside front cover.
Gabriel Martin (1679-1761) was a Parisian printer, ‘qui, le premier en France, après Prosper Marchand, se livra avec succès à la rédaction des catalogues de livres à vendre, et sut la porter à un degré de perfection difficile à surpasser.’ He produced nearly 150 such catalogues, of which only 22, including this one, contained comprehensive indexes. This catalogue, made for the library of the late Karl Heinrich von Hoym (1694-1736), is counted among Martin’s ‘plus remarquables’ productions. Von Hoym was a career diplomat at the court of the Electorate of Saxony who ended his life in disgrace, imprisoned on trumped up charges of treason (providing the town of Sèvres with the secret of Saxon porcelain production), and committed suicide in his cell in Königstein Fortress in 1736. His estates had been confiscated, and his library, numbering 4785 lots and particularly rich in historiographical, scientific and humanistic texts, was sold at auction in Paris in August 1738.
