Methode pour Apprendre le Dessein

A Plate Depicting a Posed Human Skeleton, from Methode pour Apprendre le Dessein
Adoption Amount: $1,200
Category: Preserve for the Future
Location: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library

Methode pour apprendre le dessein : ou l'on donne les regles générales de ce grand art, & des préceptes pour en acquérir la connoissance, & s'y perfectionner en peu de tems : enrichie de cent planches représentant différentes parties du corps humain d'après Raphael & les autres grands maìtres, plusieurs figures académiques dessinées d'apres nature par M. Cochin

By Charles Antoine Jombert. Paris: De l'impr. de l'auteur, 1755.

Charles-Antoine Jombert (1712–1784) was a French bookseller and publisher descended from a dynasty of booksellers. This book serves as a manual on techniques for figure drawing, featuring over 100 copper engravings representing different parts of the human anatomy. Some plates are based on original designs done by masters such as Titian and Raphael with various tips for mastering drawings such as anatomical proportions, academic scenes, and landscapes. This copy features the armorial bookplate of William Stirling-Maxwell (1818-1878), a Scottish historical writer and art historian who was Chancellor of the University of Glasgow and also a Knight of the Thistle, the highest honor bestowed by the Crown on a Scotsman.

Condition and Treatment: 

A mid-18th century full leather binding with gold tooling on the boards and spine. The boards are detached as is the spine. The spine is broken into several pieces.  Conservators will remove the spine, keeping the original pieces, resew the textblock, and reback the volume with leather to reattach the boards.

Discover more about this book in our Catalog.