1898 Fine Riviere Binding - The Dance of Death by Hans Holbein, Illustrated
Author: Hans Holbein the Younger. With an introductory note by Austin Dobson.
Title: The Dance of Death.
Publisher: London, George Bell and Sons, 1898. First Dobson edition in pocket size.
Language: Text in English with passages in French and Latin.
Size: 5 x 3.5 inches.
Pages: 43 pages followed by 49 engraved images with accompanying text on facing pages. Complete.
Binding: Magnificent contemporary full crushed morocco binding by Rivière & Son, richly gilt throughout with an elegant repeating vine and grape motif to both covers and spine compartments. Spine lettered in gilt. Decorative gilt turn-ins. Upper edge gilt, with fore and lower edges untrimmed. A refined and luxurious example of late Victorian English bookbinding artistry. The binding remains in fine condition, beautifully preserved and exceptionally attractive under a protective, removable mylar cover.
Content: Fine content with remarkably clean and fresh pages throughout. The impressions of the engravings are crisp and dark, preserving the dramatic power of Holbein’s celebrated imagery. An unusually well-preserved example, complete and internally bright, housed in a binding of genuine bibliophilic distinction.
Illustrations: Illustrated with 49 wood engravings after Hans Holbein’s famous Dance of Death sequence, including reproductions of the original 1538 designs together with additional engravings derived from later sixteenth-century editions. Title page reproduces that of the historic Lyons edition of 1538.
Estimate: (USD 900–1,500).
The book: This exquisite pocket edition of The Dance of Death unites Renaissance artistry, Victorian literary taste, and masterful English fine binding into a remarkably elegant miniature volume. Introduced by the poet and essayist Austin Dobson, the work presents Holbein’s haunting meditation on mortality through a beautifully printed sequence of wood engravings originally conceived in the sixteenth century.
The engravings reproduced here are based upon those issued in Pickering’s esteemed 1833 edition, long considered among the finest nineteenth-century renderings of Holbein’s original cuts. The series famously depicts Death intruding upon every station of human life — emperors, bishops, merchants, maidens, fools, and beggars alike — transforming the medieval Danse Macabre tradition into one of the enduring masterpieces of European visual culture.
Issued in this elegant “livrette de luxe” format at the end of the nineteenth century, the volume was intended as both a literary curiosity and an object of beauty for discerning collectors. The superb Rivière & Son binding elevates the book further still, with its sumptuous crushed morocco and refined gilt tooling perfectly complementing the macabre sophistication of Holbein’s imagery. Fine Rivière bindings of this quality remain highly sought after today, particularly when preserved in such exceptional condition.
The author: Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497–1543) ranks among the greatest masters of the Northern Renaissance. Born in Augsburg and later active in Basel and Tudor England, Holbein achieved lasting fame for his portraits of Henry VIII, Erasmus, and other leading figures of the sixteenth century. His Dance of Death woodcuts remain among the most influential allegorical image cycles ever produced, admired equally for their technical brilliance and philosophical depth.
The contributor: Austin Dobson (1840–1921) was an English poet, critic, and essayist celebrated for his refined literary sensibilities and deep appreciation of eighteenth-century art and culture. A distinguished bibliophile, Dobson played an important role in reviving interest in historical illustration and book arts during the Victorian period, making him an especially fitting contributor to this elegant edition of Holbein’s masterpiece.