Binding attributed to Franz Sebastian Voll of Mannheim (text volume)

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‘All other engravings of Gothic buildings pale beside the achievement of Sulpiz Boisserée’s Domwerk’ (Robson-Scott)

Boisserée (Johann Sulpiz Melchior Dominicus), 1783-1854

Geschichte und Beschreibung des Doms von Köln, nebst Untersuchungen über die alte Kirchenbaukunst. Als Text zu den Ansichten, Rissen und einzelnen Theilen des Doms von Köln [text volume] § Ansichten, Risse und einzelne Theile des Doms von Köln, mit Ergänzungen nach dem Entwurf des Meisters, nebst Untersuchungen über die alte Kirchen-Baukunst und vergleichenden Tafeln der vorzüglichsten Denkmale [atlas]

Stuttgart, auf Kosten des Verfassers und der J.G. Cotta’schen Buchhandlung, 1821 [-1832]

A magnificent copy of Boisserée’s sumptuous Domwerk – a monumental portfolio of measured plans, elevations, and sections of Cologne cathedral, accompanied by explanatory text.

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Subjects: Archaeology, Medieval; Architecture, German - Kölner Dom; Germany - Description and travel; Glass painting and staining
Authors/Creators: Boisserée, Johann Sulpiz Melchior Dominicus, 1783-1854
Artists/Illustrators: Boisserée, Johann Sulpiz Melchior Dominicus, 1783-1854; Duttenhofer, Christian Friedrich Traugott, 1778-1846; Fuchs, Maximilian Heinrich, 1767-1846; Groubenthal, Ferdinand, 1792/1797-c. 1840; Quaglio, Angelo, 1778-1815
Printers/Publishers: Cotta von Cottendorf, Johann Georg, active 1832-1855

Boisserée, Johann Sulpiz Melchior Dominicus
Cologne 1783 – 1854 Bonn

Geschichte und Beschreibung des Doms von Köln, nebst Untersuchungen über die alte Kirchenbaukunst. Als Text zu den Ansichten, Rissen und einzelnen Theilen des Doms von Köln [text volume] § Ansichten, Risse und einzelne Theile des Doms von Köln, mit Ergänzungen nach dem Entwurf des Meisters, nebst Untersuchungen über die alte Kirchen-Baukunst und vergleichenden Tafeln der vorzüglichsten Denkmale [atlas].

Stuttgart, ‘auf Kosten des Verfassers und der J.G. Cotta’schen Buchhandlung, 1821–[1832]

Two volumes, folio (550 × 405 mm) and atlas folio (1070 × 740 mm):

Text: (48) ff., paginated (4) (half-title, imprint on verso ‘Gedruckt mit Schriften aus der Schriftgießerei von Firmin Didot in dessen Buchdruckerei zu Paris, rue Jacob, No 24’; title dated 1823, verso blank), i–iv (Vorwort), 1–38 (Erklärung der Kupfertafeln [Zweite Abtheilung]), 1–50 (Der Dom zu Köln. Erste Abtheilung).

Atlas: suite of eighteen numbered plates • Tafel i: title dated 1821 (transcribed above), lettering by E.F. Ermeler, vignette by Karl Friedrich Schinkel (view of Cologne from the North) engraved by Christian Haldenwang, plate engraved by Ludwig Friedrich Schnell and Joseph Théodore Richomme (plate 745 × 540 mm) • Tafel ii: Ansicht der Dom-Kirche zu Köln, von der Südseite (also in French), drawn by Angelo Quaglio after Boisserée, 1809; engraved by Johann Adolph Darnstedt, 1817 (plate 630 × 935 mm) • Tafel iii: Dom-Kirche zu Köln. Der Grundriß (also in French), drawn by Johann Martin Schauss after Boisserée, 1810; engraved by [F.] Wolf (plate 770 × 520 mm) • Tafel iv: Aufriß der Seiten-Façade der Dom Kirche zu Köln (also in French), drawn by Maximilian Heinrich Fuchs after Boisserée, 1809; engraved by Christian Friedrich Traugott Duttenhofer (plate 780 × 725 mm) • Tafel v: Dom-Kirche zu Köln. Hauptseite wie sie vollendet werden sollte (also in French), drawn by Maximilian Heinrich Fuchs and ‘Mauchert’ (Edouard, or Johann Matthäus Mauch?) after Boisserée; engraved by Ernst Rauch, 1830 (plate 835 × 513 mm) • Tafel vi: Dom-Kirche zu Köln. Durchschnitt des Chors in der Breite (also in French), drawn by Maximilian Heinrich Fuchs after Boisserée, 1809; engraved by Christian Friedrich Traugott Duttenhofer (plate 795 × 530 mm) • Tafel vii: Dom-Kirche zu Köln. Durchschnitt des Chors und der Vorhalle in der Länge (also in French), drawn by Maximilian Heinrich Fuchs after Boisserée, 1811; engraved by Étienne Besnard, 1829 (plate 625 × 940 mm) • Tafel viii: Dom-Kirche zu Köln. Grundrisse der verschiedenen Geschosse (also in French), drawn by Boisserée, 1829; engraved by Karl Rauch (plate 765 × 530 mm) • Tafel ix: Dom-Kirche zu Köln. Kapitäle, Tragsteine, Grabmal des Erbauers und Hauptaltar (also in French), drawn by Joseph Hoffmann after Boisserée, 1811; engraved by Claude Alexandre Moisy (plate 855 × 550 mm) • Tafel x: Dom-Kirche zu Köln. Die Säulen (also in French), drawn by Angelo Quaglio after Boisserée, 1811; engraved by [Louis] Sellier (plate 765 × 577 mm) • Tafel xi: Dom-Kirche zu Köln. Gemalte Glasfenster. i (also in French), drawn by Maximilian Heinrich Fuchs after Boisserée, 1811; engraved by Johann Conrad Susemiehl (plate 745 × 515 mm, hand-coloured) • Tafel xii: Dom-Kirche zu Köln. Gemalte Glasfenster. ii (also in French), drawn by Maximilian Heinrich Fuchs after Boisserée, 1811; engraved by Auguste Leisnier (plate 745 × 510 mm, hand coloured) • Tafel xiii: Dom-Kirche zu Köln. Chorfenster und Einzelne Theile (also in French), drawn by Maximilian Heinrich Fuchs after Boisserée, 1812; engraved by Ernst Rauch, 1827 (plate 850 × 565 mm) • Tafel xiv: Dom-Kirche zu Köln. Die südliche Thüre der Hauptseite (also in French), drawn by Angelo Quaglio after Boisserée, 1810; engraved by Friedrich Geißler, 1830 (plate 830 × 565 mm) • Tafel xv: Dom-Kirche zu Köln. Thurmfenster, Strebepfeiler und Widerhalter (also in French), drawn by Jacob Carl Vierordt after Boisserée, 1812; engraved by Auguste Leisnier, with etching by aqua fortis added by Jean-Baptiste Bigant and Jean-Baptiste Reville (plate 910 × 590 mm) • Tafel xvi: Dom-Kirche zu Köln. Vorhalle, wie sie vollendet werden sollte (also in French), drawn by Georg Moller after Boisserée, 1813; engraved by Auguste Leisnier (plate 840 × 580 mm) • Tafel xvii: [comparative plate, i] drawn by J. Stoelzl after Boisserée, 1829; engraved by Johann Michael Eberlein (plate 525 × 760 mm) • Tafel xviii: [comparative plate, ii]drawn by Alois Kurz after Boisserée, 1829; engraved by E. Ollivier (plate 525 × 760 mm).

Occasional foxing, mostly confined to margins; a few clean tears in plates; minor abrasions to bindings; but overall in excellent state of preservation

binding matching bindings of red roan leather, gilt frames on covers, possibly by Franz Sebastian Voll of Mannheim.

A magnificent copy of Boisserée’s sumptuous Domwerk – a monumental portfolio of measured plans, elevations, and sections of Cologne cathedral, accompanied by explanatory text.¹

The cathedral had survived into the nineteenth century as an incomplete structure, lacking the towers that make it a landmark today. Boisserée, a wealthy Rhineland businessman, then at the start of a passionate collecting and preservation career, created a portfolio of structural studies of the medieval torso, and began to campaign for its restoration and completion. In this publication Boisserée contrasts on a series of very large engravings the current condition of the cathedral and a hypothetical reconstruction, founded on his many survey drawings and also on medieval elevations of the two towers (discovered in 1814). The ‘fascinating power of the Utopia depicted [in the plates]’ led, in 1842, to the resumption of building works.²

To create the engravings, Boisserée enlisted eleven draughtsmen, of whom Maximilian Heinrich Fuchs (1767–1846) and Angelo Quaglio (1778–1815) were to be the most active. Work commenced in the autumn of 1808 and by 1814 the drawings for thirteen plates had been passed to printmakers. The first engraver employed was Christian Duttenhofer (1788–1846), who in 1811 began work on plate iv (completed in 1813).³ Altogether, seventeen printmakers were engaged; ten were Germans, the remainder Parisians, after Boisserée became enthralled by the Description de l’Egypte (1809–1824), and decided to emulate its exceptionally large format and to utilise the same engravers and printers (letterpress printed by Firmin Didot and plates by Durand & Sauvé).⁴

Boisserée’s original conception (1810) was of a work combining text and plates issued seriatim in three parts (each of five plates).⁵ By 1820, he was projecting a work in five parts (each of four plates). In November 1820, Boisserée anticipated publication of the first livraison ‘au commencement de l’année prochaine [1821], la totalité pourra être terminée en quatre années’.⁶ A prospectus inviting subscriptions was duly circulated in the spring of 1821. It announced two editions: one with the text in German, the other in French, both to be delivered in five fascicules (each of four plates). The first fascicule was scheduled for May 1821 and the second fascicule was due six months later; the three remaining fascicules were to be distributed a year or so thereafter. Subscribers could choose between copies printed on ordinary paper, on papier vélin with plates avant la lettre (bearing plate numbers and artists’ names only), or on china paper. Two plates were to be coloured in all copies; fully-coloured copies could be obtained on demand.⁷

Although the title for the atlas of plates is dated 1821,⁸ the first fascicule did not appear in 1821 as Boisserée had hoped. In June 1823 Boisserée returned to Paris, and for the next ten months devoted much of his time to the project. On 26 August 1823, Boisserée was able to show the first fascicule (plates i [title], iii, iv, vi, x) to his friends Raoul-Rochette and Champollion. It was distributed during September 1823,⁹ in German and French editions as promised,¹⁰ with the title-page for the accompanying letterpress text accurately dated 1823. The second fascicule (plates ii, xii, xv) appeared in December 1823.¹¹ Progress then lagged, partly owing to the stupendous cost of the work, and disappointing sales (by 1827, just 110 copies had been subscribed).¹² The third fascicule (plates ix, xi, xvi) was printed in 1828 and distributed to subscribers in January 1829.¹³

To reduce costs, some production was transferred to Germany. Plates v, viii, and xiii, were engraved by the brothers Rauch of Darmstadt (in 1827, 1829, and 1830) and printed there by (Johann) Heinrich Felsing. In September 1831 subscribers were sent the fourth fascicule of plates (v, vii, viii, xiii, xiv, xvii, xviii) and in January 1832 the letterpress description of the eighteen plates (Erklärung der Kupfertafeln).¹⁴ The publication was afterwards abandoned: a section of text (‘Untersuchungen über die alte Kirchenbaukunst’), announced by Boisserée on the title-page of the text volume, was never printed. Two plates already had been produced for it (Tafeln xvii–xviii), imaginative renderings of the cathedral in the ‘Rundbogenstil’ and ‘altdeutschen Stil’. The projected Tafel xix, depicting the interior of the choir, exists as an unfinished matrice; the projected Tafel xx, an exterior view of the Cathedral from the south-west, drawn by Georg Moller, was not passed to the printmakers.

The magnificent stained glass is reproduced by two plates, one in the second fascicule (xi) issued in 1823, and another in the third fascicule (xii) issued in 1829; both plates are hand-coloured in all copies. Boisserée had met on 28 June 1823 with the miniaturist Ferdinand Groubenthal and he evidently applied the colouring.¹⁵ They are the first illustrations of the Dom windows and valuable documents as they record glass since lost.¹⁶

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Fig. 1 Binding attributed to Franz Sebastian Voll of Mannheim (text volume)

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Fig. 2 Detail of binding decoration

Our copy is finely bound in red roan leather decorated in gilt by a broad roll of the type employed by the Mannheim bookbinder Franz Sebastian Voll (1783–1846). Born in Würzburg, Voll was admitted to the guild of binders in Mannheim in 1807.¹⁷ His clients included the princely house of Fürstenberg,¹⁸ Grand-Duchess Stephanie von Baden,¹⁹ and perhaps Ernst August i, King of Hannover.²⁰

A revised, second edition was published at Munich in 1842–1843 by ‘L’Institut de littérature et des arts’.²¹

references William Douglas Robson-Scott, The literary background of the Gothic revival in Germany: a chapter in the history of taste (Oxford 1965), pp.275–281; Der Kölner Dom in der Graphik: aus der Sammlung Boisserée und des Dombauarchiv Köln, catalogue of an exhibition, Kreismuseum Zons, 21 March–18 May 1980, by Helene Blum and Johannes Schilling Neuss 1980), pp.14–15 nos. 13–26; Bilderlust und Lesefrüchte: das illustrierte Kunstbuch von 1750 bis 1920, edited by Katharina Krause, Klaus Niehr and Eva-Maria Hanebutt-Benz (Leipzig 2005), p.206 no. 35

1. There is a substantial literature around the book; see particularly: Herbert Rode, ‘Der Kölner Dom in der Anschauung Sulpiz Boisserées’ in Jahrbuch des Kölnische Geschichtsvereins 29–30 (1954–1955), pp.260–290; Klaus Niehr, ‘“Ansichten, Risse und einzelne Theile…”: Abbildungen des Kölner Doms als Dokumente früher Kunstgeschichte’ in Kölner Domblatt: Jahrbuch des Zentral-Dombau-Vereins 55 (1990), pp.167–200; Arnold Wolff, ‘Ansichten, Risse und einzelne Theile des Doms von Köln. Das “Domwerk” des Sulpiz Boisseree’ in Kunst als Kulturgut: die Bildersammlung der Brüder Boisserée, ein Schritt in der Begründung des Museums, edited by Annemarie Gethmann-Siefert and Otto Pöggeler (Bonn 1995), pp.185–196; and Jens Bisky, ‘“…in einem unendlichen Bau an der Stadt Gottes auf Erden”. Boisserées Domwerk im Kontext romantischer Architekturtheorie’ in Die Stadt in der europäischen Romantik, edited by Gerhart von Graevenitz (Würzburg 2000), pp.93–10.

2. Hartwig Schmidt, ‘Building Research from Past to Present. The Development of Methods in Germany since the 19th Century’ in Preparatory architectural investigation in the restoration of historical buildings, edited by Krista De Jonge and Koen Van Balen (Louvain 2002), p.21.

3. Sulpiz Boisserée, Tagebücher: 1808–1854, edited by Hans-J. Weitz (Darmstadt 1978), i, p.71: 2 August 1811 ‘Der Ätz-Druck von Duttenhofer, die erste Anlage aller Kupferstiche zum Dom, kam an’.

4. Boisserée, Tagebücher, op. cit., i, p.482 (22–23 February 1818).

5. Marianne Küffner, ‘Zum Briefwechsel Boisserée und Cotta’ in Kunst als Kulturgut, op. cit., p.21.

6. Letter of 6 November 1820 to comte Joseph-Jérôme Siméon, Ministère de l’Intérieur, printed by Pierre Moisy, Les Séjours en France de Sulpice Boisserée (1820–1825) (Lyon & Paris 1956), pp.222–224 (Texte ix; cf. p.100, and chapter iii, passim, on the gestation of the publication).

7. A copy of the prospectus is ■ Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, 4 Don.Lud. XVII, 34 (link). The same text was printed in the Morgenblatt für gebildete Stände, no. 96, 21 April 1821 (Beilage: Intelligenz-Blatt, no. 11, 1821), pp.41–42: ‘Da die Künstler schon mit der 3ten Lieferung beschäftigt sind, so kann man auf einen verhältnismäßig schnellen Ganz der herausgabe zählen. Die 1ste Lieferung wird im Monat May, die 2te sechs Monate später, und die drei andern in Zwischenräumen von einem Jahr zu einem Jahr folgen. Der Preis einer jeden Lieferung auf seinem Groß-Adler- und Groß-Welt-Papier ist 60 Gulden im 24-Gulden-Fuß oder 34 Thlr. 8 gr. Sächsisch. Es wird war eine kleine Anzahl avant la lettre gedruckt werden; der Preis dieser Exemplare auf dem schönsten Velin-Papier aus den Vogesen ist 120 Gulden oder 68 Thlr. 16 gr. Sächsisch, und auf Chinesischen Papier 150 Gulden oder 85 Thlr. 20 gr. Diejenigen Personen, welche ganz kolorierte Exemplare zu erhalten wünschen, werden gebeten, dieselben besondert zu bestellen; der Preis für solche Exemplare wird dann besonders bestimmt werden’; ‘Es werden von dem Text zwey Ausgaben, eine Deutsche und eine Französische, veranstaltet’.

8. The title features a view of Cologne drawn by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel and engraved by Christian Haldenwang; see Hasso von Haldenwang, Christian Haldenwang, Kupferstecher (1770–1831) (Frankfurt am Main 1997), pp.654–656. Schinkel’s work for the vignette is summarised by Eva Brües, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Lebenswerk [12]. Die Rheinlande (Berlin 1968), pp.307–312 no. 247.

9. Boisserée, Tagebücher, op. cit., ii, p.4* (entries on 23 August and 26 August 1823), p.5* (entry 1 September 1823: ‘Die Erste Lieferung des Domwerks wird ausgegeben’). The première livraison was entered in the Bibliographie de la France, ou Journal général de l’imprimerie et de la librairie, 6 September 1823, p.517 no. 3733, described as ‘15 feuilles et 5 planches’; a copy was presented to the Académie des Beaux-Arts at their meeting on 13 September 1823 (Procès-verbaux de l’Académie des Beaux-arts 1821–1825, edited by Béatrice Bouvier and François Fossier, Paris 2003, p.199). Cf. Bernhard Fischer, Der Verleger Johann Friedrich Cotta: chronologische Verlagsbibliographie 1787–1832 (Marbach am Neckar 2003), ii, p.346–349 nos. 1414–1415, describing Lieferung 1 as six plates ([i], ii, iii, vi, x, xii).

10. Histoire et description de la cathédrale de Cologne accompagnée de recherches sur l’architecture des anciennes cathédrales (Stuttgart: ‘Aux frais de l’auteur et de la librairie de J.G. Cotta’, 1823); Vues, plans, coupes et détails de la Cathédrale de Cologne avec des restaurations d’après le dessin original, accompagnés de recherches sur l’architecture des anciennes cathédrales, et de tableaux comparatifs des principaux monumens par Sulpice Boisserée (Stuttgart: ‘Aux frais de l’auteur et de la librairie de J. G. Cotta’; Paris: Didot, 1821); cf. Avery’s Choice: Five centuries of great architectural books, edited by Adolf Placzek (New York 1997), p.219 no. 318.

11. Boisserée, Tagebücher, op. cit., ii, p.11*; Bibliographie de la France, 20 December 1823, pp.753–754 no. 5657, described as ‘4 feuilles, plus 3 planches’. Cf. Fischer, op. cit., ii, pp.402–403 nos. 1478–1479, describing Lieferung 2 as two plates (iv and xv) issued in 1824 (ibid., p.450 no. 1539).

12. For an account of sales and of the financing of the work, see Küffner, op. cit., pp.20–29 (esp. p.25). Cf. Moisy, op. cit., p.118 (ten special-paper copies subscribed by the Ministre de l’Intérieur). A copy of the plates printed on papier vélin and avant la lettre is ■ British Library, 85/1899.g.14.

13. Bibliographie de la France, 20 January 1829, p.28 no. 251, as ‘sans texte: trois planches’. A copy was presented to the Académie des Beaux-Arts at their meeting on 10 January 1829 (Procès-verbaux de l’Académie des Beaux-arts 1826–1829, edited by Béatrice Bouvier and François Fossier, Paris 2006, p.178). Cf. Fischer, op. cit., ii, pp.718–719 nos. 1858–1859, describing Lieferung 3 as four plates (ix, xii, xiii, xvi) issued in May 1829.

14. Bibliographie de la France, 14 January 1832, p.28 no. 249; cf. Journal général de la littérature de France, ou Indicateur bibliographique et raisonné des Livres nouveaux, sixième cahier, 1832, p.97 (‘contenant pages 13 à 42 et atlas format grand-monde, contenant les planches v, vii, viii, xiii, xiv, xvii, xviii’). Cf. Fischer, op. cit., ii, pp.876–877 no. 2069 (German) and p.881 no. 2071 (French), describing Lieferung 4 as six plates (v, vii, viii, xiv, xvii, xviii).

15. Boisserée, Tagebücher, op. cit., i, p.914: ‘Mr Grubenthal bietet sich zum colorieren der Fenster an’. For Goubenthal (variously Groubental, Groubenhall), see Bibliothèque Nationale, Inventaire du fonds français après 1800, ix (Paris 1955), p.425; Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon: die Bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker, 63 (Munich 2008), pp.254–255.

16. Ulrike Brinkmann, ‘Die Wiederherstellung der Kölner Domfenster im 19. Jahrhundert’ in Erfurt – Köln – Oppenheim: Quellen und Studien zur Restaurierungsgeschichte mittelalterlicher Farbverglasungen, Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi: Deutschland – Studien, ii (Berlin 1996), pp.124–128 (plates vi–vii, xi–xii reproduced as figs. 70–71, 76–77); Claudia Schumacher, in Himmelslicht: Europäische Glasmalerei im Jahrhundert des Kö lner Dombaus (1248–1349), catalogue of an exhibition, Schnutigen-Museum, Cologne (Cologne 1998), pp.314 –317 (plates vii, xi–xii reproduced).

17. Friedrich Walter, ‘Ein Prachteinband des Mannheimer Buchbindermeisters Sebastian Voll’ in Mannheimer Geschichtsblätter 28 (1927), pp.241–244; Helmuth Helwig, Das deutsche Buchbinder-Handwerk: Handwerks- und Kulturgeschichte (Stuttgart 1962–1965), ii, p.50; Otto Mazal, Einbandkunde: die Geschichte des Bucheinbandes (Wiesbaden 1997), p.306.

18. Five bindings are mentioned by Erna Huber, ‘Einbandsammlung und Einbandkatalog der Fürstlich Fürstenbergischen Hofbibliothek Donaueschingen’ in Festschrift Ernst Kyriss: Dem Bucheinbandforscher Dr. Ernst Kyriss in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, zu seinem 80. Geburtstag am 2. Juni 1961 gewidmet (Stuttgart [1961]), p.444 and Abb. 9 (reproduction of the upper cover of William Gell’s Pompeiana: the topography, edifices, and ornaments of Pompeii, London 1817–1819).

19. A copy of Franz Heinrich Georg von Drais, Geschichte der Regierung und Bildung von Baden (Karlsruhe 1816–1818), bound in red leather and apparently presented by the Grand Duchess to Hortense de Beauharnais (Schloßmuseum, Mannheim), is cited by Friedrich Walter, ‘Einbände der Mannheimer Buchbinderzunft’ in Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde 37 (1933), pp.85–86; a volume of Q. Horatii Flacci opera (London: John Pine, 1733–1737) bound by Voll in violet leather circa 1825 (Mannheim, collection Dr. Fritz Bassermann) is illustrated (fig. 6).

20. A copy of John Smith, Select views in Italy, with topographical and historical descriptions in English and French (London 1792–1796) bound by Voll for Ernst August i was in the Feltrinelli sale (Christie’s, ‘The Giannalisa Feltrinelli library’, London, 3 December 1997, lot 359).

21. For the differences between editions, see the facsimile (atlas only) with introduction by Arnold Wolff (Cologne: Verlag Kölner Dom, 1979), pp.21, 55.

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