Matthäi, Johann Friedrich
Meißen 1777 – 1845 Vienna

Verzeichniß der Königlichen Sächsi­schen Gemälde-Galerie zu Dresden.

Dresden, Gärtner, 1837

Two parts, octavo (200 × 115 mm), (134, 62) ff., pagi­nated (14) 1–252, (2) 1–130 (2); plus folding plan of the galleries.

provenance Archibald Acheson, 3rd Earl of Gosford (1806–1864), Gosford Castle, Mullab­rack, Co. Armagh.

Occasional annotation in ink. Upper cover of binding scuffed, rubbed across joint.

bound in nineteenth-century polished calf, gilt insignia of the Earls of Gosford on covers; flat back decorated in gilt, black leather lettering-piece.

A catalogue of the pictures in the royal gallery in Dresden, compiled by the painter Johann Friedrich Matthäi, professor in the art academy in Dresden (from 1809), latterly Inspektor (1823) and Direktor (1834) of the royal gallery. It stands upon a solid foundation laid by Johann Anton Riedel and Christian Friedrich Wenzel, whose Catalogue des Tableaux de la Galerie Électorale à Dresde (1765, reprinted 1771) was later elabo­rated by August Joseph Pechwell (1757–1811)¹ and by Carl Friedrich Demiani (1768–1823).²

Matthäi’s catalogue was first published in 1835 as Verzeichniss der könig­lich Sächsischen Gemälde-Galerie zu Dresden. Von F. Matthai, in two parts, describing respectively ‘Die Gemälde der äußeren Galerie’ and ‘Die Gemälde der inneren Galerie’. Besides our reprint issued in 1837, an undated edition is recorded.

Our copy was bound for Archibald Acheson, 3rd Earl of Gosford (1806–1864), and has the family insignia (a cockerel standing on a trumpet, motto Vigilantibus within the Garter, surmounted by a crown) on covers (‘British armorial bindings’ database, Stamp 2, image).

We note these copies in North American libraries

1835 ● New York, New York Public Library, 3-MAVZ (part 2 only) ● Center for Research Libraries, A-15304 Cat. C

1837 ● Boston, Boston Athenaeum, N2280 A55 1837 ● Cambridge, Harvard Uni­versity, Fine Arts 3048.2.4.3 ● Evanston, Northwestern University, 708.3 D77v ● Los Angeles, Getty Research Insti­tute, 85-B499