Rare, Striking 1808-10 Hand-colored French "Coquilles" Bookplate Engravings antique photographs Quite a marvelous thing

Quite a marvelous thing

my first thought was that it would make a great line-making and design tool

graduated soft green background

I believe there was once a separate winder with string used to set this top spinning

But this is the first I've found that is completely blank

Rare, Striking 1808-10 Hand-colored French "Coquilles" Bookplate Engravings antique photographs Quite a marvelous thingSOLD : E, F My photos do not do these hand colored bookplate woodcut engravings justice they are subtle but quite stunning I think, with the interplay of the engraving and the coloration making them feel both unusual and really rather exquisite. They come from a scarce 1808 10 work "Conchyliogie systmatique et classification mthodique des coquilles," by the French naturalist Pierre Denys de Montfort (1766 1820) with the plates drawn and engraved by