A very luxurious binding on “Voyages dans l’Inde” by Alexis Soltykoff as published by Curmer & Lecou in 1850 in two volumes. Though the basis is publisher’s cloth, panels have been laid on which are extremely richly gilt and have onlays in various colours. The frontcover (right) and the spine (middle) richly gilt and sumptuously decorated with morocco onlays in various colours, backcover (left) elaborately stamped in blind and gilt with coloured morocco onlays as well. The frontboard showing a Maharaja and the backboard with a picture of a sitar player.
The cataloguer of Christie’s (their sale May 28, 2002) described these volumes as follows:
SOLTYKOFF, prince Alexis. Voyage (sic) dans l’Inde. Paris: Curmer, Lecou 1850. 2 vol. grand in-8 (270 x 176 mm.). Reliures de l’éditeur en percaline noire, plats richement ornés d’une plaque spéciale mosaïquée et dorée, dos lisses ornés, tranches dorées, (infimes usures).
Avec les faux-titres. Une carte lithographiée et partiellement coloriée et 36 planches lithographiées et teintées. (Piqûres ou rousseurs.)
Bon exemplaire dans une éclatante reliure ornée de motifs orientaux. Chaque volume contient deux pages de titre: l’une datée 1850; l’autre est en effet un titre de relais imprimé en or, daté 1851 et portant la mention “deuxième édition”.
(Vicaire VII, 575 donne 1850 comme date d’impression de la seconde édition.)
While it is described by Ketterer Kunst (their sale May 23, 2006) as:
Schwarzer OLwd. mit mehrfarb. Lederauflage und sehr reicher Goldpragung auf Deckeln und Rucken sowie Goldschnitt.
And by Dominic Winter (their sale January 25, 2017) as:
… ,original elaborately gilt-decorated black cloth, incorporating pink, red, green and blue morocco onlays, …
Later also for ‘Voyage en Perse’, where Soltykoff had been employed in the Russian diplomatic service in the 1830’s, a similar binding was designed, shown in
the picture here below. Both front- and backcover show a rebab player. The rebab is a bowed instrument spread across the Islamic world from the Middle East up to Indonesia.
Here below: Frontboard of ‘Voyage en Perse’ on the left and backboard on the right.
