A superb set of the first edition of Goya's greatest series of engravings, an early copy printed shortly after the scratch occurred to engraving 45, bound in contemporary Spanish calf and with excellent impressions of the prints. From the edition limited to approximately 300 copies (see Harris).
“A number of copies were bound for Goya in Spanish mottled calf with the title and the author's name on the spine in gold letters on red or green. They are often before the scratch on Pl. 45 and are invariably particularly fine.” (Harris).
History of the printing and the impressions:
Sets of Goya's masterpiece of engraving 'Los Caprichos' were offered for sale in early 1799 and the first recorded sale (for four sets) was to the Duke and Duchess of Osuna in January of that year. The series did not, at least at the time, sell well and Goya himself relates, in a letter to Miguel Cayetano Soler offering the plates and prints to the Calcografia of Charles IV, that prior to July 7, 1803 (the date of his letter) he had sold only 27 sets. The copies sold by Goya himself feature the best engravings of a large edition, and are particularly prized by collectors. Of these early copies, the earliest were pulled before a small scratch appeared on plate 45 during the printing. Although plate 45 in the present copy does feature the scratch - its absence as stated taken to be an indication of an early printing and therefore a mark of good impressions - the engravings are extremely fine in quality with the aquatint printing crisply. It is very likely - the contemporary binding comparable to other early sets confirms this - that this set was printed very shortly after the scratch occurred and is one of the 27 copies sold by Goya prior to the transfer of the remaining plates and prints to the Calcografia in October, 1803.
The aquatint, a delicate process that Goya himself introduced to Spain, wears considerably throughout the first edition and there is a great difference within the edition between early and late impressions. Harris lists several details to establish the priority of sets and from these it is possible to establish with greater accuracy that the present copy is an early one:
Prestigious, early copies of 'Los Caprichos' are scarce on the market and at auction, and the majority reside in libraries and museums. In the last 30 years only a handful of early copies have appeared. Among them, the Josefowitz copy in contemporary Spanish calf that includes five engravings before corrections, must be seen as the highlight, but mention must also be made of other important copies. The Solar / Ragazzoni copy in contemporary Spanish red morocco, presented by Goya - almost certainly - to the Duchess of Osuna, María Josefa Pimental, Countess and Duchess of Benavente, wife of Pedro Téllez-Girón, 9th Duke of Osuna (the presentation has been mutilated but traces remain), was printed after the scratch. The copy owned by the engraver Blas Ametller y Rottlan (and later Jaime Andreu the most important Spanish collector of prints in the 19th century) in contemporary calf-backed marbled boards is notable both for the prestigious provenance and for the fact that the marbled endpapers are clearly from the same stock as those for the present copy. To these must be added the Vershbow copy, printed before the scratch, but in a later nineteenth century binding and with a damp-stain to the first fourteen plates. Although this list is not exhaustive few other comparable copies have appeared - we know of three in private collections printed before the scratch - although examples in later bindings and with lesser impressions can be found.
“This [first] edition is easily identified by the brilliance of the impressions and by the paper and ink used.” (Harris).
“Technically it [Los Caprichos] marks a turning point in the history of printmaking. Goya was the first major artist to work in the relatively new technique of aquatint, and he used it to its full effect - layering veils of tone one upon the other, sometimes coarse and granular, at other times velvety like a mezzotint or so fne it resembles a light watercolor wash. The only drawback, which soon became apparent, is that much depth and subtlety was lost as the plates began to wear. Even within the First Edition these changes are noticeable, and it is only in the earliest examples ... that we can we truly appreciate his achievement.” (Josefowitz sale catalogue).
Published by Goya himself in 1799 and produced after Goya's return from his lover the Duchess of Alba's estate at Sanlúcar in 1798, 'Los Caprichos' have long exerted a fascination greater than that of his other printed work. Of an evident satirical intent, the meaning and intended targets of 'Los Caprichos' have long been discussed, though with no reliable conclusions having been made. The Church, particularly the Inquisition whom Goya later claimed had investigated 'Los Caprichos', the Government, the Queen Maria Luisa, her advisors and even the Duchess of Alba have been identified as the objects of Goya's satire and, indeed, as characters in the plates themselves. It is known, however, that Goya omitted two plates from the eventual 80 that alluded more directly to contemporary figures (in this case the Queen and the Duchess of Alba) and it seems certain that he wished an intriguing element of uncertainty to surround his work.
The plates themselves can be grouped according to subject: 'the coquetry or empty-headedness of women and the vanity of men; the evil counsels of old women; grotesque marriages; the mutual fleecing and duping of men and women; the series of donkeys; and finally the scenes of fantasy and witchcraft' (Harris pg. 99), but these are merely themes within the series (apart from the 'series of donkeys', plates 37 - 42) and do not appear to reflect an order of composition. However, 'Los Caprichos' can be seen as a work of two halves: 'the first being a satire on human folly and wickedness with particular reference to the customs and manners of his [Goya's] time, and the second, 'Sueño' series of fantasy and witchcraft' (Harris pg. 102). In this grouping, plate 43, with its motto 'El sueño de la razon produce monstruos' ('the dream of reason produces monsters'), serves as a natural introduction or frontispiece to the later 'sueño' section. Harris makes the conjecture that Goya made the first plate (the self-portrait) after the decision had been made to combine these two series to serve as the frontispiece to the whole.
'Los Caprichos' was reprinted from the plates a further 11 times, with the final edition being issued by the Calcografía in 1937, a fact which bears testament to the lasting importance and appeal of Goya's engravings in general and this, his most characteristic work, in particular. It is, however, only in this first edition and only in those copies with good, crisp impressions with the aquatint printing strongly as here that the true magnificence of Goya's series can be seen.
This copy features the bookplate of Vincent Van Gogh to the front pastedown. Although it is tempting to assign this copy to the renowned painter, it belonged in fact to his cousin, also Vincent Van Gogh (1866 - 1911), a noted bibliophile and collector with an extensive collection of prints, paintings and drawings. This other Vincent van Gogh was the son of the artist's uncle Cornelis (Uncle Cor was the only person to commission any work from Vincent van Gogh the painter), who inherited his father's book and print shop and ran them successfully from the early 1890s. A collector of renowned taste (Frits Lugt described him as 'a noted connoisseur and bohemian'), Van Gogh inherited a large collection from his father (he also bought extensively at the sale of his father's library in 1878), a further collection from his uncle (Dr Daniel Franken Dzn) as well as adding his own finds. Dr. Anton de Vries, who knew Van Gogh well and wrote the introduction to the first of the six sales of his collection held between 1912 and 1918, noted that Van Gogh found it hard to part - as a dealer - with anything to which he formed an emotional attachment as a collector. It seems very likely that this exceptional copy of 'Los Caprichos' which bears one of the four bookplates used by Van Gogh, all designed by Marius Bauer (and the same bookplate that features on the cover of the 1912 sale), was kept by Van Gogh as part of his collection and did not form a part of his stock.
“Bel exemplaire du 'premier tirage' de l'oeuvre capitale du maître, imprimé dans un ton brun et exécuté dans l'officine du maître. Excessivement rare.” (From the catalogue of the sale of part one of Van Gogh's collection).
'Il fut un collectionneur passionné. (Dr. A. G. C. de Vries).
Provenance: discreet oval blindstamp to first leaf (the title / pl. 1) - see below; engraved bookplate of Vincent Van Gogh (1866 - 1911) to front pastedown. A largely invisible blindstamp to the first leaf appears to be that of a Spanish bookshop, and bears the text: 'Libreria / Lizcano y Cia. / Jacometrezo 15 / Madrid'; we can trace no detail regarding this bookshop, however the stamp is detailed in Van Gogh's sale catalogue, and it is plausible that Van Gogh or his father purchased 'Los Caprichos' there; later with Sotheby's, London.
[Harris 1, 36 - 115; Brunet II, 1685; see lot 455 in the catalogue 'Collections Vincent Van Gogh - Première Partie: Eaux-Fortes et Lithographies Modernes', M. M. R. W. P. de Vries, Amsterdam, 5 / 6 November, 1912; see lot 9 in the catalogue 'Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes - Graphic masterpieces from a private collection', Christie's New York, 2014].
