(China) Nanhun. Engraved by Habermann. Published in France and Germany circa 1750. $750.00

"Vue de Nanhun" on the Yangtze River.

Nankin, or Nanjing or Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu province in eastern China. It was the capital of the country at several points in history. It is located on the lower Yangtze River. The accompanying French text describes the river as black as ink and filled with fish. It goes on to say that the banks have the best dark fine earth of anywhere and that it is used to make the crayon color known as Chinoise.

Vues d’optique (optical views) were created in Europe in the 18th century. They are highly colored engravings of cities that were shown through a viewing device (sometimes called a magic lantern) fitted with a mirror and a convex lens. The titles were printed on the sheets in reverse so that they would appear right side up when viewed. They were drawn with a one point linear perspective which when viewed through the machine created convincingly three dimensionality. Many of these machines were moved  from  place to place so that the owners could charge fees for public showings of the far flung places depicted. Since the engravings were not bound and very pulled in and out of the viewing machines, they usually show signs of wear.

Some vues d’optique such as this one had the windows and doors in the buildings cut out and  the openings backed with translucent paper so that when the print was backlit, the scenes provided illuminated night views.  

16 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches, sheet.
Engraving with original hand coloring.
Some evidence of handling.