LE BRUN (Charles). Tapisseries du Roy, où sont représentz les quatre élémens et les quatre saisons de l'année. S.l.n.d [Paris, before 1746]. Very large folio (519 x 375 mm). Red morocco, framed in fillets with a crowned numeral at the corners, arms in the centre, spine ribbed and decorated with the same numeral, gilt edges (Binding of the period). Sumptuous collection of fully engraved manuscripts, one of the most important in the King's Cabinet. Final version of the "Devises pour les tapisseries du Roy" engraved by Sébastien Leclerc after the famous manuscript calligraphied by Jarry and painted by Bailly for Louis XIV in 1664, printed in 1668, then in 1670 and 1679, the plates then integrated into the series of the Cabinet du Roi. Engraved general title after Jacques Bailly (sig. "I. Bailly in.") and three engraved titles for each of the parts: "Tapisseries du Roy ou sont representéz les Quatre Elemens"; "Devises pour les tapisseries des Quatre Elemens"; "Tapisseries du Roy ou sont representées les quatre saisons". Eight double plates of the tapestries based on drawings invented by Le Brun to accompany the mottoes, and 16 plates for the 32 medallions, two per plate, of the mottoes or emblems designed by the Petite Académie under the authority of Charles Perrault. A SUPERB COPY IN A VERY FRESH BINDING WITH THE ARMS AND CIPHER OF LOUIS XV. It does not include the 4 plates of the Tapestries of the King's great conquests, engraved from 1680 to 1682. PRESENT EXAMPLE TO COUNT VORONTSOV: Inscription in Russian at the bottom of the title: "Received from the King of France Louis XV during my passage through France in 1746 in the month of May. Count M[ikhail] Vorontsov". Mikhail Vorontsov (1714-1767) took part in the coup d'état that put Elisabeth I of Russia on the throne in 1741. The Empress awarded him the title of Count of the Empire and appointed him Vice-Chancellor. Compromised in 1743 in the Lopoukhina conspiracy, he had to be forgotten. It was probably at this time that he travelled to France and received our volume as a gift from Louis XV. Back in favour in 1757, he became the most powerful man in Russia during the reign of Peter III, his niece Elisabeth Romanovna Vorontsova being the emperor's mistress. We know how Catherine, alarmed by her husband's plans to divorce her, deposed him to become Catherine II. The Vorontsov palace in St Petersburg, designed by Rastrelli, bears witness to the family's power. Slight spotting to title, upper hinge cracked at head. Inventory of the French collection, 17th century engravers. Tome 9. II, Sébastien Leclerc, 1541 to 1596; J.-F. Méjanès, Chalcographie du Musée du Louvre, le cabinet du roi et la collection des planches gravées de Louis XIV, Paris, RMN, 1977; M. Grivel and M. Fumaroli, Devises pour les tapisseries du Roi, Paris, 1988.