El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha: Nueva Edicion, Corregida Por La Real Academia Española.

The illustrated Ibarra edition of Cervantes' masterpiece "which is to Spanish literature what Shakespeare is to English" (Bloom). Quarto, 4 volumes, written in spanish, bound in full red morocco by Derome le jeune with gilt titles and tooling to the spines in six compartments within gilt bands, elaborate gilt ruling with gilt armorial crests to the front and rear panels, all edges gilt, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, silk moire endpapers. Engraved frontispiece to volume one, with 23 full page engraved plates throughout, and a 2-page folding engraved map of Don Quixote's travels to the rear of volume 1. Additional leaf to the rear of each volume with binders instructions of illustrated plate placements for each volume. Spanish printer Joaquín Ibarra made several important technical developments in press printing, book-making, typography and paper-making. In his printed work, Ibarra sought to achieve a perfect flow of harmonious type, inks, illustration, margins, and textures. He worked with the best painters and engravers of his time and, based on a secret formula he developed, the Ibarra ink gained a reputation for its exceptional quality and brilliance. The present volume was printed on "ex profeso" paper with melted types of "ex novo" on the pages, both of which Ibarra created in his Madrid workshop specifically for this project. In good condition with some losses to the leather and splitting to the hinges. Binders ticket to the verso of the front free endpaper. From the collection of Ken Rapoport with his ownership plate to the second free endpaper of volume one.