1678 – Painting in Miniature – Claude Boutet | Art & Painting Instruction Manual

Claude Boutet’s Traité de Mignature is a rare French manual on miniature painting. Written for amateur painters without teachers, this book outlines practical methods used in 17^th-century paint shops. It addresses color-making and surface preparation (surfaces such as vellum, parchment, and even ivory) and techniques on how to paint certain difficult objects like the sun. It also contains brush-stroke patterns and instruction on fine-scale production.

This 1678 third edition was published in Paris and retains the woodcut early in the work.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Traité de mignature, pour apprendre aisément à peindre sans maistre
• Author(s): Claude Boutet
• Publisher: A Paris, Chez Christophe Ballard
• Edition: 1678 edition.
• Binding: Full leather
• Format: (16mo), single volume
• Size:  6.25 x 4 in (16 x 10 cm)
• Collation: [16], 166, [10] pp
• Illustrations: 1 woodcut figure
• Contents Include:
  • Miniature painting instruction
  • Surface preparation methods
  • Pigment mixing techniques
  • Brushwork guidance

Condition:

Good. Binding tight and secure with light corner wear and some loss along the spine. Gilt remains on board edges. Pages generally clean with occasional staining. No missing text observed.

Why Collect This?

• Early French manual on miniature painting
• Focus on pigment and surface preparation

Item Number: #50213