Glassmaker Journal — Martin Engelbrecht Augsburg 1730 Costumes Grotesques Une Verriere Un Verrier

Carry the most extraordinary portrait of a craft ever conceived—where Martin Engelbrecht dressed an entire profession in its own products, turning glassware into costume and the glassmaker into a walking cabinet of wonders.

This hardcover journal celebrates two masterworks from L'assemblage nouveau des manouvriers habillés, the legendary series of hand-colored copperplate engravings produced in Augsburg around 1730 by Martin Engelbrecht (1684–1756). Engelbrecht documented nearly 200 professions across more than 3,000 engravings, often pairing a male and female representative for each trade. This journal presents precisely such a pair: the female glassmaker (Une Verrière) on the front cover and the male glassmaker (Un Verrier) on the back—both dressed head to toe in the glassware of their craft. Originally found in faded condition in historical archives, both engravings were carefully restored and enhanced by LeBonJournal.

Front Cover — Une Verrière (The Female Glassmaker): In the tradition of the French Costumes Grotesques pioneered by Nicolas de Larmessin, the female glassmaker is adorned entirely in glassware: she holds a tray of cups and a decanter; glass bottles and flasks hang from her torso; her tiered skirt serves as a display counter; and her headdress rises in a tall funnel of glass. A numbered legend in French and German identifies each piece—un bocal, un gobelet, une bouteille de verre—transforming the image into a visual encyclopedia of 18th-century glassware.

Back Cover — Un Verrier (The Male Glassmaker): His hat is crowned with wine glasses, his belt holds flasks and bowls, his coat is adorned with bottles and vessels, and even his buttons are replaced with glassware. In one hand he holds a large ceremonial pokal; in the other, a handled mug. Numbered 133 in Engelbrecht's collection, the legend catalogs medicine vials, goblets, and urinal flasks—a complete visual encyclopedia of the glassmaker's craft.

Why This Journal Inspires:

• Two engravings from Engelbrecht's L'assemblage nouveau (Augsburg, c. 1730)—one of the most extraordinary series in printmaking history, documenting nearly 200 trades
• Female and male glassmakers presented as a pair, as Engelbrecht intended—a complete portrait of a craft in the most inventive visual metaphor of the Baroque
• Rooted in the Costumes Grotesques tradition: professional identity transformed into literal physical costume—whimsical, encyclopedic, and utterly unique
• Carefully restored and enhanced by LeBonJournal from faded historical archive sources

Product Details:

• Format: Hardcover journal with matte laminated full-wrap cover
• Pages: 150 lined pages (75 sheets) with perforations for easy removal
• Binding: Casewrap sewn binding that lays flat and flexes for comfortable writing
• Dimensions: Standard journal size, lightweight and portable
• Weight: 0.1 kg
• Cover: Engelbrecht 1730 hand-colored engravings, restored and enhanced, matte finish; small 0.5"x0.5" production barcode on back

Perfect For:

• Art historians, print collectors, and Baroque art enthusiasts celebrating one of the most inventive engraving series of the 18th century
• Glass art lovers and craft history enthusiasts drawn to the visual catalog of 18th-century glassmaking
• Collectors of Engelbrecht prints and the Costumes Grotesques tradition
• Fans of cabinet of curiosities aesthetics and the encyclopedic tradition of the Enlightenment
• Educators and students of art history, printmaking, and the history of trades in early modern Europe
• Gift seekers looking for a truly unique journal for art lovers and history enthusiasts

Carry the legacy of Martin Engelbrecht—where a woman dressed in decanters and a man crowned with wine glasses remind us that every craft, at its most devoted, becomes an identity worn on the body.

EU representative: HONSON VENTURES LIMITED, gpsr@honsonventures.com, 3, Gnaftis House flat 102, Limassol, Mesa Geitonia, 4003, CY

Product information: Generic brand, 2 year warranty in EU and Northern Ireland as per Directive 1999/44/EC

Care instructions: Use a soft, clean and dry cloth to gently brush any dust or dirt off from the center of book outwards.