Totentanz <> Dance of Death <>Danse Macabre

By David  Deuchar (1743-1808). Engraved in 47 copper plates in 1788 and  here published in London in 1803.

"Holbein's 'Dance of Death' depicts Death's visits upon all walks of life. A grim yet sometimes  humorous social commentary on a time when church and state had become all to powerful. The plague was wiping out whole cities in Europe, peasants were waging war against their oppressive lords and the church was revolting and reforming from within. 
First published in Basel and Lyon, France in 1538 it became an instant best-seller and was republished many times in all of Europe's major languages. The book was banned of course which only added to it's popularity. Holbein's original woodcuts are extremely scarce today but excellent later printings with the woodcuts reissued in copperplate and lithography by Chovin, Mechel, Hollar, Deuchar, Schlotthauser and others are still to be found in the art market.

Deuchar closely follows Holbein's Lyon edition and the work of his predecessors Hollar and Mechel. The text verbatim as Mechel's.  Most plates bear Holbein's initials as the artist followed by  Deuchar's initials with the notation  'fecit' (done by). The engravings do not have the distracting , elaborate borders by Diepenbeck used in some other editions of the publication  which take the eye away from the central subject. The biblical quotes in Latin are engraved at the bottom of the plates and repeated on the text pages in English and French
London 1803, large octavo 6.5 x 8 inches. Old marble boards rubbed with spine replaced. All in all in good condition especially the interior. $675

Biography
 
Holbein, Hans, the Younger (1497-1543), German artist, one of the most accomplished masters of the Renaissance. Holbein was born in Augsburg in the year 1497. At an early age he began to study painting with his father, Hans Holbein the Elder. By 1515 Holbein the Younger had established himself in Basel, Switzerland, as a book illustrator. About 1526 he produced the famous series of 41 woodcuts for "The Dance of Death". Arriving in England in 1526 with letters of introduction from Erasmus of Rotterdam , now his friend and patron, Holbein was engaged to portray several of the great humanists of the period, including Sir Thomas More. Holbein settled in England in 1532 and began his career as a master portrait painter. His portrait of the statesman Thomas Cromwell brought the artist recognition at court, and by 1536 he was established as court painter to Henry VIII. His most significant works, the portraits of Henry VIII and his wife Jane Seymour, were destroyed by fire in 1698. Holbein died in London in 1543 during a plague epidemic.