[HEINECKEN (Charles-Henri de)]. A General Overview of a Complete Collection of Prints. With an essay on the origin of engraving and on the earliest picture books. Leipzig, Vienna: Jean Paul Kraus, 1771. — In-8, 202 x 122: (8 ff.), 520 pp., (16 ff.), 30 plates. Porphyry calf, gilt fillet framing the covers, ribbed spine, speckled edges (contemporary binding, modern spine). First edition of what is certainly the oldest guide devoted to building a collection of engravings. Compiled by Baron Heinecken (1706–1791), the work takes as its model the collection of the Dresden Salon, of which the author was the director, and proposes a division into twelve categories: I. Galleries, cabinets, and collections. — II. The Italian school. — III. The French school. — IV. The Flemish school. — V. English prints. — VI. The German school. — VII. Portraits. — VIII. Sculpture and architecture. — IX. Prints and books on antiquities. — X. Prints and books on ceremonies. — XI. A library of all books on the arts. — XII. Drawings. The illustrations consist of 32 engravings spread across 30 separate leaves, as well as several engravings within the text, including one on copper (p. 266). Spine repaired, corners worn. Foxing and water stains. Provenance: High Legh Library, with bookplate. - George Cornwall Legh (1804–1877), British Conservative Member of Parliament, with bookplate. - Bookplate: U.P.