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1805ST19580London: Printed for F. C. and J. Rivington et al. 1805. 238 x 145 mm. 9 3/8 x 5 3/4". 10 volumes. Edited by George Steevens and Alexander Chalmers. <br/> EXTREMELY PRETTY CONTEMPORARY DEEP PURPLE STRAIGHT-GRAIN MOROCCO VERY ELABORATELY DECORATED IN GILT AND BLIND covers with frame featuring heavy gilt stippling and tooling spine compartments densely gilt gilt-rolled turn-ins leather hinges all edges gilt. EACH VOLUME WITH AN ATTRACTIVE FORE-EDGE PAINTING featuring scenic views of waterways bridges cottages and castles and one figurative scene. With frontispiece portrait engraved ornament pasted down on title page apparently to cover up the mention of the engravings which this set was evidently issued without. A Large Paper Copy. Jaggard p. 510; Lowndes IV 2264. Just a hint of wear to joints and extremities and this expertly refurbished a small gouge on rear board of volume I internally with occasional mild browning scattered foxing and stains but the bindings lustrous and glittering with gold the fore-edge paintings well preserved and the interiors clean and fresh. AN EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE COPY OF QUITE A SPECIAL ITEM.<br/> <br/> Enriched with learned essays and commentary this handsome printing of Steevens' acclaimed edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works comes in a lovely contemporary binding with later--but impressive--fore-edge paintings. Our set is the 10-volume version of Steevens printed on royal octavo paper a slightly less desirable nine-volume set on thinner octavo paper was also available. While the set was offered with plates the professionally printed and applied engraved ornaments covering the title page reference to engravings suggests that the publisher also sold sets without them auction records bear out this theory. The original owner may have chosen to save money on plates so he could splash out on the present richly gilt full morocco bindings that make an impressive appearance on the shelf. Then that owner or more likely a somewhat later one commissioned the paintings of the 10 fore edges. These are richly detailed crispy executed compositions mainly showing exterior scenes featuring castles or old city buildings. Although they do not necessarily have a clear connection with any individual play in any specific volume they do communicate the feeling of the period of Shakespeare's life. And most important they are skillfully done by an unusually deft painter. Steevens 1736-1800 had originally published his revision of Johnson's edition of Shakespeare in 1773 the revision being praised by Lowndes as combining "the native powers of Dr. Johnson with the activity sagacity and antiquarian learning of . . . Steevens." Volume I contains prefaces by Pope Johnson and Chalmers a sketch of Shakespeare's life by Chalmers Shakespeare's will and a history of the stage by Malone. Considered in all its aspects--as an esteemed edition of the bard's works as a gloriously decorated set on the shelf and as 10 expert fore-edge paintings--this item has much to recommend it. Printed for F. C. and J. Rivington et al. unknown
195126975Christies Auction 1951 NOT A BOOK 2 WATERCOLOR PAINTINGS 1951 Great Condition Beautiful Original Works of Art Each Watercolor Painting by Tony Mounted in Silver & Mauve Painted Frame Painting 25 X 20 inches Frames create Oval Shaped Matting over Painting frames sort of Raised Filigree Pattern on Extremities with frame measure 31 X 36 Inches Frames light rub wear & some small chips Extremities which could Easily be Touched Up Sold AS-IS Lovely artwork by Master Decorator These Paintings Originally were Hung in Home of Bob Cummings Hollywood Actor. Signed by Author. 1st Edition. Unbound. Very Good/No Jacket. Christies Auction paperback
174060893Yangzhou China: Huang Shen é»„ç››ä¹‹å° ca. 1740-1770. Oblong 4to. 11.5 x 11 in. 9 leaves unnumbered. accordion-style leporello double-page leaves with 8 ink & hand-coloured paintings on paper sized 10 x 9.25 mounted w/ pale blue paper framed leaves each w/ gilt speckled decorative paper mounted facing. Original wooden boards hand-lettered label mounted on front cover scuffed some loss to wear rubbing splitting to covers horizontally but sound minor closed tear to inner front pastedowns occasional minor dustsoiling & thumbing still a VG- exemplar. An extraordinary album of intimately inked and coloured paintings on paper by the famed Qing Dynasty painter with each leaf inscribed by the artist with a couplet poem and with two seals. One shows a Chinese scholar and young boy or novice leaning into the wind with the couplet “Having endured the weather welcoming the colour of Autum; Together with ice and frost proud of one’s years.†Another with a fisherman seated on a mat his hat hung over the creel and holding the fishing rod ending with “preserve in brush and tongue and catch a giant turtle.†One shows an apparently drunk official sprawled on cushions surrounded by vases and ceramic ware entitled “How can Little Cao endure the tyranny of Princess Hu†One painting in the series draws from a couplet that appears often in ancient Chinese poetry anthologies and even a poetry manual depicted with well-dressed bearded official facing a stooped elder stating “Asked what is the Zen mind there is nothing to say; White clouds ceaselessly fly in the blue sky.â€The seventh painting in the album illustrates two finely dressed individuals with one bearing a short sword strapped to his back and the other holding a speckled deer sporting a riding blanket and the couplet version: 霜冷玄猿ä¾è—¥ç¶ which does appear in such early anthologies as A New Collection of Entertainment Collections 應酬彙é¸æ–°é›† 尺牘 帖å¼. The final painting in the album appears to be another version of Huang Shen’s scroll painting in the Taipei Palace Museum entitled “Bo Le judges horses†清黃慎畫伯樂相馬圖軸. The painting depicts a similarly dressed Chinese hostler with different headgear with emphasis on the pair of horses and alternate hat between the two. The version in this album allowing more horizontal space features an additional horse with much finer definition and no large overhanging tree. The couplet in both reads “Two fine steeds already led by master equestrian Wang Liang; They shall bee Bo Le’s approval at a glance. Huang Shen’s 1687-1772 painting style paralleled his calligraphy often with a similar fluidity and organic flow to the figures and objects. Born originally in Ninghua Fujian Province he began his training under Shangguan Zhou and after moving to Yangzhou in 1724 to make his living as a painter he developed a style matching the tastes of his clients. He eventually became known as a figure painter and as one of the Eight Eccentrics from Yangzhou local artists known for their unorthodox painting style. Although his individual scrolls appear in the market on a consistent basis his albums such as this one are quite scarce. Huang Shen, é»„ç››ä¹‹å° hardcover
1700L1ABDB3KUTB6Denmark 1700. Collection of four paintings oil on paper or paperboard two measuring 8 x 5.5 cm frame 10.5 x 7.5 cm and two measuring 8.5 x 5.5 cm frame 10 x 7 cm all with a gilt wooden frame. Two sets of two miniature paintings the individual sets painted in matching style and set in matching frames with the two slightly larger frames painted to match the two smaller ones.Ad 1: Portrait of a 16th-century woman possibly Anne of Denmark 1532-1585 wearing a red feathered cap with her hair decorated with pearls a pearl earring a small pleated ruff and a low-necked black bodice with pearls.Ad 2: Portrait of a man with a drooping moustache in oriental costume. He wears a white turban decorated with a rooster a pearl earring and a gown with a large fur collar. The collar is set with gemstones on which hang insignia's of a crescent moon with the points down above three stars.Ad 3: Portrait of a 17th-century man wearing a broad-brimmed hat with a red feather a pearl earring and a leopard fur collar.Ad 4: Portrait of a man with a thick moustache wearing a pearl earring and a blue hat and oriental coat lined with lynx fur. Provenance: Manor House in Jutland. With an inscription at the back of ad 1 "Claude George Gew Anne 1738" and wax seals on the backs of ads 1 2 and 3. Ad 4 with a 19th-century ticket "95". The top layer of ad 3 slightly damaged at the top right revealing part of the red underpainting; otherwise an interesting set in good condition. ABE CAT Costumes & Uniforms unknown
1821229079Edinburgh: Arch. Constable 1821. Vignette title -page drawn by A. Nasmyth Engraved by W. H. Lizars. 10 vols. 16mo. Contemporary full green straight grained morocco gilt spine a.e.g. Fine some internal foxin. Signed M.T.K. Jr. Xmas 1927. Vignette title -page drawn by A. Nasmyth Engraved by W. H. Lizars. 10 vols. 16mo. Each volume with a fine early fore-edge painting of a Scottish scene identified in an old hand in block letters on the ffep.<br /> Volume I : Berwick-on-Tweed<br /> Volume II : Falkland Palace<br /> Volume III : Edinburgh Castle<br /> Volume IV : Barnborough Castle<br /> Volume V : Hollyrood Palace Edinburgh<br /> Volume VI : Norham The Castle and The Cross<br /> Volume VII: Stirling Castle<br /> Volume VIII: Barnard Castle<br /> Volume IX : Stirling Bridge and Castle<br /> Volume X : Abbotsford. Arch. Constable unknown
Banai, Nuit & Julian MyerIn Pristine Condition. unknown
190730029HBDJ 1907 1ST LIMITED EDITION of 1000 copies Stated on Last PG NF/NEAR FINE First Quarto Photogravure Edition .Limited Edition of 1000 copies printed on Arches handmade paper. Book Condition: Very Good PAGES EDGES ARE UNTRIMMED .IN PLAIN BROWN DUSTJACKET WITH TITLE & AUTHOR IS BLACK WITH RED DECORATION publishers SLIPCASE OPEN AT BOTH ENDS Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good Gilt top. In original dust jacket and OPEN END slipcase. Lightest wear only to volume and dust jacket. Slipcase in good- condition. Very Scarce. 8 1/4 X 10 1/4 IN. narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe & Philosophy of Composition an essay written by Poe that elucidates a theory about how good writers write when they write well. RAVEN often noted for its musicality stylized language and supernatural atmosphere. Philosophy of Composition" an essay written by Poe that elucidates a theory about how good writers write when they write well.<br /> PAUL ELDER SAN FRANCISCO NEW YORK PRINTED On Arches Handmade Paper hardcover
187027211Canton: Youqua Studio 1870. Silk covered boards. Very good overall. 24 large and intricate paintings of Chinese nobility dressed in their finery. This album bears the red stamp with border for "Youqua Painter Old Street No. 34" affixed to the inside cover. <br /> <br /> Leaves mounted with pale turquoise silk ribbon to paper leaves. The album size 33.2 x 24.8cm 13 x 9 3/4" and stands as a quarto volume. Bound in dark blue silk with medallions in red gold and green trellis design. The binding is cracked on the spine but holding rubbed edges and corners with the remants of silk ties. While some plates have some damage around the edge all the coats and gowns are in fine condition and brilliant full color.<br /> A red stamp with border for "Youqua Painter Old Street No. 34" affixed to the inside cover. Western binding opening from the right. Youqua Studio unknown
Ohrt, Karsten, edIn Pristine Condition. unknown
188759925Cranbrook Kent & London: Lt. Col. Charles William Fothergill R.A. 1887-1897. Oblong 4to. 10 x 8 x 1.75 in. 2 52 1 leaves numbered in pencil manuscript including manuscript index leaf listing all the paintings within excluding the frontisp. & rear pastedown watercolour paintings. With 55 paintings with most sized from 5.5 x 4.5 in. up to 7.5 x 5.5 in. all w/ neatly penciled manuscript borders most w/ annotations below and nearly all paintings signed many dated 2 smaller are mounted on leaf 25 of the Scottish Highlands most are watercolours with graphite underdrawing a few are graphite sketches w/ watercolour highlights and elements added. Contemporary black half-diced-calf over gray-brown pebbled cloth white silk moire endpapers gilt ruling & lettering on spines minor scuffing edgewear minor wear to corners still an exceptionally bright exemplar. This marvelous album of original Victorian watercolours by retired Royal Marine Artillery officer and longtime art instructor at Sandhurst elicit a nearly pastoral sense including nautical themes historic homes inns castles and landscapes. The album opens with a vivid watercolour painting of a decidedly bucolic Virginia Water possibly on the present-day Wentworth Estate with small boat amidst the water and trees and closes with a fine painting of steamship sailing past yachts tacking in the background and storm clouds above. The album begins with Milton’s Cottage at Chalfont St. Giles where he completed Paradise Lost and conceived Paradise Regained during the Plague years and was a popular subject of other British painters including Donald Macleod Joseph Webb and Charles Leaver. Other paintings include those of the Martello Tower at Seaford one of the 103 towers built from Aldeburgh to Suffolk on the coast of Eastbourne in 1803 when Napoleon threatened to cross the channel; Brook Place at Chobham a Dutch-gabled home built by William Beauchamp in 1656 after the original Elizabethan home had burned down in 1648; the HMS Hannibal at Portsmouth warship laid down in 1840 utilized screw propulsion and a 91 gunner commanded in the Crimean War by John Charles Dalrymple Hay -- at the time of this painting it was serving to alleviate overcrowding in the training ship Boscawan. Other nautical themes include No. 8 a view of ships in Portsmouth Harbour with the dockside in the background; No. 9 a sidewheeler steamship with lighters and rock nearby in the Medway off Gravesend; No. 11 a view of tall ships under sail at Fowey off Cornwall and even No. 47 a nicely rendered painting of boats sailing on the Medway with sails in colour and faint outlines of Rochester Castle and nearby Cathedral in the background.Fothergill also painted landscapes such as No. 14 Hindhead HIll Surrey on the main Portsmouth to London road 13 miles southwest of Guildford with Gibbet Hill rising in the background above the surrounding Heath; three beautiful landscapes of the Scottish Highlands No. 48 Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull Scotland in 1897 which would later be purchased in 1911 by Sir Fitzroy Donald Maclean and restored; Beeston Castle above the Cheshire Plain; No. 24 Franks Hall in Horton Kirby Kent Framingham after the property had passed to Vavasour Earle and in its original state; No. 26 the Mitcham Common Windmill one of the few houses ever built on the common and operated as windmill until 1863 when two sails were destroyed as depicted here -- it was later dismantled down to the base in 1905. Other historic places such as the Old White Horse Inn in Edinburgh where during the 1639 rebellion against King Charles I the Presbyterian ministers urged a mob to lay siege preventing the noblemen from escaping except for the Marquis of Montrose. This painting reflects its dilapidated Victorian state rather than the restored 1960’s version visible today. Fothergill 1839-1903 remains an enigma to many of the typical art references for British painters and exhibited three watercolours at the Society of British Artists between 1880 and 1884 including “The Mouth of the Dart†and “Hulks in Portsmouth Harbour†possibly an alternate version of Nos. 17 & 18 in the present album and later exhibited a painting at the Royal Academy in 1900. He received his first commission in the Royal Marine Artillery in 1855 was appointed to serve as instructor in Military Drawing & Surveying at the Royal Military College “Cadets’ College†at Sandhurst in 1868 under command of Adjutant Major W. Patterson and continued to teach there until his retirement. His distinctive signature closely mirrors that of his 1872 marriage certificate to Edith Kathleen Maclean in 1872 daughter of Royal Military College Surgeon Dr. Andrew Maclean 1812-1902 and by the 1891 census the couple parented 7 children and a niece in their busy household in Hammersmith London. See: New Annual Army List Militia List and Indian Civil Service List 1875 p. 92; Hart New Annual Army List Hart’s Anual for 1875 Vol. 36 pp. 115 126; Maritime and Scientific Models Instruments & Art 10th May 2016 Charles Miller Ltd. No. 48. Lt. Col. Charles William Fothergill, R.A., hardcover
8653218. CHINESE PITH PAINTINGS. ALBUM OF 30 FISH ON 12 SHEETS. Album of 12 sheets of pith approximately 19 x 26 cm each mounted onto pages within covers approx. 24.7 x 34.3 cm covered in brocade with ties. A wonderful mid-19th century example of this realistic genre which uses the three dimensionality afforded by the surface of the inner plant pith of the Tetrapanax papyriferum a ginseng relative that grow to the size of a small tree shaved as here into thin sheets and painted with opaque colors. The fish sparkle and the colors glow the fish accuraely depicted in form and color. Pith by its very nature is extremely fragile and larger sheets such as those employed here even more than usually frangible. Thus the completeness of the sheets with almost no lost pigmeted sections is most unusual. The covers are a bit worn though as usual the paintings show occasional cracking and repair but a worthy example of its kind. unknown
30040HARDBACK NO DUSTJACKET 1907 1ST LIMITED EDITION of 1000 copies Stated on Last PG OUTER SPINE BACKSTRIP To Cover SPINE MISSING & HAS BEEN REPLACED BY FORMER OWNER NF-/VG- SOLD AS-IS NO JACKET INTERIOR NICE TIGHT CLEAN First Quarto Photogravure Edition .Limited Edition of 1000 copies printed on Arches handmade paper. PAGES EDGES ARE UNTRIMMED FRONT OF COVER HAS TINY EDGE NICKS WEAR IS BROWN WITH BROWN SUEDE AT SPINE EDGE TITLED IN RAISED GOLD GILT ON FRONT 8 1/4 X 10 1/4 IN. narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe & Philosophy of Composition an essay written by Poe that elucidates a theory about how good writers write when they write well. RAVEN often noted for its musicality stylized language and supernatural atmosphere. Philosophy of Composition" an essay written by Poe that elucidates a theory about how good writers write when they write well.<br /> PAUL ELDER SAN FRANCISCO NEW YORK PRINTED On Arches Handmade Paper hardcover
187027902Canton: SunQua Studio 1870. Silk covered boards. 12 magnificent fish paintings on pith with incredible detail including unusual sparkle paint. Includes Koi eel catfish etc. with multiple fish in each image. Leaves mounted with pale turquoise silk ribbon to paper leaves. Oblong 4to 9 1/4 x 13 1/4" with original ties. Western binding opening from the right. Bound in a green gold blue and red silk woven in a daisy & vine pattern which sometimes appears with a Sunqua stamp. Sunqua was active 1830-1870. Borders on two prints missing one strip. Binding in very good condition. SunQua Studio unknown
14997AB19th century 33 : 22 cm. 8 coloured paintings on stiff paper mounted under passepartout. A set of beautiful Chinese pith paper paintings from the Cantonese School from the 19th Century. All paintings are carefully and detailled elaborated showing all the small details. The beautiful aquatints show courtly scenes: A servant bringing tea to the empress - A servant bringing a flower arrangment to the empress - The Emperor sitting at a table and writting etc. unknown
187027226Canton: SunQua 1870. Silk covered boards. Otherwise very good condition. This album bears the red stamp of Sunqua with border & stars. The nobility include the Emperor and Empress who are followed by the nobility men and their women. The painting is particularly fine with intricate robes and portraits. The National Library of Australia in their collection holds a similar but later rendition of this album where they identify the individual paintings.<br /> <br /> Small folio silk patterned album 14 x 10 1/4" complete with the original silk ties. The green silk is decorated in daisy & vine floral pattern which is typical of many SunQua albums. Leaves mounted with pale turquoise silk ribbon to paper leaves with some images floating and no longer within the borders. There are some cracks in the pith paintings none however affecting the image themselves. Western binding opening from the right lightly rubbed on corners & foredge very good overall. SunQua unknown
18572111902160603014Published by Eikyudo 1857. Soft Cover. Fine. Size: 12x17.7 cm Published by Eikyudo paperback
1972052333Little Brown 1972. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Fine/Fine. 89 Pp. Black Cloth Gilt. First Printing Indicated. Fine In Fine Price-Clipped Dust Jacket. Inscribed By Bonestell To Jpl Astronomer Ray L. Newburn "With Best Wishes"; Newburn Shared Information And Advice With Bonestel Newburn Is Specifically Cited In The Acknowledgments And They Were Friends For Many Years. <br/> <br/> Little, Brown hardcover
1843ST20616London: Tilt and Bogue 1843. 207 x 135 mm. 8 1/8 x 5 5/8". Two volumes. With a memoir and critical remarks by James Montgomery. <br/> Pleasing contemporary burgundy pebble-grain morocco gilt covers with graceful frame of cresting roll accented with lancets large lyre centerpiece with leafy flourishes and small birds raised bands spine compartments densely gilt gilt lettering gilt turn-ins all edges gilt. WITH LOVELY FORE-EDGE PAINTINGS BY THE "DOVER PAINTER" one of Milton's cottage at Chalfont and the other of St. Giles Church Cripplegate. With decorative engraved initials and 95 engraved vignettes after drawings by William Harvey. Weber "Annotated Dictionary of Fore-edge Painting Artists & Binders" pp. 98-103. Muir "Victorian Illustrated Books" p. 28. Spines gently and evenly sunned joints and extremities a little rubbed one margin with faint paint trail from fore-edge painter's brush other trivial imperfections but A VERY APPEALING COPY internally clean and fresh in solid bindings with bright gilt and the fore-edge paintings especially well preserved.<br/> <br/> This copy of Milton's collected poems is very attractively illustrated inside and out with an extremely skillful painting by a famous artist adorning each of the fore edges. Designed by William Harvey 1796-1866 who Muir tells us was "the longest lived and most important of Bewick's pupils" the engravings here range from charming figural initials to writhing residents of Hell in their smoky abyss to gentle-faced angels bathed in beams of light. The fore-edge paintings are recognizable as the work of the so-called "Dover Painter" the name given by Jeff Weber to the artist who produced very high quality painted fore edges in the 1920s and 1930s for the famous London bookseller Marks & Company. These two depict Milton's cottage and his final resting place St. Giles' Church in London. The cottage is depicted in an idyllic scene of Milton's time with aproned peasants milling about the ivy-covered building under the shade of the trees that frame the scene. The other painting shows a lively urban street: the church's venerable structure is flanked by bustling shops visited by gentlemen with fashionable canes while the smoke from the chimneys trails upward into the cloudy sky. These clouds and the trees surrounding the cottage are particularly demonstrative of our artist's distinctive style of applying dabs of paint a technique that almost suggests a quasi-pointillism. Taken together the substantial content lovely contemporary red morocco bindings and finely executed and well-preserved fore-edge paintings combine to make up a set of considerably seductive appeal. Tilt and Bogue unknown
19322092902138301036Not Available 1932. Soft Cover. Fine. The book is in fine condition. Not Available paperback
185027212Canton 1850. Silk covered hard boards. Fine condition. An album on pith paper with twelve colorful paintings of Chinese occupations the artisans shown in pairs. Trades include gem cutting forging carpentry fabric weaving & dying pottery and shoe making - some trades not identifiable. No artist or studio is recorded. <br /> Paintings in fine condition rimmed with light blue silk margins. One image cracked at lower right corner not affecting the image. Oblong 8vo violet silk covers 11 3/4 x 8 1/2" are worn at corners with green ties present. unknown
1870279111870. Finely executed portraits of women and their musical instruments larger and more detailed than many other albums. From the school of Youqua. The portraits have no background painting. 8 images mounted with dark turquoise border silk some with cracks; 3 images are mounted on card at a later date. All images loose in papered boards which open Western style and are disbound and very rubbed. Most images are in lovely and larger than most. Besides some small cracks they are in very good condition. 4to 11 1/2 x 8 unknown
190218922AB1902. London Bell 1902. 29 : 22 cm. XV 176 pages 57 plates with many illustrations and some illustrations in the text. Full brown morocco on 5 raised bands spine and board outstandingly decorated with floral gilt designes title in gold on spine and on each board in the middle top edge gilt triple gilt dentelles inside in the corner gilt floral decorationbordeaux-red fly leaves. A superb binding excellent preserved in a slipcase.- One of 360 copies only copy in this wonderful binding. - One plate loose. - From the Library of Max Safron with his Exlibris in the inner fron board another exlibris in the inner back board. hardcover
189974523Me. G. Coulin & Me. G. Duchesne Commissaires-Priseurs. As New. 1899. Hardcover. FREE UPGRADE to Courier/Priority Shipping Upon Request - IN STOCK AND IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT - AS NEW THE TEXT BLOCK IS PRISTINE CLEAN UNMARKED AND IN EXCELLENT CONDITION - - Text in French. Paintings & watercolors catalogue includes an introductory essay by G. La Fenestre and describes 405 works some of which are illustrated. Among the artists represented are Isabey Japy Th. Rousseau Pils Ziem Delacroix & Cazin. The catalogue on antiquities describes 84 items including bronzes terra cotta pieces and ancient Greek Roman and Etruscan pottery. It also includes a number of black and white illustrations. -- with a bonus offer-- . Me. G. Coulin & Me. G. Duchesne, Commissaires-Priseurs hardcover
1797ST19344London: Printed by T. Gillet for Longman et al. 1797. 265 x 163 mm. 10 3/8 x 6 3/8". Two volumes. <br/> Contemporary green straight-grain morocco covers with double gilt fillet border raised bands gilt titling turn-ins with decorative gilt roll marbled endpapers all edge gilt inexpert older repairs to joints. EACH VOLUME WITH RICHLY DETAILED FORE-EDGE PAINTING that on volume I depicting the old Tabard Inn Southwark and that on volume II showing Furnival's Inn Holborn. Housed in a fleece-lined double-compartment slipcase. Title pages with engraved vignette. Front flyleaf of each volume with ink ownership inscription of Mary Erskine dated 1803 noting it was a wedding gift from her cousin Lord Wodehouse and with later ink presentation inscription to "Walter and Katherine" on their 13th wedding anniversary 17 February 1931 from "their mother Kate Goodrich." Spines faded to brown as usual with green morocco and with half a dozen minor abrasions joints somewhat worn front joint of vol. II with four-inch crack at head but the bindings entirely solid the contents clean and fresh with only insignificant imperfections and the fore-edge paintings very well-preserved.<br/> <br/> This is a charming pair of large fore-edge paintings depicting two historic London inns each full of detail and painted on text blocks that fan out beautifully with very little effort. The text here is a late 18th century edition of a controversial and short-lived periodical known as "The Guardian" spearheaded by writer and politician Richard Steele who also founded "The Tatler" and "The Spectator". "The Guardian" as DNB relates ran from 12 March to 1 October 1713 and "is chiefly remembered for the quality of the contributors on whom Steele drew including Edward Young George Berkeley Alexander Pope and of course Joseph Addison." The two inns depicted in the fore-edge paintings here also have literary credentials: the Tabard Inn in Southwark was chosen by Chaucer as the starting point for the "Canterbury Tales" and Furnival's Inn in Holborn will be known to Dickens enthusiasts as the place where he began writing "The Pickwick Papers." The original Tabard Inn burned down in the Great Fire but was immediately rebuilt and became a popular stopping point for stagecoaches as depicted in the present painting. The dirt road in front of the inn is dominated by a large covered wagon and team of horses with a pair of men gesturing in the foreground and others idling nearby; Furnival's Inn by contrast was an Inn of the Chancery and enjoyed much tidier surroundings: the streets in the fore-edge painting here are cobbled the ladies and gentlemen are well dressed and even the rubbish has been neatly piled to one side. Both paintings date from the late 19th century and are based on engravings found in "Old and New London" by George Walter Thornbury ca. 1880. Though unsigned they are extremely well done and offer wonderful views of London haunts from both sides of the Thames. Printed by T. Gillet for Longman et al. unknown
65895China c.1870. 8vo. 20 x 15 cm. Album of contemporary patterned cloth covered boards with 12 leaves of finely coloured illustrations on pith paper each secured with blue silk border. 4 of the images with just minimal cracking. Pith came into use for painting to satisfy the increasing demand for small inexpensive and easily transported souvenirs following the massive growth in the China Trade in the first half of the nineteenth century. Paintings in oils on board and canvas were costly and difficult to carry home. Earlier and more prestigious export water-colours had often been on a larger scale and painted on fine Chinese paper or on paper imported from Europe. The albums of pith paintings and later the little glass-fronted boxes were inexpensive light easy to pack and gave the pictures some protection on the long voyage home. Because many were sold in albums and hence protected from the light they retain their bright colours to this day. Pith comes from the central column of spongy cellular tissue in the stem of a small tree called Tetrapanax Papyrifera native to south-west China. It has had a variety of some going back many centuries. At the imperial court both men and women wore coloured flowers made from pith in their hair. For use in painting it is cut by hand with a knife into thin sheets from short lengths of the spongy tissue. Cutting is highly skilled and the constraints of the process mean that the finished sheets for painting seldom if ever measure more than about 30cms by 20cms. The sheets are dried trimmed and used for painting without any further processing. Because of the nature of pith and its cellular structure the gouache used by the Chinese sat on the surface and produced a bright and even sparkling effect. Very fine detail could be achieved but pith did not lend itself to the flat wash of colour favoured for European watercolours. These albums are difficult to date specifically as they are seldom signed and never actually dated. They are known to have been produced from the 1830s through to the 1870s [China, c.1870] hardcover
