Colour plate & aquatint
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ROBERTS, David.
Egypt & Nubia, from Drawings Made on the Spot … 1846–49
£165,000
First edition in the preferred deluxe coloured format of "one of the most important and elaborate ventures of nineteenth-century publishing, and it was the apotheosis of the tinted...
3 volumes, large folio (595 × 430 mm). Contemporary blue hard-grain half morocco on matching pebble-grained cloth, title gilt to spines, spines gilt in... Read more
GOULD, John.
The Mammals of Australia. 1863
£150,000
First edition, together with the Monograph on Kangaroos. Gould's interest in Australia was piqued by specimens sent back by his wife's brothers who had settled there. He soon...
3 volumes folio (555 × 365 mm). Contemporary green half morocco on matching pebble-grained boards by Blunson & Co., spines divided into in seven compartments with... Read more
GOULD, John.
The Birds of Great Britain. [1862-]1873
£85,000
First edition. A fine copy of the work of which Gould was most proud, here with a first issue of the Snowy Owl plate. This work is "the most sumptuous and costly of British bird...
5 volumes, folio (580 × 350 mm). Finely bound by Tuckett (binder to the Queen) in contemporary full green morocco, spines elaborately gilt in compartments, raised... Read more
SALT, Henry.
Twenty-Four Views in St. Helena, the Cape, India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt. 1809
£50,000
First edition, with plates watermarked 1824. Having failed in his original ambition to be a portrait painter, Salt set out on an eastern tour in June 1802 as secretary and...
Large folio (751 × 534 mm). Original marbled boards, with red morocco patch title label to the upper, rebacked and recornered in red morocco to style, title gilt... Read more
[PHILLIP, Arthur]
The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay; 1789
£45,000
First edition of this foundation work on Australia as a European colony, the official account of the voyage of the First Fleet to Botany Bay and the settlement of Australia, based on...
Quarto (280 × 215 mm). Contemporary tree calf, professionally rebacked to style and recornered, red morocco label, flat spine, compartments with foliate arabesque... Read more
DODWELL, Edward.
Views in Greece, from drawings ... 1821
£37,500
First edition of one of the most spectacular aquatint travel books of its era, with good quality plates and excellent colouring; those engraved and coloured by Havell in particular...
Folio. Six parts, as issued, in original buff wrappers, green roan spines, titles printed to front wrapper, pasted errata slip on rear wrapper of part 5. Housed in a... Read more
LAFOSSE, Philippe Étienne.
Cours d'Hippiatrique, ou Traité Complet de la Médecin des Chevaux, 1772
£20,000
First edition of this celebrated work of animal anatomy. Lafosse had considerable anatomical skill, coupled with a profound knowledge of horses and equitation, and his work ranks...
Folio (503 × 335 mm), in three parts. Contemporary calf, skilfully rebacked to style with gilt spine retaining old morocco label, marbled endpapers, edges stained... Read more
MCKENNEY, Thomas Loraine, & James Hall.
History of the Indian Tribes of North America, 1854
£18,750
Second octavo edition. A highly successful publication running to five impressions within the first few years of publication. The same plates were used for all the early editions of...
3 volumes, octavo (260 × 164 mm) original red hard-grain morocco, raised bands to the spine, title gilt direct to the spine, compartments gilt, elaborate gilt... Read more
BROOKSHAW, George.
Pomona Britannica, or a collection of the most esteemed fruits at present cultivated in Great Britain; 1817
£17,500
Second edition, in smaller format than the first, of the finest English work on fruit; "one of the finest colour-plate books in existence" (Prideaux); this copy with an additional...
Large quarto. Late 19th-century green half morocco, spine with raised bands decoratively gilt, gilt lettered in two compartments, double gilt rules, gilt border at... Read more
REPTON, Humphry.
Fragments on the theory and practice of Landscape Gardening. 1816
£17,500
First edition of Repton's last treatise, this copy from the library at High Legh, Cheshire. The Legh family had held substantial property in the Cheshire area since the time of...
Large quarto (339 × 276 mm). Near-contemporary red half morocco, spine with gilt devices between raised bands, gilt-lettered direct in second compartment, pink... Read more
SERRES, Dominick, R.A. & John Thomas
Liber Nauticus, and Instructor in the Art of Marine Drawing. 1805-6
£16,500
First edition. An excellent copy of probably the grandest English naval aquatint book, eight of the plates here being coloured, in Abbey's copy only plate XVII was coloured. Dominick...
2 parts in 1 volume, folio (475 × 330 mm). Recently bound to style in eighteenth-century half diced russia, marbled boards, matching russia patch label with gilt... Read more
HOLBEIN, Hans, the younger.
Imitations of Original Drawings by Hans Holbein, 1792-1800
£15,000
First edition, "surely the finest early example of English colour printing" (Ray). These plates by various engravers after Bartolozzi's copies of Holbein's originals were issued in...
Folio (540 × 403 mm). Contemporary calf, title gilt directly to the spine, flat bands with gilt roundel and Greek key rolls, compartments gilt with floral and... Read more
JENKINS, James.
The Naval Achievements of Great Britain. From the Year 1793 to 1817. [after 1817]
£12,500
An extremely handsome copy of this magnificent publication, illustrating the high-water mark of Britain's maritime hegemony, and the apogee of the coloured aquatint. As Roger Quarm,...
Folio (358 × 285 mm). Twentieth-century royal blue crushed morocco by Birdsall, title gilt to spine, raised bands, double gilt ruled panels to the compartments,... Read more
JENKINS, James.
The Naval Achievements of Great Britain. 1817
£12,500
First Edition, First Issue, with uncoloured title-page vignette and plates watermarked no later than 1816. This magnificent publication, illustrating the high-water mark of Britain's...
Folio (321 × 262 mm). Recently rebound in green half morocco by J. May of London, spine richly gilt, side-panels decorated in blind, marbled endpapers, old... Read more
![A History of the University of Oxford, its Colleges, Halls, and Public Buildings; [together with:] A History of the University of Cambridge, Its Colleges, Halls, and Public Buildings.](/content/store/products/522/2/35118.jpg)
(ACKERMANN, Rudolph)
A History of the University of Oxford, its Colleges, Halls, and Public Buildings; [together with:] A History of the University of Cambridge, Its Colleges, Halls, and Public Buildings. 1814 & 1815
£12,500
'These two books are among the finest ever executed. A. Pugin, F. Nash, F. Mackenzie and W. Westall were associated in the drawings, which are worthy even of the splendid...
[Oxford] 2 volumes, large quarto (13 1/4 x 10 13/16 inches; 336 x 275 mm.), pp. xiv + [4] + xxv + [1] blank + 275 + [1] blank + [6] index; [4] + 262 + [6] index.... Read more
LAMB, Charles.
Beauty and The Beast [c. 1811]
£12,500
First edition, the "surprize" issue (page 7, line 11). The title is printed on the front wrapper; the back wrapper has the cut depicting a scene from Homer, with the printed...
Sextodecimo (115 x 96 mm), pp. 32. Brown crushed morocco gilt extra by Sangorski and Sutcliffe (signed on lower rear turn-in), gilt edges; original blue printed... Read more
DANIELL, Thomas & William.
A Picturesque Voyage to India; by the way of China. 1810
£10,000
First edition. Originally issued in ten parts, "the aquatints of India by Thomas and William Daniell have been continuously popular ever since their publication between 1795 and 1810...
Folio (348 × 250 mm). Nineteenth-century half calf on marbled boards, flat spine elaborately gilt in compartments, marbled edges and endpapers, neatly rebacked... Read more
GRAY, Henry.
Anatomy descriptive and surgical. 1858
£9,750
First edition of the medical text which has been more widely used by successive generations of medical students and doctors than any other. Publisher's presentation copy to Frederick...
Royal octavo. Original bead-grain brown cloth, neatly rebacked with original spine laid down, brick-red endpapers. Oatmeal cloth folding case. Paper book label "GOM"... Read more
MEARES, John.
Voyages Made in the Years 1788 and 1789, from China to the North West Coast of America. 1790
£8,750
First edition, with the extra plate of the Philippines which Streeter notes as missing in most copies. John Meares (?1756–1809) "was sent out in 1786 from Calcutta, by a group...
Large quarto (287 × 230 mm). Contemporary tree calf, skilfully rebacked and relined, smooth spine gilt in compartments, red morocco label, edges sprinkled blue.... Read more
LEAR, Edward.
Views in the Seven Ionian Islands. 1863
£8,750
First edition. In 1854 Lear's close friend Franklin Lushington had been appointed judge at the supreme court of justice on Corfu, "and so Lear decided to join him and make a winter...
Folio. Original green pebble-grained cloth, rebacked, title gilt to the upper board and the spine, blind panelling to both boards. Lithographic title page with... Read more
AUDUBON, John James, & John Bachman.
The Quadrupeds of North America. 1870
£8,750
Final edition. Having made his reputation with "The Birds of America", Audubon began an equally imposing project "The Quadrupeds of North America". Audubon travelled the entirety of...
3 volumes, octavo. Publisher's deluxe binding of brown full morocco, blind stamped decoration to spines, titles to spines gilt, blind stamped rules and decoration to... Read more
MAYER, Luigi.
Vues En Égypte, 1802
£8,500
The aquatint plates, engraved by and under the direction of Thomas Milton after original drawings by Luigi Mayer, include views of the Egyptian pyramids at Gizah, the Clossal Sphinx,...
3 volumes in one. Folio, with 96 hand coloured aquatints (48 in vol.I; 24 in vol.II; 24 in vol. III), pp. 109; 40; 47. 19th-century binding of half blue calf, gilt... Read more
RALFE, James.
The Naval Chronology of Great Britain; 1820
£8,000
First edition in book form, with cancel leaf "b" correctly bound in volume I, rather than misbound at front of volume III. Originally issued in 12 parts. Superb series of plates,...
3 volumes octavo (244 × 157 mm) Dark brown half morocco on green linen boards by R.H. Porter, title gilt direct to the spine, raised bands with single gilt rule,... Read more
(ACKERMANN, Rudolph)
The Microcosm of London [1808–10]
£7,500
First edition, early issue with a number of the plates in their first state. The plates are from drawings by Thomas Rowlandson (1756–1827) and Augustus Pugin (1762–1832)....
3 volumes, quarto (332 × 265 mm). Contemporary brown calf rebacked, spines gilt in compartments, green and red morocco labels, floral roll and cornerpieces to... Read more
PYNE, W. H.
The History of the Royal Residences 1819
£7,500
First Edition of the finest contemporary record of the royal residences in a splendid series of aquatints. Ours is a large copy measuring 13.5 x 10.75 inches (Abbey's copy was uncut...
3 volumes, folio. Early Victorian black full morocco, with gilt titles, gilt decoration and raised bands on spine, elaborate gilt borders to boards, gilt and... Read more
