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One of Only "A Few" Large Paper Copies
Earliest Issue with the "Twickenham Blotch"
WESTALL (William) and Samuel OWEN. Picturesque Tour of the Thames. Illustrated by Twenty-Four Coloured Views, a Map, and Vignettes, from Original Drawings Taken on the Spot by William Westall and Samuel Owen. London: R. Ackermann, 1828.
Large Paper Copy. First edition, first issue plates (with two spots of discoloration in the sky on the Twickenham plate). Folio (15 3/8 x 12 in; 390 x 304 mm). Twenty-four hand-colored aquatint plates with tissue guards, two aquatint vignettes, and double-page engraved map laid down on linen.
Elegantly bound by Zaehnsdorf (c. late 1960s, stamp-signed) in full crimson crushed morocco with single fillet, gilt rolled edges. Broad and richly decorated dentelles. Raised bands with gilt-roll. Compartments with gilt-ruled frame. All edges gilt. Engraved map has had to vertical tears very neatly and professionally repaired. There is a tiny amount of offsetting onto the verso of some plates from the opposite text page. Otherwise an internally pristine copy, very scarce in the large paper format.
ABPC reports only two Large Paper Copies at auction within the last fifty years, in 1962 and 1992. When another Large Paper Copy will materialize is anybody's guess.
"Issued in 6 monthy parts in paper wrappers, and on completion in volume form... in boards. A few copies were done on large paper" (Tooley).
"The scenery of the river Thames afforded material for several books, all very attractive in their different ways. Perhaps the finest is the Picturesque Tour of the River Thames [our emphasis],.. the joint-production of W. Westall, who executed nineteen plates, and S. Owen, who is responsible for two vignettes and five plates, showing the open part of the Thames from Southwark to Sheerness. Like so many of Ackermann's publications the book appeared in instalments, and was complete in six monthly parts Fifteen of the engravings are by R.G. Reeve, the rest being by C. Bentley, J. Bailey, and J. Fielding. Two tints are used for the printing, notably a bright blue for the sky The vignettes are very beautiful, and show how especially suitable aquatint is for the purpose." (Prideaux).
Tooley 503. Abbey, Scenery 435. Prideaux pp. 268-269.
Price: $11,500
(To order this item, or for more information, please call 818-222-4103)
