Picturesque Tour Through the Isle of Wight, A
London: Printed for the Proprietor by Howlett and Brimmer, 1825. Item #02614
“A Regency Color-Plate Tour of the Isle of Wight”
RAYE, Charles. A Picturesque Tour Through the Isle of Wight. Illustrated by Numerous Views. London: Printed for the Proprietor by Howlett and Brimmer, 1825.
First edition. Oblong quarto (7 7/8 x 10 1/8 in; 200 x 256 mm). [52] pp. Twenty-four hand-colored aquatint engravings with interleaves.
Contemporary quarter crimson straight-grained morocco over gray boards with gilt lettered and bordered crimson morocco title label. Gilt-ruled spine with gilt-lettered black morocco label. With the bookplate of Sir Manson M. Beeton. Original printed title label to front paste-down endpaper, catalog note to front free-endpaper. Spine head and inner hinges neatly strengthened, otherwise a very fine copy.
A handsome Regency color-plate tour devoted to the Isle of Wight at the height of its popularity as a picturesque and fashionable destination. Raye’s views encompass the island’s principal scenic and antiquarian attractions - coastal formations, villages, churches, castles, and celebrated natural features - rendered with clarity and charm in aquatint and hand color.
Of particular note is plate no. 8, Sand Rock near Niton, which is here fully and vividly hand-colored. This plate is frequently encountered plain, including in the Abbey collection and in several institutional copies, and its coloring here materially enhances both the visual impact and desirability of the book.
Copies of A Picturesque Tour Through the Isle of Wight in contemporary morocco bindings and with complete, well-colored plates are increasingly uncommon. With its strong condition, early provenance, and unusually fine coloring, this example represents an especially attractive survival of a classic English topographical color-plate book.
Plate List:
View of the Isle of Wight from Portsmouth Harbour - Village of Carisbrooke - Carisbrooke Castle - Entrance to Carisbrooke Castle - View of the needles from Chale Bay - Rocks near Chale Bay - Village of Niton - Sand Rock near Niton - Black Gang Chine - View from the top of Black Gang Chine - St. Laurence's Church - Undercliff near Mirables - Bonn Church - View near Luccombe Chine - Ventnor Cove - Dunnose - View at Shanklin - Shanklin Church - Shanklin Chine - Culver Cliffs from Sandham Bay - Distant View of Culver Cliffs - Cowes Castle --View of Spithead from Ryde - Freshwater Cave.
Abbey, Scenery 349; Tooley 394; Prideaux, p. 349.
Price: $2,850.00