A History of the University of Oxford
London: R. Ackermann, 1814. Item #06708
One of the Finest Copies We Have Seen in More Than Sixty Years
Uncut Throughout in a Magnificent Contemporary Binding on Elephant Wove Paper
With the first-issue list of plates before the addition of the thirty-three later-issued Founders portraits
ACKERMANN, Rudolph. A History of the University of Oxford. Its Colleges, Halls, and Public Buildings. London: R. Ackermann, 1814.
First edition, printed on elephant wove paper, with the first issue list of plates without the Founders.
Two large quarto volumes (14 x 11 1/2 inches; 355 x 292 mm.). [i-vii], viii-xiv, [2], xxv, [1, blank], 275, [1, blank], [6, index]; [iv], 262, [6, index] pp. With the list of subscribers, dedication to Lord Grenville, and the uncolored engraved portrait of Lord Grenville. Illustrated with eighty-one plates, including the celebrated seventeen costume plates, all beautifully hand-colored aquatints or stipple engravings by Bluck, Stadler, Hill, and others after Pugin, Westall, Mackenzie, and their distinguished contemporaries.
Ten plates bear the watermark J. Whatman 1812; plate 17 is inexplicably watermarked J. Whatman 1816. All of Tooley's key point plates are present in the second states, with the exception of plate 34, which remains in the earlier first state.
The plates are exceptionally bright and clean, with remarkably rich contemporary hand-coloring. There is the usual offsetting from plates onto facing text leaves, but notably none from the text onto the plates themselves. All but five plates retain their original tissue guards. A few text leaves show occasional light foxing or staining. Small old stain in the gutter between plates 67 and 68. Overall an unusually fresh and handsome copy.
Bound in superb contemporary (ca. 1816) quarter crimson straight-grain morocco over marbled boards, the spines divided into compartments by five shallow raised bands, elaborately tooled and lettered in gilt, with matching marbled endpapers. Fore and lower edges entirely uncut, preserving the original dimensions of the small-paper issue. Armorial bookplate of Robert Jasper More ("Oxonian") on the front pastedowns.
The binding is itself a work of art - elegant, restrained, and perfectly suited to one of the grandest color-plate books of the Regency period.
What elevates this set far beyond the ordinary is its extraordinary state of preservation. In more than sixty years of handling Ackermann's great Oxford, we cannot recall another copy that remains entirely uncut throughout while preserved in so handsome and substantial a contemporary binding. Most surviving examples were heavily trimmed by nineteenth-century binders; here the generous margins and full elephant-paper dimensions survive intact, allowing the plates to be appreciated exactly as originally issued. The result is a copy of exceptional presence and authority.
Particularly noteworthy is the absence of the thirty-three celebrated "Founders" plates, a feature that identifies this set as one of the earliest obtainable issues. These plates - depicting the founders of several Oxford colleges - were not included in the original publication as issued in 1814, but were engraved and distributed separately in 1815 following requests from subscribers. As a result, they are lacking in the earliest copies and appear only in later-issued or subsequently completed sets. Their absence here is therefore not a defect but an important indication of priority, preserving the work substantially as it was first received by its earliest subscribers before the later addition of the founder portraits.
Ackermann's History of Oxford ranks among the supreme achievements of the English color-plate book. The project brought together the finest architectural draughtsmen and aquatint engravers of the age, including Augustus Charles Pugin, Frederick Mackenzie, William Westall, John Bluck, J. C. Stadler, F. C. Lewis, and members of the Havell family. Their combined talents produced a visual monument to Oxford unrivaled in the annals of British topographical publishing.
As Prideaux famously observed: "These two books [the Histories of Oxford and Cambridge] are among the finest ever executed... The result was the production of plates of unequalled merit in their particular line."
The work documents every aspect of the ancient university at the height of the Regency era - its colleges, halls, chapels, libraries, quadrangles, and ceremonial traditions - while the celebrated costume plates provide an incomparable record of academic dress. Few publications have so successfully united architectural grandeur, historical scholarship, and the highest standards of aquatint engraving.
The provenance is equally appropriate. Robert Jasper More (1836–1903), scholar of Balliol College, Oxford, barrister, landowner, and Member of Parliament, was among the University's distinguished nineteenth-century alumni. His ownership adds a particularly appealing association to this monumental celebration of Oxford's history and traditions.
A copy of the utmost rarity in this state - fully uncut, magnificently hand-colored, and preserved in an exceptionally handsome contemporary binding. Quite simply one of the most desirable copies imaginable of Ackermann's masterpiece.
References: Abbey, Scenery, 278; Tooley 5; Prideaux, pp. 125–126.
Price: $8,500.00