A History of the Art of Engraving in Mezzotinto

Winchester: Printer by J. Robbins. 1786.

First edition. 8vo in 4s. 182x120mm. pp. [4], 100, [12]. Contemporary calf, spine decorated in gilt and with red morocco label, lettered in gilt. Upper joint cracked and split at head and foot. Internally very good but with some browning and foxing. Front free endpaper has an inscription by Chelsum in Latin apparently to a student ("alumnus") who had been awarded his degree of Doctor of Divinity. Overall a nice copy of an important and, according to the ODNB, "erudite" book on engraving in mezzotint, an art in which, Chelsum claimed, the English were supreme. Rare in commerce, the last copy appeared at auction in 2012.
James Chelsum (1738-1801) was a scholar, priest and collector of prints. In addition to this book on mezzotints, he also wrote a critique of Gibbon's attack on Christianity in Decline and Fall, arguing that this work was "a subtle poison of the most dangerous tendency".