G.L.M. Esq [MEASON, Gilbert Laing]
On the Landscape Architecture of the Great Painters of Italy
£850
London: Printed at C. Hullmandel's Lithographic Establishment. 1828.
First edition, one of 150 copies. Large 4to 288x225mm. pp. [10], 147, [1 errata], 4pp adverts. 55 lithographed plates. Original green cloth, red morocco label to spine, lettered in gilt. Corners worn, spine somewhat faded and with tears to head and foot. Stain on lower cover. Internally very good with some slight spotting and foxing in places. The plates are in particularly good condition.
The text provides a selective study of various aspects of architecture - "Defensive architecture", "Architecture of the Middle Ages" and "Domestic Architecture of England". The plates, however, are all taken from the great Italian landscape painters (Claude and Poussin are treated as honorary Italians for these purposes) and show how buildings should be placed in the landscape in order to achieve the correct "picturesque" effect. The lithographs are the work of Charles Hullmandel who came to England as a child when his father, a German musician in Paris, fled revolutionary Paris in 1790. Charles studied art and printing and, later, chemistry under Michael Faraday. He was a leading figure in the development of lithography, mastering the technique of reproducing tonal gradations, a skill evident in the attractive prints collected in this rare book.
First edition, one of 150 copies. Large 4to 288x225mm. pp. [10], 147, [1 errata], 4pp adverts. 55 lithographed plates. Original green cloth, red morocco label to spine, lettered in gilt. Corners worn, spine somewhat faded and with tears to head and foot. Stain on lower cover. Internally very good with some slight spotting and foxing in places. The plates are in particularly good condition.
The text provides a selective study of various aspects of architecture - "Defensive architecture", "Architecture of the Middle Ages" and "Domestic Architecture of England". The plates, however, are all taken from the great Italian landscape painters (Claude and Poussin are treated as honorary Italians for these purposes) and show how buildings should be placed in the landscape in order to achieve the correct "picturesque" effect. The lithographs are the work of Charles Hullmandel who came to England as a child when his father, a German musician in Paris, fled revolutionary Paris in 1790. Charles studied art and printing and, later, chemistry under Michael Faraday. He was a leading figure in the development of lithography, mastering the technique of reproducing tonal gradations, a skill evident in the attractive prints collected in this rare book.
