A History of the University of Oxford [... Cambridge], its Colleges, Halls, and Public Buildings.

by ACKERMANN, Rudolph.

$20,130 · Offered by Biblio

First edition

London: printed for R. Ackermann, by L. Harrison and J. C. Leigh,, 1814 & 1815. Complete with the portraits of the founders First edition of both Ackermann's university books, a desirable set in a contemporary binding and with prepublication watermarks dated 1812. With over 200 hand-coloured plates designed by leading artists, Ackermann's Universities are among the finest illustrated accounts of Oxford and Cambridge, capturing the early 19th-century atmosphere before significant Victorian changes. Oxford and Cambridge books were published in 20 monthly parts respectively in 1813 and 1814, after which Ackermann issued the book-form editions both in elephant and atlas quarto formats. The two series of the "Founders", comprising 50 stipple engraved portraits, were issued later in 1815, and their inclusion within the volumes was optional; however, "they form an integral part of the work and must be present" (Tooley). These copies feature plates in a mix of first and second states as usual. "These two books are among the finest ever executed [in aquatint] worthy even of the splendid architectural monuments they commemorate... the engraving [being] carried out by such masters of aquatint as J. Bluck, J.C. Stadler, F.C. Lewis, D. Havell, and others of like reputation. The result was the production of plates of unequalled merit in their particular line" (Prideaux, pp. 125-126). 4 vols, elephant quarto (337 x 270 mm). Oxford: 115 plates, all hand-coloured except for first portrait, co

• Year: 1814
• Edition: First Edition
• Binding: hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.