A Picturesque Tour Through the Cities of London and Westminster,

£12,500 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

first great aquatint book on London The first great aquatint book on London, with fine delineations of the architectural treasures therein. Copies rarely appear on the market. Proposals were issued in March 1791 to publish the work by subscription in 24 numbers. The first four plates are dated 30 June 1792, as is the engraved dedication to the Prince of Wales. The final plates to appear are dated 1 March 1801. The two engraved calligraphic title-plates (both dated 21 August 1792) are intended to divide the work into two 'volumes' even though the text is printed in continuous register and the pages and plates are numbered in unbroken sequences: here it is bound in one volume as usual. The buildings which most interested Malton are given a greater number of plates - nine to St Paul's cathedral, seven each to Somerset House and Westminster Abbey, four each to the Adelphi and the Royal Exchange, and three to the Bank of England. Many are shown in a steep perspective (which set an example to Turner and Girtin); and his concern to combine topographic accuracy with atmosphere is evident in, for example, his engraving 'View from Scotland Yard' (pl. 27). No plate is signed by Malton as draughtsman or engraver. But each (except pl. 53, 55) bears his publisher's imprint, and the publication-date. The two title-plates are signed as written by Tomkins and engraved by Ashby. The printer is named in the colophon on p. 112: 'T. Bensley, Printer, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, London'. This copy h

• Binding: Hardcover

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