THOMSON, James (1700-1748). The Seasons . London: T. Bensley and V. Figgins for P.W. Tomkins, '1797' [1798]. 2° (464 x 372mm). Half-title. Line-engraved calligraphic dedication by H. Ashby after T. Tomkins, hand-coloured stipple- and line-engraved frontispiece, 6 plates and 14 illustrations by F. Bartolozzi [6] and P.W. Tomkins [15] after W. Hamilton, some heightened with gum arabic. Letterpress cancel slip pasted onto p.236 below illustration. (Variable light browning and spotting, small marginal mark on frontispiece.) Contemporary crimson morocco gilt, endpapers watermarked 1799, sides panelled with broad bands joined by cornerpieces within double fillets, spine decorated with urn motifs, lettered in one compartment and dated at the foot, another compartment with Hutton's crest, gilt turn-ins and morocco hinges, gilt edges, blue silk marker (a little scuffed, corners bumped). Provenance : Thomas Hutton ( fl . c. 1750-1806, original subscriber, armorial bookplate and crest on spine) -- sale, Parke Bernet, 10 May 1955, lot 93. A RARE COLOURED COPY, FROM THE LIBRARY OF AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BIBLIOPHILE. Abbey notes that 'it can be assumed with safety that the number [of coloured copies] would not have exceeded seven or eight', an assessment confirmed by Friedman, who states that 'only a few copies of the book were printed in color'. Thomas Hutton appears to have been a discerning collector, with a taste for finely-produced illustrated copies of contemporary texts, such as this; although 'an enormous number of editions of The Seasons appeared in the eighteenth century [...] none was more lovely than Tomkins's masterpiece' (Friedman). Hutton's large-paper copy of John Gay's Fables (London: John Stockdale, 1793, illustrated by William Blake et al ., bound in citron morocco with his crest), was sold in these rooms on 16 December 1991, lot 196, and his copy of Richard Cumberland's Memoirs (London: Lackington, Allen, & Co., 1806, illustrated by C. Picart et al . after Romney and others, bound in calf with his crest) is in The Clements Collection at the National Art Library. Although the title page of The Seasons is normally dated 1797 (despite the date 1798 on some plates), in this copy it has been amended to 'MDCCXCVIII' in manuscript, and the words 'Engraver to Her Majesty' have been added by hand below Tomkins's name on the dedication. Abbey Life 252; Brunet V, 836; Cohen/De Ricci 992; ESTC T-146637; Friedman Color Printing in England 1486-1870 30; Lewine pp.532-3.
THOMSON, James (1700-1748). The Seasons . London: T. Bensley and V. Figgins for P.W. Tomkins, '1797' [1798]. 2° (464 x 372mm). Half-title. Line-engraved calligraphic dedication by H. Ashby after T. Tomkins, hand-coloured stipple- and line-engraved frontispiece, 6 plates and 14 illustrations by F. Bartolozzi [6] and P.W. Tomkins [15] after W. Hamilton, some heightened with gum arabic. Letterpress cancel slip pasted onto p.236 below illustration. (Variable light browning and spotting, small marginal mark on frontispiece.) Contemporary crimson morocco gilt, endpapers watermarked 1799, sides panelled with broad bands joined by cornerpieces within double fillets, spine decorated with urn motifs, lettered in one compartment and dated at the foot, another compartment with Hutton's crest, gilt turn-ins and morocco hinges, gilt edges, blue silk marker (a little scuffed, corners bumped). Provenance : Thomas Hutton ( fl . c. 1750-1806, original subscriber, armorial bookplate and crest on spine) -- sale, Parke Bernet, 10 May 1955, lot 93. A RARE COLOURED COPY, FROM THE LIBRARY OF AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BIBLIOPHILE. Abbey notes that 'it can be assumed with safety that the number [of coloured copies] would not have exceeded seven or eight', an assessment confirmed by Friedman, who states that 'only a few copies of the book were printed in color'. Thomas Hutton appears to have been a discerning collector, with a taste for finely-produced illustrated copies of contemporary texts, such as this; although 'an enormous number of editions of The Seasons appeared in the eighteenth century [...] none was more lovely than Tomkins's masterpiece' (Friedman). Hutton's large-paper copy of John Gay's Fables (London: John Stockdale, 1793, illustrated by William Blake et al ., bound in citron morocco with his crest), was sold in these rooms on 16 December 1991, lot 196, and his copy of Richard Cumberland's Memoirs (London: Lackington, Allen, & Co., 1806, illustrated by C. Picart et al . after Romney and others, bound in calf with his crest) is in The Clements Collection at the National Art Library. Although the title page of The Seasons is normally dated 1797 (despite the date 1798 on some plates), in this copy it has been amended to 'MDCCXCVIII' in manuscript, and the words 'Engraver to Her Majesty' have been added by hand below Tomkins's name on the dedication. Abbey Life 252; Brunet V, 836; Cohen/De Ricci 992; ESTC T-146637; Friedman Color Printing in England 1486-1870 30; Lewine pp.532-3.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
