Britain Portrayed: Colour Plate Books and Topographical Illustration, 1790-1840 - Hardcover

Fine cloth copy in a near-fine, very slightly edge-nicked and dust-dulled dw, now mylar-sleeved. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong.; 126 pages; 126 p. : illus. (some colour); 22 x 30cm. Summary: Around the turn of the 19th century the towns, villages and countryside of Britain attained a level of picturesque beauty and charm that has been unsurpassed since. In watercolour drawing artists caught the changing light and weather to perfection, and in aquatint engravings their subtle tones could be reproduced in prints virtually indistinguishable from the originals. Here nearly 50 of the finest views and scenes in prints of the period are reproduced, their colours still as fresh and vivid today as when they were first published. Drawing upon contemporary accounts, John Barr provides a commentary of the artists, engravers and prints in this album which portrays the elegance and robust variety of Regency Britain for today's armchair tourist. John Barr is a British Library curator and author of "Officina Bodoni (1978)" and "Illustrated Children's Books (1986).