EDY, John William (c.1780-1820). Boydell's Picturesque Views and Scenery of Norway. London: W. Bulmer [for] Messrs. Boydell and Co., [1820].

Large-paper copy of the first edition of 'the most important English colour plate book on Norway' (Tooley). Edy went to Norway in the summer of 1800 with William Fearnside (died 1807); they travelled and recorded the scenery of the country from Christiania (Oslo) northwards via Trondhjem, Mørebjene and Bergen. The prospectus for this work was published in 1811, it was originally published in 8 parts between September 1811 and January 1820, and first sold in two volumes with two title-pages and printed on large-paper. Tooley gives an uncut size of 19 ⁵⁄₈ x 13 ³⁄₈in which is just a fraction bigger than the present lot's dimensions, and considerably larger than Abbey's second edition's 15 ¹⁄₂ x 10 ³⁄₈in. The quality of the hand-coloured plates is also significantly higher than the tinted aquatints of Abbey's single-volume copy. The plates are on paper watermarked 1811-1819. Abbey Travel 254 (second edition); Tooley 103.

2 volumes in one, folio (493 x 332mm). 2 half-titles, 80 hand-coloured aquatint plates by and after Edy (pl. 40 and accompanying text leaf misbound at the very end, occasional faint spotting and offsetting, a few of the earlier plates numbered in contemporary manuscript). Contemporary red morocco, covers panelled in gilt, gilt turn-ins, uncut (rebacked, preserving original spine, extremities lightly rubbed and the whole sometime refurbished).

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