49
THE EARLIEST STATE OF MORNAY’S FINE AND RARE SERIES OF HAND-COLOURED VIEWS OF ST PETERSBURG IN THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I
182.MORNAY, — (artist). A Picture of St. Petersburgh, Represented in a Collection of Twenty Interesting Views of the City, the Sledges, and the People. Taken on the Spot at the Twelve Different Months of the Year: and Accompanied with an Historical and Descriptive Account. London: J.F. Dove for Edward Orme, 1815.
£19,500
Folio (495 x 342mm). Contemporary British half red roan over grey boards, spine ruled in gilt, upper board with applied publisher’s engraved paper title-panel repeating the design of the engraved additional title, uncut, mid-20th-century British red, straight-grained morocco backed cloth box, the spine lettered in gilt, box edges covered with Cockerell-marbled paper; pp. iv (title, verso blank, ‘Explication de douze tableaux’), 1-26 (text), 27-28 (‘Explanation of the 12 Plates’), 31-32 (‘Explanation of the Plates (Manners and Customs)’), 33-34 (‘Note explicative des planches’); engraved additional title with Russian Imperial arms, and 20 hand-coloured aquatint plates by John Heaviside Clark and Matthew Dubourg after Mornay with captions in English and French; boards a little scuffed and marked, skilful restoration of the extremities and insertion of new front free endpaper by Bernard Middleton (with his pencilled signature on the lower pastedown), light offsetting from additional title onto title, a few light marks, some small, skilfully- repaired marginal tears on additional title, text ll. and plates, a few causing minimal losses, nonetheless a very good copy, with bright and fresh colour; provenance: the Hon. Mary Anna Sibell Elizabeth Marten, OBE, Crichel House, Dorset (1929-2010, gilt morocco armorial bookplate on upper pastedown; vide infra).
First edition, earliest state. The introductory text of A Picture of St. Petersburgh describes the foundation of St Petersburg in 1703 by Peter the Great, explaining that, ‘it required all the superiority of mind which this great man possessed, to conceive and attempt the execution of such a project, and to foresee the period, when a number of swamps, with only the huts of a few fishermen on their edges, should be replaced by one of the finest cities in the world’ (p. 1). The city’s history up to and including the early years of Alexander I’s reign is recounted, and an account is given of the topography of the city, the principal palaces, the art collections (including that of the Hermitage), the religious establishments, the population, and the educational establishments. The text concludes with remarks on the use of sledges and carriages as means of transport.
The descriptive text is followed by two series of finely-coloured aquatint plates: the first series represents the twelve months of the year in St Petersburg, and depicts the landmarks of the city throughout the seasons. The subjects of this series are:
(i) ‘View of the Imperial Bank and the Shops at St Petersburgh. January’ (ii) ‘View of the Marble Palace in the Grand Millione St. Petersburgh. February’ (iii) ‘View of the Square and the Grand Theatre of St Petersburgh. March’ (iv) ‘View of the Parade & the Imperial Palace at St Petersburgh. April’ (v) ‘View of the Place of Peter the Great and the Senate House at St Petersburgh. May’ (vi) ‘View of the Neva, the Harbour and the Exchange at St. Petersburgh. June’ (vii) ‘View of the Canal of the Moika, the Bridge & the Police Establishment at St Petersburgh. July’ (viii) ‘View of the Centre of the Great Bridge of the Neva, and of St Petersburgh. August’ (ix) ‘View of the Champ de Mars & the Summer Garden at St Petersburgh. September’
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74