50


(x) ‘View of the Square of Kassan and the Cathedral at St Petersburgh. October’ (xi) ‘View of the Canal of Fontanka and the Barrracks at St Petersburgh. November’ (xii) ‘View of the Arsenal and Foundry at St Petersburgh. December’ The second, numbered series of engravings depicts Russian figures in typical costume in coaching and sledging scenes, and the subjects are: ‘The Stand of the Hackney Coachmen. No. 1’ ‘Russian Females entering a Sledge. No. 2’ ‘The Russian Sledge or Public Carriage. No. 3’ ‘The Sledge of a Russian Citizen. No. 4’ ‘Public Vehicle for Summer. No. 5’ ‘The Russian Country Carriage. No. 6’ ‘The Winter Russian Travelling Carriage. No. 7’ ‘A Russian Courier Conveying Dispatches. No. 8’


In this copy, the letterpress leaves bear the watermark ‘W Balston 1813’ and the frontispiece and plates the watermark ‘J. Whatman / 1811’, confirming that this is the earliest issue of the work; the work was reissued over a number of years using later strikes of the plates, and copies are known with engravings bearing watermarks dated 1833. The engraved additional title and the engraved title-panel on the upper board of this copy both bear the text ‘Price coloured L6 S6 D0’. The text leaves in this copy are bound in a slightly different order to the Abbey copy, where pp. [iii]-iv are bound at the end; here (as in other copies) this leaf is bound in its logical position after the title, and (due to erroneous pagination) there is no leaf numbered pp. 29-30, although the signatures of the quires are continuous.


This copy was previously in the library of the Hon. Mary Anna Marten, OBE, the daughter of Napier George Henry Sturt, 3rd Baron Alington (1896- 1940). Mary Anna Marten was educated at Somerville College, Oxford, and, following her marriage to her fellow-student Toby Marten in 1949, the couple moved to a farmhouse on the Crichel House estate, before taking up residence in the house itself in 1962. A Trustee of the British Museum and of the Royal Collections, and a Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset, Mary Anna Marten was also the founder of the Ancient Persia Fund, which she established in memory of the distinguished Russian orientalist Vladimir Lukonin (1932-1984), of the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.


Lukonin was born in St Petersburg in 1932 and educated at Leningrad State University. Following graduation, he joined to the staff of the Hermitage Museum in 1957, and in 1964 (at the age of 32), he was appointed Head of the Oriental Department. The British Academy, which administers the Ancient Persia Fund, described Lukonin’s achievements in his short career thus: ‘he published more than a dozen books, mostly on aspects of Parthian and Sasanian Iran and Central Asia, including a volume on the Sasanian seals in the Hermitage (with A.J. Borisov) and another on the Sasanian silver (with K.V. Trever) that appeared posthumously. His book in the Archaeologia Mundi series entitled Persia II (1967) ensured that his name became known outside the Soviet Union. These books were supported by a series of important articles. He is also remembered as a captivating and charming man. His warm and engaging personality won him friends all over the world, and in the days of the Cold War he did much to bridge the gap between Soviet and Western scholars. On trips abroad he made a lasting impression upon those with whom he came into contact. He believed strongly in an international approach to scholarship, which the fund in his memory seeks to reflect’ (http://www.britac.ac.uk/funding/guide/persia/lukonin.cfm). Equally, in his native Russia, Lukonin is commemorated by the annual Lukonin Readings Conference at the State Hermitage Museum.


Abbey, Travel, 226; Bibliothéque Impériale Publique de St.-Pétersbourg, Catalogue de la section des Russica, P-604; Hardie p. 138; Hiler p. 632; Prideaux p. 345; Tooley, English Books with Coloured Plates, 355.


183


183.MORRIS, Rev. F.O. A Series Of Picturesque Views Of Seats Of Noblemen And Gentlemen Of Great Britain And Ireland.. London, Edinburgh And Dublin, William Mackenzie, n.d. 1880.


£650


4to. Six volumes. Bound in publisher’s original highly decorated cloth, all edges gilt; 234 coloured wood-block plates by Benjamin Fawcett after drawings by Alexander F. Lydon; light spotting to some of the guards, otherwise a fine set.


Published initially in parts between 1864 and 1880. Ruari McLean remarks that “the best [plates] are of great charm and beauty, and the colour printing is, as usual superb”.


A seventh volume comprising facsimiles of subscriber’s signatures was published separately.


184


184.MORRIS, F.O. A History of British Butterflies. John C. Nimmo. 1893.


£300


4to. Publisher’s green cloth, gilt design of butterflies to front, gilt spine; pp. viii + 234, 79 hand-coloured plates; previous owner’s inscription to prelim stamp to half title, spine a little rubbed and bumped to head, internally very clean, otherwise very good indeed.


Seventh edition. A classic survey of British lepidoptera.


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