VIDAL, Emeric EssexBiblio.com
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rif. 02645London: R. Ackermann 1820. The Great Color-Plate Book of Early Argentina One of Only Fifty Atlas Large-Paper Copies of Ackermann's Magnificent Buenos Ayres and Monte Video VIDAL Emeric Essex. Picturesque Illustrations of Buenos Ayres and Monte Video Consisting of Twenty-Four Views; accompanied with Descriptions of the Scenery and of the Costumes Manners &c. of the Inhabitants of those Cities and their Environs. London: Published by R. Ackermann. Printed by L. Harrison 1820. First edition. One of only fifty Atlas large-paper copies. Atlas quarto 15 5/8 x 12 1/2 inches; 397 x 317 mm. xxviii 115 1 blank pp. Twenty-four magnificent hand-colored aquatint plates including four double-page folding panoramas one incorporating two views. Text and plates watermarked 1818 and 1820. Publisher's original green morocco-grain cloth covers elaborately blocked in blind spine decoratively stamped and lettered in gilt yellow coated endpapers. Very slight wear at the upper joint inner hinges neatly strengthened. Housed in a green cloth slipcase. A beautiful unusually fresh copy. One of the masterpieces of nineteenth-century travel illustration and unquestionably the most important English color-plate book devoted to the Río de la Plata during the formative years of Argentine independence. Issued by Rudolph Ackermann at the height of his publishing career Vidal's Picturesque Illustrations combines superb aquatint engraving with brilliant contemporary hand-coloring to create one of the finest visual records of early nineteenth-century South America. Emeric Essex Vidal served with the Royal Navy in the Río de la Plata between 1816 and 1818 only a few years after the region had broken from Spanish rule. Unlike many travel artists who relied upon second-hand sketches or romantic invention Vidal drew directly from life recording Buenos Aires Montevideo and the surrounding pampas with exceptional accuracy sympathy and artistic accomplishment. His views preserve an emerging nation at a pivotal historical moment before the rapid political and economic transformation of the nineteenth century forever altered its landscape and society. The twenty-four aquatints form an unrivaled pictorial survey of the region. Sweeping panoramas of Buenos Aires and Montevideo are complemented by intimate scenes of daily life: bustling marketplaces churches and public squares gauchos estancias soldiers indigenous peoples horse races ostrich hunts wine mule convoys rural laborers and the famous South Matadero. Together they constitute one of the earliest and most comprehensive ethnographic portraits of Argentina and Uruguay ever published remarkable both for their documentary precision and for their extraordinary artistic beauty. The present copy belongs to the Atlas issue limited to only fifty copies produced on substantially larger paper for the most discerning collectors and institutions. Martin Hardie records that the ordinary edition consisted of 750 copies making the Atlas issue one of the rarest deluxe publications produced by Ackermann. The generous margins dramatically enhance the visual impact of the plates particularly the four spectacular folding panoramas which rank among the finest achievements of the English aquatint tradition. The binding itself appears to represent an unrecorded publisher's variant. Abbey describes only the large-paper issue bound in red cloth whereas the present copy retains its original green morocco-grain cloth decorated with a slightly different spine design omitting the wording "24 Plates Coloured." Such variants are seldom encountered and add further bibliographical interest to an already exceptional copy. Martin Hardie rightly regarded the aquatints as possessing "a subtle charm of their own apart from their historical and geographical value." That judgment has only strengthened with time. Today Vidal's work is recognized not merely as one of Ackermann's greatest travel books but as the definitive visual record of the Río de la Plata in the years immediately following independence - a cornerstone of South American iconography and one of the supreme achievements of the English color-plate book. References: Abbey Travel 698; Colas 3000; Hiler p. 878; Hardie pp. 107 312; Prideaux pp. 355 375; Sabin 99460; Tooley 495. London: R. Ackermann, 1820 unknown
1820rif. 17039London 1820. Elephant 4to 36.5 x 30 cm. R. Ackermann printed by L. Harrison 20th-century gold-tooled black goatskin morocco sewn on 4 recessed cords but with 5 false bands on the spine each board with 2 frames of fillets the inner one with 4 fleur-de-lis cornerpieces marbled endpapers. With 24 unnumbered hand-coloured aquatint plates including 4 folding plate size: 30 x 25 & 32.5 x 50.5 cm; image size mostly: 26 x 20 & 26.5 x 47.5 cm all drawn by Vidal and executed by G. Maile T. Sutherland G. Bluck and D. Havell. XXVIII 115 pp. First printing of beautiful hand-coloured aquatint views of Argentina all conceived and drawn from life by Emeric Essex Vidal in the years 1816 to 1818 accompanied by descriptions of the scenery costumes and habits of the peoples and regions depicted. The plates were executed by various engravers between May and October 1820 and first issued in 6 monthly parts. 750 copies including the present were issued in Elephant 4to format. There was also an issue in Atlas folio and apparently a reprint in large and small 4to still dated 1820 not normally distinguished in the literature from the present first printing Palau and Sabin describe the work as a folio but the Elephant 4to is often described as a folio. Tooley notes "the importance of its subject" and describes this publication as "the only notable colour plate book in English dealing with the Argentine". With the red leather Beeleigh Abbey armorial bookplate of William Alfred Foyle 1885-1963. With two stitching holes from the previous binding in the margins. With old folds in some of the folding plates and occasional minor browning but still in very good condition and largely untrimmed with most deckles intact. With a tiny tear in the morocco of one corner but binding otherwise fine. First printing of beautiful views of life in Argentina in the period 1816 to 1818.l Abbey Travel 698; Palau 363371; Sabin 99460; Tooley 495. ABE CAT Anthropology & Ethnography AMERICAS ART ARCHITECTURE & PHOTOGRAPHY CARTOGRAPHY GEOGRAPHY & TOPOGRAPHY DRAWINGS PRINTS & WATERCOLOURS EXPLORATION & TRAVEL Anthropology & Ethnography Argentina City Plans Topography & Views Latin America Prints & Print Series South America hardcover
