Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra
Jones, Owen
London. Published by Owen Jones. 1842–1845
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A very fine example of the large paper issue of Owen Jones' influential publication.
This exceptional copy, of very large size and bound by Wright in diced russia, is certainly a large paper example - the subscribers leaf notes about thirty large paper copies - with the engraved plates printed on India appliqué. A pencil note on the verso of an initial blank elaborates: 'Special copy / Large Paper, India Proofs some in Gold & Colours / Handsomely bound. whole Russia / Broad bands of gold tooling on sides'. It is worth noting that Abbey, usually explicit in detail, makes no reference to India paper, and, of the many copies that have appeared at auction over the last thirty years, a very, very small number of copies - and those of smaller format - have also included the line engravings on India paper, as here.
During his Grand Tour, which included Constantinople and Cairo, Jones became fascinated with Islamic buildings. Later he visited the Alhambra in the company of the young French architect Jules Goury and they resolved to publish an exhaustive documentation of the building and its decorations. Unfortunately Goury died during a cholera epidemic on 28 August 1834 and Jones had to complete the immense task of publishing the book on his own. With the help of Day & Hague, Jones set up his own chromolithographic press in the Adelphi. The earliest chromolithographic plate is dated 1 March 1836 and he continued producing plates until the book's completion in 1845.
Subscribers to the work - apart from the usual and notable Royals, Dukes, Earls and Baronets - included Augustus Welby Pugin, Isembard Kingdom Brunel, John Goldicutt and M. Raoul Rochette.
' ... Jones' mastery of his new art is complete; page succeeds page of blue, scarlet and gold, and the foundations are laid, not only of a new kind of book illustration, but of a new school of designers, the pilers-on of reproduced ornamentation.' (Ruari McLean).
[Abbey Travel 156; Brunet III, 564; see 'Victorian Book Design and Colour Printing' by Ruari McLean, pp. 72 - 81].
This exceptional copy, of very large size and bound by Wright in diced russia, is certainly a large paper example - the subscribers leaf notes about thirty large paper copies - with the engraved plates printed on India appliqué. A pencil note on the verso of an initial blank elaborates: 'Special copy / Large Paper, India Proofs some in Gold & Colours / Handsomely bound. whole Russia / Broad bands of gold tooling on sides'. It is worth noting that Abbey, usually explicit in detail, makes no reference to India paper, and, of the many copies that have appeared at auction over the last thirty years, a very, very small number of copies - and those of smaller format - have also included the line engravings on India paper, as here.
During his Grand Tour, which included Constantinople and Cairo, Jones became fascinated with Islamic buildings. Later he visited the Alhambra in the company of the young French architect Jules Goury and they resolved to publish an exhaustive documentation of the building and its decorations. Unfortunately Goury died during a cholera epidemic on 28 August 1834 and Jones had to complete the immense task of publishing the book on his own. With the help of Day & Hague, Jones set up his own chromolithographic press in the Adelphi. The earliest chromolithographic plate is dated 1 March 1836 and he continued producing plates until the book's completion in 1845.
Subscribers to the work - apart from the usual and notable Royals, Dukes, Earls and Baronets - included Augustus Welby Pugin, Isembard Kingdom Brunel, John Goldicutt and M. Raoul Rochette.
' ... Jones' mastery of his new art is complete; page succeeds page of blue, scarlet and gold, and the foundations are laid, not only of a new kind of book illustration, but of a new school of designers, the pilers-on of reproduced ornamentation.' (Ruari McLean).
[Abbey Travel 156; Brunet III, 564; see 'Victorian Book Design and Colour Printing' by Ruari McLean, pp. 72 - 81].
2 vols. Elephant folio. (666 x 505 mm). Contents: Vol. 1: chromolithograph title, printed title in red and black with printer's credit verso, leaf with dedication in English and French ('To the Memory of Jules Goury'), advertisement leaf, leaf with list of subscribers, leaf with list of plates, leaf with verse by Victor Hugo, Historical Notice (pp. 20 including several monochrome vignettes), colour lithograph map of the Alhambra and 51 engraved or chromolithograph plates (4 double-page, one folding mounted on tabs), the engraved plates on India appliqué mounted to stiff sheets of cream or ivory card, each plate with leaf of descriptive text (many with additional monochrome vignettes). Vol. 2.: chromolithograph title, printed title in red and black, list of plates and 50 engraved or chromolithograph plates; 74 plates including the chromolithograph titles are printed in lithography or chromolithography. (Sheet size: 650 x 480 mm). Parallel text in English and French throughout, numerous quotations in Arabic. Full contemporary diced russia by J. Wright, with his signature to turn-ins and with the maroon leather ticket of E. Parsons & Sons, London, to front pastedown of vol. I, boards with elaborate decorative tooled borders in gilt, banded spines with gilt tooling and titles gilt in seven compartments, board edges and turn-ins with gilt rules, yellow glazed endpapers, a.e.g.
#45993
