Item #108741 The Life of George Romney. William. Blake Hayley, William.

The Life of George Romney.

1809. Chichester: W. Mason, 1809.

Large 4to, (8), 416, (7) pp. With portrait frontispiece and 11 engraved plates, including one by Blake after Romney. Large paper copy in red half calf over marbled paper boards, with gilt rules and titling. A very good copy with clean pages and prints throughout, just traces of ageing on the first few pages.

§ First edition, large-paper copy. Although not substantially bigger than uncut copies of the regular issue, the large-paper copies are on heavier paper and the impressions are stronger. The 1-page advertisement at the end for “Epistles to Romney” is not found in the small-paper copies. Blake’s plate of the shipwreck incorporates a number of familiar figures from his iconography and is a strong and vivid illustration. Bentley, BB 469, Essick, CBI, XLIX: large-paper issue has an “1807” watermark without a maker’s name; the small paper is watermarked “Rye Mill / 1807.”. Item #108741

Price: $3,250.00

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