Architecturales de Londres, Les

Paris [&] London: H. Mandeville, Ackerman & Co., & Read & Co., 1855. The Architectural Beauties of London - Published by Mandeville & Ackerman
With Thirty-Six Very Fine Hand Colored Plates

[LONDON]. SHEPHERD, Thomas Hosmer, and others, illustrators. Les Beautes Architecturales de Londres. [The Architectural Beauties of London] Edition Poliglotte. En Francais, Anglais et Allemand. Paris: H. Mandeville [&] London: Ackerman & Co., & Read & Co., [1855].

Oblong folio (10 3/4 x 14 1/2 inches; 273 x 368 mm.). Hand colored engraved vignette title-page. Thirty-five plates engraved on copper and finely colored by a contemporary hand, representing the main palaces, bridges and residences of London. All plates mounted on guards. The eighth plate with the blank margins cut short (10 1/8 x 13 1/8 inches; 257 x 333 mm.). This example bound without the text leaves.

Early twentieth century quarter green scored calf over green paper boards, spine ruled and lettered in gilt, all edges gilt.

A fine example of this rare colored view book of London at the time of the Great Exhibition of 1851.

The plates were engraved by or after Thomas H. Sheherd, W. Lacey, John Wrightson, Ed Chavanne, Rodney Clark, W.E. Abutt, Hopkins, T.H. Jones, Le Pettit, Allan, Samuel Owen, Edmund Patten, H.S. Barnard, J. Redaway, W. Wallace, & Williams. Many of the plates with "Engraved for "Mighty London Illustrated" Read & Co."

A superb series of illustrations, including Crystal Palace; the Globe and Monster's Wyld, the Royal Exchange, Kensington Palace, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Zoological Gardens and many other historic buildings in London. Ten of the engravings show the interior and exterior the crystal palace erected in London for the first universal exhibition (1851).

Les Beautes Architecturales de Londres is a visually rich collection showcasing the architectural highlights of London.

In nearly sixty years we have handled just one other colored copy.

"Another edition, No. 252 (JA 2881), had been issued in oblong form, without text, and containing ninety coloured engravings..." Abbey, Scenery 253.

OCLC locates just six **examples in libraries and institutions worldwide: Indiana University (IN, US); University of Maryland (MD, US); Colonial Williamsburg Found Resource Library(VA, US); Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Bibliothek (Germany); Free Library Berlin (Germany); Landesbibliothek Coburg (Germany). **Apparently not colored.

Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (1793-1864) was an English artist and topographical watercolorist known for his detailed and accurate depictions of urban landscapes and architectural scenes.

The Plates:
[Vignette title-page]. The Crystal Palace. West End.
1. The Crystal Palace. From the Serpentine.
2. Interior of the Great Exhibition. North Transept.
3. Interior of the Crystal Palace, Great Building for International Exhibition, Hyde Park.
4. Interior of the Great Exhibition. South Transept.
5. Interior of the Great Exhibition. American Department (East End)
6. Interior of the Great Exhibition. From the Transept looking West.
7. Interior of the Great Exhibition. From Transept looking East.
8. Interior of the Great Exhibition. British Department. (blank margins cut short)
9. Interior of the Great Exhibition. From Dantes Temple.
10. Interior of the Great Exhibition. Grand State Opening, May 1, 1851.
11. Residence of the late Sir Robert Peel, Bart, Whitehall Gardens.
12. Marlborough House. The Residence of the late Queen Dowager (now the Vernon Gallery).
13. The Royal Exchange.
14. The Tower of London.
15. The Horse Guards. Front facing St. James's Park.
16. The British Museum.
17. East India House. Leadenhall Street.
18. Buckingham Palace (New Front).
19. The Marble Arch. Hyde Park Corner, Oxford St.
20. Trafalgar Square.
21. Custom House & London Bridge.
22. Triumphal Arch & Duke of Wellington's Statue. Constitution Hill.
23. New Houses of Parliament.
24. Westminster Abbey.(from the West).
25. The Quadrant, Regent's Street.
26. Hungerford Suspension Bridge.
27. Carlton House Terrace & Duke of York's Column. From St. James's Park.
28. Zoological Gardens. Regent's Park.
29. Apsley House & Entrance to Hyde Park. Piccadilly.
30. Kensington Palace.
31. St. Paul's Cathedral. From Ludgate Hill.
32. Army & Navy Club. Pall Mall.
33. The Treasury Buildings. Whitehall.
34. Wyld's Monster Globe. Leicester Square.
35. The Banqueting House Whitehall. (Now used for a Chapel).

Abbey, Scenery of Great Britain and Ireland 253 (note referring to Abbey 252 (1854 edition with 90 colored plates); Bobins IV, 1432.