Characters in the Grand Fancy Ball Given by the British Ambassador Sir Henry Wellesley, at Vienna, at the Conclusion of the Carnival 1826;

London: Printed for R. Ackermann, 1828. Ackermann's "Characters in the Grand Fancy Ball"

[ACKERMANN, Rudolph]. Characters in the Grand Fancy Ball Given by the British Ambassador Sir Henry Wellesley, at Vienna, at the Conclusion of the Carnival 1826; in Thirteen Highly Coloured Plates: with a Description of the Entertainments on that Occasion. London: Printed for R. Ackermann, 1828.

Small quarto (9 3/8 x 7 1/2 inches; 238 x 191 mm.). 16 pp. Thirteen hand-colored engraved plates.

Later quarter black roan over original tan printed wrappers. Covers slightly stained, front cover with two small areas of abrasion just affecting lettering. An excellent copy housed in a custom made, felt-lined half black morocco clamshell case, spine with five raised bands, decoratively ruled and lettered in gilt in compartments.

"To the year 1828 belongs the Characters in the Grand Fancy Ball given by the British Ambassador, Sir Henry Wellesley, at Vienna, 1826. The book appeals to many by its thirteen plates (line engravings, tinted by hand) and descriptive text of the dresses worn by the many people of rank and distinction, who formed quadrilles composed of characters from the novels of Sir Walter Scott and La Motte Fouqué. ‘The profusion of jewels and precious stones displayed on this occasion was almost incredible. The grandeur of the whole, the high rank of the co-operating persons, the assemblage of the flower of the highest nobility, of female beauty, and of noble manly forms, the brilliant armour and weapons, the succession of characters of the East and of the West, of history and of romance—all served to heighten the impression of this extraordinary fête, which can never be erased from the memory of those who had the good fortune to be present'" (Martin Hardie, p. 116).

Martin Hardie, pp. 116 and 314. Not in Abbey or Tooley.