Observations, relative chiefly to, Picturesque Beauty, Made in the Year 1776, on Several Parts of Great Britain, Particularly the High-Lands of Scotland

London: R. Balmire, 1789. First Edition. Near Fine. 2 vol.; 8vo; 8 3/4 x 5 1/4 in. (222 x138 mm) ; vol. 1: vii + xi + 221; vol. 2: ttl. + 196 + xxi; with 34 aquatints (tinted aquatints and soft ground etchings, most plates oval) and 6 hand-colored maps. Offsetting where plates are bound in. Previous owner's name in brown ink on each volume on first blank sheet. Bound in contemporary tree-calf with delicate gilt motifs on borders and turn-ins, marbled endpapers, rebacked, a little rubbed.

[Abbey Scenery 487 (citing the third edition); Prideaux, p.337; Lowndes III, p.895; Cox, Travel, III p. 32-33; ESTC T98995]. This is Gilpin's third in his series of works tracing picturesque beauty in British natural landscapes. In it he portrays the landscapes of Scottish Highlands, and describes them lyrically in his text. Prefacing the list of Prints at the end of the second volume, the author says "With regards to the prints, which adorn these volumes, I can only say..... that few of them pretend to be 'exact portraits.' They in general 'only characterize the countries,' through which the reader is carried." The illustrations, based on Gilpin's sketches, were etched by his nephew William Sawrey Gilpin using the newly invented aquatint process. This volume also includes a technical discourse about drawing and the mixing of colors, including a chart (vol. 1, p. 131-134)
William Gilpin (1724 - 1804) was an English artist, Church of England cleric, schoolmaster and author. He is best known as a travel writer and as one of those who originated the idea of the picturesque. Gilpin's tour journals circulated in manuscript to friends such as the poet William Mason and a wider circle including Thomas Gray, Horace Walpole and King George III. In 1782, at Mason's instigation, Gilpin began publishing his series of "Observations," which began with the River Wye and continued with the Lake District and many other parts of England and Scotland. «Gilpin exerted an enormous influence in furthering the romantic appreciation of nature, though it should be noted that neither Coleridge nor Wordsworth showed much leaning towards the picturesque. He was equally potent in inspiring satires, the best of which is John Wolcot's Dr. Syntax's Tour in Search of the Picturesque (especially with Rowlandson's illustrations), 1812.» [Cox, Travel, III, p. 32].