Views in Russia, Sweden, Poland and Germany.

London: John Murray, 1826-1827. First Edition. Half Morocco. Marbled boards. . Good. Seldomly encountered complete suite of color plate views. Russian views predominate. The descriptions relate many of the locations to the recently concluded Napoleonic Wars. In all the illustrations there is a human presence, providing scale and adding interest to the otherwise static scene. Folio, 43.5 by 27.5 cm. [42] pp. -- unpaginated. 21 mounted color plates on 20 leaves -- one leaf has two smaller color plates. Each plate accompanied by a description on a separate text leaf. The text leaves are a typical manila paper of the period, while the plate leaves are a brown paper. The views, or illustrations themselves, are printed on a blue/gray paper. Views are of Dannemora, an iron mine there; the Kremlin; a scene in the Kitaigorod in Moscow; the battlefield at Borodino; Dorogobouje; Moscow ruins following the Napoleonic invasion; The czar's palace in the Kremlin; Newski (Nevski) Prospekt in St. Petersburg; Viasma; two Russian villages; Mikhail Palace in St. Petersburg; a St. Petersburg boulevard; Kiev; Smolensko; the interior of the Kasan Church in St. Petersburg; the Palais Neuf in Potsdam; Upsal in Sweden; Stockholm; and Cracow;. James was the Bishop of Calcutta. James wrote of the collection: "In preparing these sketches for the public eye, I have been chiefly desirous that the utmost fidelity and truth of character should be preserved with regard to the general national features which they profess to represent: and for this purpose have lithographed them myself, that they might not be subjected to such changes and variations of detail as too often occur when the original drawing and the print that is taken from it are furnished by different hands." Issued without a title -- our title is from skiver mounted label on front board. Condition: Rebacked in red morocco, matching in color the contemporary label on the front board. Newer endpapers. Condition: Edgewear to the binding. Aome abrading of the marbled pastedown paper on the boards. Scattered foxing, mostly light, heavier on some of the tissue guards. Some tissue guards have creases, as typical given the nature of their light, less supple paper stock. Light pencil captioning on some of the brown paper used to mount the prints.