[Views in South Wales]

Cheapside: J.Boydell, 1775. 1st Edition . No Binding. Very Good. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. SANDBY Paul. An Unrecorded Set Of The First Aquatints To Be Printed In Britain 12 loose pls, all numbered and titles in a green cloth custom made portfolio, then housed in a custom made clip case, with half green calf over green cloth, gilt titles to maroon label to spine and upper board (Delrue). All are clear, strong impressions, with good margins. The condition in general is good. The paper size is the same throughout, all with margins of about 3 cms. Plate 1 is slightly browned & marked. On the aquatinted border at the lower left is a slight crack in the paper of about 1 cm. Plate XII has a repaired tear inside the aquatinted border just to the edge of picture and the paper has slightly cracked just outside the picture. There is a mark just inside the printed surface at the bottom left. This set of twelve views are, of course, highly important in the history of print making. Aquatint was invented by JB LePrince, and the technique was relayed to Sandby by the Hon Charles Grenville. It is sometimes thought that Sandby was the first to make aquatints in Britain, which is nearly right; he was the first to produce a series, as opposed to single prints. Philip Burdett made three aquatints in 1771. Aquatint proved to be a far better method of producing topographical prints than any preceding method, and Sandby introduced an entirely fresh aspect. The detail of his subject is fine, with far greater subtlety, realism and animation than had previously been achieved. The set of views of South Wales was the first of three of Wales to be produced by Sandby. The second is Twelve Views in North Wales, and the third is a mix of North and South. Previously, it was recognised that the twelve prints of South Wale followed the titles listed below, with the exception of plate VI, which has always been listed as a view of Pembroke Castle and not the Swansea Castle print in the present series. The actual history of the series is somewhat out of the normal for several reasons, in particular because there are variances in the aquatinting, and no two sets appear to be the same. For this reason, it is very difficult to be precise about states. Secondly, most sets were published by Sandby himself. For some unknown reason, the earliest issues were published by John Boydell, as the present set, and these are much rarer than those published by Sandby. If publishers change at all, it is usually the other way round; an artist published first and then hands the work over to and established publisher, which indeed was Boydell, the most prominent publisher of the time. There is no explanation for Sandby taking over the publication. It appears that he had an artistic temperament; he was at loggerheads with William Hogarth for some years. It will be noted that the list of titles below follow a geographical order, starting with Chepstow in the east and moving westwards to St Davids. This means that pl VI should be Swansea, and not Pembroke. This is an argument to assume that the present set are the first issues, although we are not convinced. Our research so far shows that the view of Swansea is a great rarity; the only other two examples we have traced are both in the British Museum, and neither of them is in a set. The view itself is one of the best in the series, with excellent details of the castle, and particularly lively activity in the foreground, reminiscent of the military encampments which Sandby produced later on. It is also worth noting that all three prints are in the same state, and none has an imprint or signature. The most likely reason for its rarity is that the plate was damaged. If that was the case, it is a pity that Sandby did not produce another plate. Although we suggested that our set could be the first state, we tend to think that it is the second, but that still still does not explain the presence of the Swansea print. Another feature of our set is that it was printed on matching paper, with matching water marks.