Gainsborough & his place in English art.

London: William Heinemann,, 1899. Limited edition of 250 copies of this important and lavish monograph with superb photogravure reproductions. "Armstrong [1849-1918] is also remembered for his massive monographs, with accompanying catalogues, of some of the major British painters of the second half of the eighteenth century and the early nineteenth, Gainsborough (1894), Reynolds (1900), Raeburn (with J. L. Caw and R. A. M. Stevenson; 1901), Turner (1902), and, on a smaller scale, Lawrence (1913). These handsome tomes, the earlier ones illustrated with photogravure plates and colour lithographs, are geared for use in a country-house library rather than for the student's limited bookshelf space. The catalogue entries have now been superseded, but Armstrong was a pioneer; without these volumes later scholars would have found their task much more difficult. His texts are always thoughtful and possess a literary quality" (ODNB). Folio (374 x 275 mm). Contemporary red half morocco by Stikeman, decorative gilt spine, Prussian blue linen sides, top edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Title page printed in bisque and black, 62 photogravures and 10 lithographic facsimiles (in three colours) of the sketches. Binding lightly rubbed at the extremities, neatly retouched. A very good copy, handsomely bound.