The History Of The Royal Residences Of Windsor Castle, St. James's Palace, Carlton House, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, Buckingham House, And Frogmore

London: Printed For A.Dry., L.Harrison, Printer, 1819., 1819. 3 Volumes. 4to. pp. 2 p.l., ii, [1 leaf], 188, [1 leaf], 21; 3 p.l., 88, [1 leaf], 28, [1 leaf], 88; 3 p.l., 80, [1 leaf], 92, 16. 100 hand-coloured aquatint plates. 1 wood-engraved vignette. text watermarked 1811-17, plates 1816. contemporary straight-grained maroon morocco, elaborately stamped in gilt & blind, gilt backs, all edges gilt (Vol. III front joint expertly repaired, corners bumped). First Edition. A fine copy of this sumptuous work, written by Pyne and illustrated with one hundred richly hand-coloured views of royal residences, engraved by T.Sutherland, W.J.Bennett, R.Reeve, D.Havell, & J.Bailey, after drawings by C.Wild, J.Stephanoff, R.Cattermole, W.Westall, & G.Samuel. There are several exterior views but the majority of the plates show the elegant decoration and furnishing of the interiors. The description and twenty-four plates of Carlton House, London home of the Prince Regent (later George IV) are of particular interest, as the structure was demolished in 1826. At the end of the third volume is a list of portraits in the royal collections described in the text. Although the work was successful, it involved Pyne in serious financial difficulties, and he was more than once confined for debt in the King's Bench Prison. Abbey, Scenery, 396. Martin Hardie pp. 91, 304. Prideaux pp. 142-43, 348. Ray, The Illustrator and the Book in England From 1790 to 1914, 42. Tooley 389.. F. Hardcover.