Hochelaga Depicta: Or, A New Picture Of Montreal, Embracing The Early History And Present State Of The City And Island Of Montreal

Montreal: William Greig, 1839., 1839. 12mo. pp. 7 p.l., [9]-284. engraved title, 2 folding plans, & 44 illus. on 20 plates, engraved by P.Christie after drawings by James Duncan (incl. frontis.). original blind-stamped cloth (fraying to spine ends, front joint & corners, some modest offsetting from plates). armorial bookplate of Thomas Rodman Merritt [1824-1906], president of the Imperial Bank of Canada. First Edition. The series of engravings illustrating the work include views of Montreal from the Canal, the Haymarket, the Mountain, and St. Helen's Island, as well as depictions of the various architectural landmarks of the city (Church of Notre Dame, Hôtel Dieu Chapel, Nelson's Monument, Theatre Royal, Government House, Bank of Montreal, &c). They are engraved after drawings by James Duncan [1806-1881], "one of the first of Montreal's historic artists." (Lande) Spendlove refers to him as "one of Canada's first lithographic draughtsmen" and a "splendid watercolourist". Duncan emigrated to Canada in 1825, settling in Montreal, where he became a skilful and successful professional artist, lithographer, and teacher of drawing. He was a founding member and treasurer of the Montreal Society of Artists, and was elected a member of the Society of Canadian Artists at Montreal in 1867, and an associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1880. "These illustrations, in which architectural detail is reproduced with great exactness, are significant because they are among the few remaining original sources of Montreal architecture of the time." (DCB) Beaulieu & Morley p. 182. Dionne III 349. Gagnon I 513. Lande 1586. Morgan p. 40. Sabin 6793 (calling for 18 plates & maps). cfTPL 2247(facsimile reprint). DCB XI pp. 284-86. Spendlove pp. 65-66.. Hardcover. Good.