OBSERVATIONS ON ITALY

Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and T. Cadell, Strand, 1825. First Edition and a copy with notable provenance having belonged to Earl Granville KG and then to Edward and Hugh Greenfield Doggett. Illustrated with nine finely engraved full-page plates of iconic Florentine scenes, engraved by Lizars after the art of Gherardi and Bell. 4to, handsomely bound by Simier, binder to the King of France, in full red straight-grain morocco, the covers elaborately decorated with multiple gilt fillet rules at the borders, enclosing an inner roll tooled border in blind, surrounding a series of gilt ruled inner panels, the main panel exquisitely tooled in gilt with large corner pieces and multi-filleted rules connecting the pieces, the spine panel with raised bands gilt ruled and decorated, compartments with fine gilt tooling, one compartment lettered in gilt, all edges gilt, endleaves dyed, elaborately gilt turnovers incorporating roll-tooled borders enclosing gilt fillet rules. xii, [2], 356 pp. a fine, clean and crisp copy internally, the plates show a bit of mellowing at the edges, the binding strong and sound, light wear at the extremities, sometime rebacked incorporating the original spine panel. FIRST EDITION OF THIS VERY PLEASING WORK ON ITALY. John Bell was one of the best-known anatomists of his day, and a skilled draughtsman. 'Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, an elder brother of Sir Charles Bell. After completing his professional education at Edinburgh, he carried on from 1790 in Surgeons' Square an anatomical lecture-theatre, where, in spite of much opposition, due partly to the unconservative character of his teaching, he attracted large audiences by his lectures, in which he was for a time assisted by his younger brother Charles. From 1793 to 1795, he published Discourses on the Nature and Cure of Wounds. He is considered, along with Pierre-Joseph Desault and John Hunter, to be a founder of the modern surgery of the vascular system. Bell was also a talented artist, and was one of the few medical men to illustrate his own work. In 1816 he was injured by a fall from his horse and in the following year went to Italy for the benefit of his health. He died at Rome on 15 April 1820 and he is buried in the Protestant Cemetery, Rome, just behind the tomb of poet John Keats.'
Throughout his stay he made lively notes of the works of art which he saw, and regularly discussed anatomy with the sculptor Canova. The chapters of the text describe: Lyons; Turin; Milan, Pavia; Placentia, Parma, Modena, Bologna; Florence and Rome. The plates are captioned and show views of Florence: 'View Of Ponte Di Santa Trinita'; 'View of the Badia and Podesta'; 'View Of The Podesta taken From The Door'; 'View Of The Campanello Del Duomo'; View of the Tower di San Michelle; Front View of the Palazzo Pitti; 'Perspective View Of The Palazzo Pitti'; 'Loggia Dei Lanzi'; 'Perspective View Of Piazza San Lorenzo'.
Concerning the provenance, this copy belonged to the 2nd Earl Granville, KG PC FRS (1815 – 1891), styled Lord Leveson until 1846, who was a British statesman and diplomat from the Leveson-Gower family. He is best remembered for his service as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. His foreign policy kept Britain free from European wars and improved relations with the United States after the strain during the American Civil War. His Gladstonian foreign policy based on patience, peace, and no alliances kept Britain free from European wars. It brought better relations with the United States, and it was innovative in supporting Gladstone's wish to settle British-American fisheries and Civil War disputes over the Confederate cruisers built in Britain, like the Alabama, through international arbitration in 1872.
This copy was previously owned also by Edward and Hugh Greenfield Doggett of Bristol, marked by their beautifully designed bookplate. Edward and Hugh Greenfield Dogget are recorded as having worked in printing and law, respectively, and were residents of Bristol.