Observations On The River Wye, And Several Parts Of South Wales, &c. Relative Chiefly To Picturesque Beauty; Made In The Summer Of The Year 1770

London: printed for R. Blamire, in the Strand [from 1782], 1792. Early Reprint. Quarter-Bound Calf. Fine. Third Edition (first published 1782) of this picturesque tour, creating an entirely new class of travel. Demy 8vo (214 x 133mm): xvi,152,[2]pp, including final advertisement leaf and 17 full-page oval aquatints (without titles, numbers, signatures, or imprints), "over which is washed with the brush a tint of warm yellow or brown to give tone to the picture." (Hardie). Recent quarter tan calf, smooth spine in five compartments (two with central gilt tools) divided by double gilt rules, red morocco lettering piece gilt, marbled paper-covered boards, plain end papers renewed. An excellent copy, securely bound and clean throughout with only occasional offsetting, in a handsome period-style binding. Bland (History of Book Illustration), p. 247. Abbey (Scenery) 546. Prideaux, p. 337. Hardie, p. 120. Henrey II, p. 531. Barbier, pp. 49-51. Upcott I, p. 330. Lowndes II, 894. Cox, Travel III, p. 30. First of a series of five works with similar titles, exposing Gilpin to the satire of Combe's Dr. Syntax. In June of 1770, Gilpin embarked on his first picturesque tour. "Sailing down the Wye proved a very different trip from [Gilpin's earlier] tame journey down the Thames: the ruined castles and mountains of Wales were indeed exciting after the flat countryside of eastern and south-eastern England. . . . here was landscape that called for description, that matched his conceptions of beauty and grandeur." (Barbier) According to Chilvers & Osborne (Oxford Dictionary of Art), Gilpin was "first to establish the picturesque as an aesthetic category and by his numerous writings, illustrated by his own fine aquatints, he exerted a profound and lasting influence on both English and European taste in natural and artificial scenery and landscape painting." N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).