Memoirs of Painting, With a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great Masters into England since the French Revolution [2 Vols]

by William Buchanan

First edition.  London:  R. Ackermann, 1824  

Hardback set is overall in VERY GOOD condition.

• Marbled covers, quarter-bound in brown calf. 
• Boards show some smudges, scuffing, edgewear.  Corners are bumped, scuffed, with exposed board.  See photos.
• Spines have gilt text and decoration and are worn, with bumped, chipped ends.  See photos.
• Bindings are secure; cracking at covers.  See photos. 
• Pastedowns and feps have some staining, wear, bookplate at front pastedown Vol. 1.  
• Interiors are gently age-toned, exhibits some marginal toning, scattered light foxing to first and last pages.  See photos. 
• Inside pages have marginalia in pencil throughout.  
• Text block edges have a few marks. 
• PS2024.106

364 + 397 pages. 5 x 8.25 inches

First edition of an essential firsthand history of the mass British acquisitions of Old Masters in the first decades of the 19th century.  Contemporary marbled boards with one-quarter calf.  Boards with edgewear, cracking at shoulders.  Interiors are bright, with some marginalia in pencil.

William Buchanan (1777-1864), a Scottish lawyer turned art dealer, benefited from the turmoil caused by the Napoleonic Wars.  Buchanan structures this work around the celebrated collections to which he added or from which he extracted magnificent works.  He describes the collections of Michael Bryan, de Calonne, Fagel, Robit, Vitturi, Lebrun, Sebastiani, Lucien Bonaparte, and Talletrand.  He cites prices and provides numerous insights into the dispersal of many of the early great 19th-century art collections.  The sections beginning “Mr. Buchanan’s Importations…” (Vol. II, pp. 95-180; 203-50; 294-304; 349-77), are perhaps of the greatest interest, due to the author’s candor and to the excerpts of private (and revealing) correspondence between Buchanan and his foreign agents regarding the pursuit of great works.

Ex libris Francis Palmer.  Bookplate inside front cover of Volume One.

Printed by Thomas Davison, Whitefriars, London.

Please see photos. More photos available upon request.

International first class shipping includes a handling charge to cover insurance.

Domestic orders over $250 include a handling charge to cover signature confirmation.

#panoplybooks #rarebooks #bookboutique #collectiblebooks #antiquebooks #vintagebooks #bookstore

We invite you to view our Shipping & Returns policies, or to contact us with any questions.