FLAXMAN - PIROLI - Tragedies of Aeschylus 31 plates 1st officiel edition J.Matthews 1795

TITLECompositions From The Tragedies of Aeschylus (The Original DrawingsIn The Possession Of The Countess Dowager Spencer )

DRAWINGSDesigned By Iohn Flaxman

ENGRAVEREngraved By Thomas Piroli

Firstedition (collated, and complete) of this collection ofillustrations.

Undated,to the title page, and to the engravings, this copy can be identifiedas the first printing of 1795, according to the Britishlibrary

LondonPublished for J. Flaxman Junr., Jan. 12 1795, by J. Matthews, No. 441Strand.

Unboundfolio, the plates are held together by an old piece of string

30plates plus engraved title-page, 284×450 mm (Oblong format).

Thisseries of thirty plates on velin paper includes five for Prometheuschaind; four each for Suppliants, Seven Chiefs against Thebes,Agamemnon, Choephorœ; five for The Furies; and four for ThePersians. Each has a caption identifying the characters and quotingfrom the play in English. Each Plate carries the publishers imprintof J. Matthews (Jane Matthews - Flaxmans aunt), and the date (Jan 121795).

Like Flaxmans earlier designs for Dante and Homer(first published in 1793) these are, in George Romneys words,outlines without shadow, but in the style of antient art. They werecopied throughout Europe, and influenced artists as different asIngres, Géricault and Goya. Schlegel judged these to be Flaxmansbest illustrations. In Britain the engravings were reprinted severaltimes during Flaxmans lifetime and republished posthumously in 1831,1870 and 1879; other editions appeared in Hamburg (1802), Paris(1803) and possibly Rome (1818).

sourcewww.royalacademy

CONDITION

Thisfolio has been folded some time in the previous centuries, and stillbears the fold mark in the middle, but this can easily be sorted.

Thereis no binding, so the title page and the last plate are soiled.

Someage toning and soiling to some plates but most pages are clean (allthe details in the photos)

Idealfor a binding project!

Please have a look at my other rareEnglish or American books in my listings: Gertrud Stein, VitaSackville-West, Muybridge… and feel free to require complementarypictures or information.

JohnFlaxman RA (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptorand draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and EuropeanNeoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller forJosiah Wedgwoods pottery. He spent several years in Rome, where heproduced his first book illustrations. He was a prolific maker offunerary monuments.