Lot 176: GERNING, Baron Johann Isaak von (1767-1837). A Picturesque Tour along the...

GERNING, Baron Johann Isaak von (1767-1837). A Picturesque Tour along the Rhine from Mentz to Cologne with illustrations of the scenes of remarkable events, and of popular traditions. London: R. Ackermann, 1820 [plates watermarked 1819; text watermarked 1817.

First edition with beautifully hand-coloured aquatints depicting views of Mentz, the Castle of Furstenberg, the Pfalz Castle and the town of Kaub, the salmon fisheries at Lurley, Koblenz, Bornhofen, Cologne and other sites. With the September (rather than October) imprints on plates 2 and 3; this, combined with the early watermarks and the intensity of the aquatinting in the backgrounds on many of the plates, suggest that this is a very early issue. Abbey Travel 217; Tooley 234.

Quarto (334 x 273 mm). Publisher’s letterpress note to the reader inserted at front of the first part. 4 pp. list of subscribers, engraved double-page map, partly hand-coloured, and 24 fine hand-coloured aquatint plates, un-numbered, by D. Havell and T. Sutherland after C. G. Schutz (Original tissue guards somewhat foxed, generally not affecting plates, marginal rust-spot on C3-D2.) Contemporary gilt- and blind-tooled calf, recased with original sides and spine mounted on modern calf boards (rubbed); cloth slipcase. Provenance: acquired from Dauber and Pine, New York, 1930.