Catalogue Of The Valuable Collection Of Mezzotint Engravings Chiefly In The First State

Author : UNKNOWN. AUTHOR
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781332055715
Total Pages : 84 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (557 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Guide to an Exhibition of Mezzotint Engravings written by UNKNOWN. AUTHOR and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-07-28 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Guide to an Exhibition of Mezzotint Engravings: Chiefly From the Cheylesmore Collection The object of the present exhibition is to illustrate the history of Mezzotint Engraving from the date of its invention in 1642 down to that of its change and falling-off about 1820. The materials for the exhibition are derived chiefly from the bequest of the late Lord Cheylesmore, who died in August 1902, leaving to the Museum the whole of his celebrated collection of British mezzotint portraits. The examples drawn from this source are supplemented by others, in the proportion of about one to four or five, which were already in the Museum collection before the date of the Cheylesmore bequest, having been acquired, some by purchase and some by gift or legacy from earlier benefactors of the institution, e, g. Mr. Cracherode, Mr. Slade, or (as in the special instances of James Ward and William Say) the engravers themselves. The number of mezzotints now shown is 641, less than a twentieth certainly, probably less than a thirtieth, of the total number of this class of print preserved in the Museum. But in no class is there so great a difference between ordinary impressions, which are weak, worn, or rubbed, and those, relatively very rare, which are brilliant and well-preserved. The prints here put on view are all picked impressions, chosen with a view, first to their technical quality, so as to represent the art in its several stages at its best and most effective; and secondly to their historical interest, so as to form a full and varied gallery of national portraiture from the Restoration to the Regency. They are arranged in three series, A, B, and C; this arrangement being dictated by considerations partly of size and partly of chronology. Three standard sizes of mount are employed for prints in the Museum collection; royal, which is the smallest; imperial, the middle; and atlas, the largest. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.