Whatman 1834 watermark upper left.īased on a composition painted in London in 1835. Engraved, printed, and hand-colored by English artist Robert Havell Jr. In excellent condition with clean paper and strong colorsĬomes from Audubon's monumental book volume "The Birds of America", (Havell Edition, 1827-1838), which consists of 435 hand-colored, life-size prints, made from engraved plates, with each sheet originally measuring around 39" x 26". Publisher: John James Audubon, London, UKĬondition: One small tear upper left in margin which has been professionally repaired. Medium: Original Hand-Colored Engraving with Aquatint on double-elephant folio, J. Portfolio: The Birds of America (Havell Edition) Title: "Red Phalarope" (Plate CCLV - 255 Part No. Margin trimmed, with usual light center fold.Īrtist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) It is as though Signor Piranesi has simply stepped away for a few moments (perhaps to indulge the opium pipe some thought behind this early work of genius), and we are privileged to see how matters are coming along.Ī strong, richly–inked and textured impression. For us, it is easy to imagine these images as in-process, provisional, the drawing headed in directions not yet fully decided.
Technical matters aside, connoisseurs are said to appreciate the first edition images for their direct, sketch-like qualities, something lost in the re-workings. For example, with the offered print, Piranesi expert Andrew Robison notes that “there are no state changes among the first three issues of this first edition (printed before 1749 and in 1749) but that “seven out of ten impressions of this plate in sets in the Third Issue do show ink dabbing on (the) base of (the) well (in the) foreground.” Ours does not, which suggests it may predate the Third Issue. Even today, some aspects of the history of the first printing remain murky.
These are the images with which we are now most familiar.Įxamples from the first state printing of Invenzione are so scarce that it was not until the first part of the 20th century, more than 150 years after their printing, that their existence was acknowledged by scholars. For the second edition, Piranesi changed this title to Carceri Invenzione, added two plates, we well as heavily (and darkly) re-working the original plates. The first edition of his imaginary prisons extended to fourteen etched and engraved images, published in 1749 and titled Invenzione Capric di Carceri all Acqua Forte…. 19 (1911).įrom the first (exceedingly scarce) printing of the most famous set of etchings made by the 18th century’s most famous (and prolific) etcher of architectural scenes, this imaginary scene, The Well, was first printed in 1749, early on in Piranesi’s long career, which extended until his death in 1778. “Whether these wonderful plates of architectural fancy originated in the delirium of a fevered brain or not, they at least proceed from a genius at the fever heat of imagination….(N)owhere except in the Carceri did he let his imagination have such unbounded play.”Īrthur Hind,”Giovanni Battista Piranesi and His Career.” Burlington Magazine, Vol. Watermark – fleur-de-lis in single oval, similar to Robison #5 and others. The Well, Plate XIII of Invenzioni Capric di Carceri s.Įtching, engraving, scratching, burnishing Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720 – 1778). About Rare first edition etching from Piranesi's most famous series, the Carceri.
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