HASSELL, Picturesque Rides Walks, england, 2 vols, 1817 Start Price GBP 949.99 Current Price GBP 949.99 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Thursday, July 24, 2008 End Time Sunday, August 03, 2008 Location Ascot, Royal County of Berkshire See more about 'HASSELL, Picturesque Rides Walks, england, 2 vols, 1817' Description   Picturesque Rides and Walks, with Excursions by Water, Thirty Miles round the British Metropolis; Illustrated in a Series of Engravings, Coloured after Nature: with an Historical and Topographical Description of the Country within the Compass of that Circle. (2 volumes)byJ. Hassell ** PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR MORE PICTURES ** DETAILS: (London): Printed for J. Hassell, 1817-18. First edition. Contemporary half calf, with cloth boards. viii, 249, [11]; 272, [12]pp. Illustrated with 120 hand-coloured aquatint plates. 8vo (standard sized book - 5.5in x 8.5in). This is a heavy item weighing over 1.25kg with packaging. CONDITION: Very Good (see table below for details). Both volumes: Some rubbing to leather on boards and spine, small nick to top of spine on Volume 1. Bookplate to front endpapers, signature to front endpaper and front fly leaf of Volume 1. Light foxing to many pages, and to some plates at borders. Heavier foxing to some pages at margins, a few aquatints have faint foxing (heavier to frontispiece in Volume 1), but generally plates are in lovely condition. Binding solid. *Photo(s) given of actual book. CONTENTS: "In 1817 was published [Hassell’s] Picturesque Rides and Walks round the British Metropolis, two dumpy volumes in small octavo. These are copiously illustrated by a hundred and twenty views, which, though small, are charmingly composed and tinted, and make an interesting record of the topography of London and its suburbs in the early part of last century, when Paddington and Kensington were still rural villages. The sixty plates of the first volume are all drawn and engraved by Hassell; in the second volume the majority are by D. Havell after Hassell" (Martin Hardie). This is the large paper first edition of this impressive travel work, covering journeys in the London area, and quite beautifully illustrated by writer-artist Hassell. The tour provides some historical notes on a number of towns and villages in the south-east of England. Volume 1 includes St Albans, Hendon, Croydon, Hornsey, Box Hill, Kew (including a separate section on the Gardens), Hainault Forest and Fairlop Oak, the River Wandle, Carshalton Park, Tooting, Morden, Epsom, Leatherhead, Leith Hill, Streatham, Highgate, Finchley, East Barnet, Muswell Hill, Hadley, Elstree, Great Stanmore, Edgeware, and Hampton Court Palace. Volume 2 starts with a section on London, including Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, Kensington, Hammersmith, Brentford, Hounslow, and moves on to Windsor (and the Castle), Runny Mead, Chertsey, Teddington, Richmond, Fulham, Chelsea, then continues with Kent tours, including Bromley, Chislehurst, Foot's Cray, Farningham, Seven Oaks, Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone, Rochester, Chatham, Gravesend, Greenwich, Romford, Brentwood, Ongar, Epping, Walthamstow, Hoddesdon, Ware, Hatfield, Luton, Berkhamstead, Rickmansworth, Beaconsfield, Eton, Uxbridge, Esher, Paine's Hill, Guildford and Godalming. The binders directions list 120 plates in total, 60 in each work. In this set, there are 59 in the first volume, and 61 in the second, though some are not bound according to the directions, however all the plates are present. The frontispiece of Volume 1 has some foxing, and there are light patches to a couple of other plates, but otherwise the aquatints are in quite stunning condition, beautifully engraved and coloured. They include views of: Barnet Town, Carshalton Park, East Barnet Church, Hadley Church, Holland House, Kew Palace, Ivy Cottage, Leatherhead Town and Bridge, Mitcham Grove, Highgate Archway, Norbury Park, Ridge Church, St Albans' Abbey, West Clandon, Brocket Hall, Burnham, Hampstead Heath, Iver, Kelvedon Hall, King John's Palace, Melrose Hall, Nether Hall, Sunbridge Park, and Windsor Castle, as well as many of the towns mentioned above. A rare and lovely work, and an impressive example of aquatint engravings in the early 19th century.   key words: On 10-Jul-07 at 22:32:52 BST, seller added the following information: Powered by eBay Turbo Lister Place a Bid!