Views in Rome and its environs: Drawn from Nature and on Stone by Edward Lear

London: T.M'Lean. 1841.

First edition. Folio. 540x365mm. Twenty five lithographed plates, lacking list of subscribers. Original quarter red morocco with green watered silk, title in gilt to upper cover and spine. Corners worn and some tears and fading to the silk. Spine rubbed and with a small tear. Some foxing and splitting with the occasional loose leaf. Overall though a nice copy with the lithographs in very good condition. Front pastedown has the armorial bookplate of Philip Hamond and there is a gift inscription to "Richenda Buxton from T. Fowell Buxton. Dec 25th 1841". Thomas Fowell Buxton (1786-1845) was an MP who was best known for his work on the abolition of slavery in British colonies.
"Beginning in 1837 Lear spent several winters in Italy. Views in Rome records his first impressions of the land that was to become a second home to him. In these panoramic lithographs he is more concerned with the dramatic scenery around Rome than with the Holy City itself. Their freshness and ample size combine to make them his most successful topographical prints..." (Gordon Norton Ray, The Illustrator and the Book in England from 1790 to 1914, p. 59)