BEAUTIFULLY BOUND, WITH 104 LITHOGRAPHIC PLATES OF THE “STATELY HOMES” OF ENGLAND

NASH, Joseph. The Mansions of England in the Olden Time. London: Henry Southeran and Company, 1874. Folio, publisher's full navy blue morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated boards and spine, with red morocco onlays to boards, raised bands, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. $1500.

Later edition of this illustrated survey of the “stately homes” of England, with 104 lithographic plates, beautifully bound.

Between 1839 and 1849 Nash published "his great work, in four series, Mansions of England in the Olden Time, which was highly successful, and has maintained its reputation" (DNB). "To prepare these 100 lithographs of surviving country houses of the 15th to 17th centuries, many of them little known, Nash roamed the country and sketched each one thoroughly on site. He confined himself strictly to reproducing architectural details, exterior and interior, but enlivened them romantically with scenes of Tudor domestic life, feasting, and revels that he researched carefully in the antiquarian works of Joseph Strutt… The Mansions' combination of architectural and antiquarian accuracy with contemporary values was devastatingly effective" (ODNB). Nash's romantic re-imaginings include scenes of Henry VIII wooing Anne Boleyn at her ancestral home and young William Shakespeare being brought before a neighboring landowner on poaching charges, as well as many glimpses of everyday life in the historic mansions of England. Beautifully detailed gilt armorial devices on boards and spine.

Moderate foxing, paper repairs to page 9/10 and front inner paper hinge, expert repairs to joints and spine ends. A beautiful production.