![[Proof frontispiece from John Bell's 'The poets of Great Britain, complete from Chaucer to Churchill]](jpegs/43130.jpg)
[Proof frontispiece from John Bell's 'The poets of Great Britain, complete from Chaucer to Churchill][Churchill vol. 1 / Let one poor sprig of Bay around my head / Bloom... Candidate line 145]
[Cipriani del. Bartolozzi sculp.t]
[Printed for John Bell ... London Jul. 19th 1779]
Etching and engraving printed in sepia, platemark 140 x 95mm (5½ x 3¾"). Thread margins; glued to backing sheet; glue stains at corners. Fine proof impression before all letters.
Proof impression of one of twenty-one frontispieces that Francesco Bartolozzi (1725-1815) made for John Bell's 'The Poets of Great Britain', which he published from 1777-82. Bell's edition consisted of 109 volumes in a relatively cheap yet well-produced pocket format, and was a great success. This print, in its later lettered state, was the frontispiece to the first of Bell's edition of poems by Charles Churchill (1732-64). It included a line from his poem 'The Candidate', an attack on John Montagu, earl of Sandwich (1718-92) and his candidature for the high stewardship of Cambridge University. Bartolozzi (1725-1815) was a Florentine engraver who in 1768 was elected as a founding member of the Royal Academy in London (the RA did not admit engravers at this time but made an exception in his case). He was already hailed as the best engraver in Italy when he met George III's librarian Richard Dalton in 1763. Dalton invited Bartolozzi to London with a promise of an appointment as engraver to the king. In England he became the most celebrated exponent of the 'stipple' technique whereby he produced prints using dots rather than lines. In 1801 Bartolozzi was invited to Lisbon to reform the royal printing press, and he spent his final years in Portugal. Fine impression from the collection of Dr. Augusto Calabi of Milan, art historian who co-authored (with A.B. de Vesme) the authoritative catalogue raisonné of Bartolozzi's work.
Calabi & de Vesme 1651 i/ii; for a portrait of Churchill see ref. 27339.
[Ref: 43130] £110.00
[Printed for John Bell ... London Jul. 19th 1779]
Etching and engraving printed in sepia, platemark 140 x 95mm (5½ x 3¾"). Thread margins; glued to backing sheet; glue stains at corners. Fine proof impression before all letters.
Proof impression of one of twenty-one frontispieces that Francesco Bartolozzi (1725-1815) made for John Bell's 'The Poets of Great Britain', which he published from 1777-82. Bell's edition consisted of 109 volumes in a relatively cheap yet well-produced pocket format, and was a great success. This print, in its later lettered state, was the frontispiece to the first of Bell's edition of poems by Charles Churchill (1732-64). It included a line from his poem 'The Candidate', an attack on John Montagu, earl of Sandwich (1718-92) and his candidature for the high stewardship of Cambridge University. Bartolozzi (1725-1815) was a Florentine engraver who in 1768 was elected as a founding member of the Royal Academy in London (the RA did not admit engravers at this time but made an exception in his case). He was already hailed as the best engraver in Italy when he met George III's librarian Richard Dalton in 1763. Dalton invited Bartolozzi to London with a promise of an appointment as engraver to the king. In England he became the most celebrated exponent of the 'stipple' technique whereby he produced prints using dots rather than lines. In 1801 Bartolozzi was invited to Lisbon to reform the royal printing press, and he spent his final years in Portugal. Fine impression from the collection of Dr. Augusto Calabi of Milan, art historian who co-authored (with A.B. de Vesme) the authoritative catalogue raisonné of Bartolozzi's work.
Calabi & de Vesme 1651 i/ii; for a portrait of Churchill see ref. 27339.
[Ref: 43130] £110.00