Art criticism: American Pictures and painters New York 1849
[Art criticism: American.] Pictures and painters. Essays upon art: the old masters and modern artists. New York: George P. Putnam; London: Putnam's American Agency, removed from Paternoster Row to J. Chapman, 142 Strand, 1849. (2)vi, 49 pp. + six pages of bookseller's advertisements at the end. 12mo, original light tan printed wrappers. First edition. A collection of three pieces which had first appeared in American periodicals. The first and much the longest (pp. 1-36) is a review essay on Ruskin's Modern Painters by the prominent Massachusetts lawyer Franklin Dexter; the original printing was in the North American Review for January, 1848 (pp. 110-145). Ruskin's book had first been published anonymously in 1843 ("by a graduate of Oxford"), and his name did not appear on the title-page until the fifth edition of 1851. Dexter describes the Ruskin as "a well-educated man, a close and ntelligent observer of nature, familiar with the best works of art, and himself a practical, though, as we understand him, not a professional artist." The two shorter essays here are entitled "Thoughts upon Art," and "Art and Artists in America;" the authors have not been identified. In very fine condition. The NUC lists five copies (ViU, PP, MB, NBuG, NNU-W).
£250
This item is listed on Bibliopoly by Ximenes Rare Books Inc; click here for further details.