![PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista (1720-1778). Carceri d'invenzione. [Rome: G.B. Piranesi, mid- to late-1770s.]](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2005/CKS/2005_CKS_07088_0171_000(110230).jpg?w=1)
Details
PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista (1720-1778). Carceri d'invenzione. [Rome: G.B. Piranesi, mid- to late-1770s.]
2° (593 x 458mm). Etched title and 15 plates by and after Piranesi [bound: Robison 29/VIII; 43/V; 30/V; 31/V; 44/II; 32/VI; 33/V; 34/V; 35/VII; 36/V; 37/VI; 38/V; 39/V; 40/V; 41/VI; 42/V]. Extra-illustrated with a plate from the Descrizione e disegno dell'Emissario del Lago Albano. (Some light browning and dampstaining, occasional small perforations or abrasions, some reinforced tears on centre folds.) Late 18th-century marbled boards (some rubbing, rebacked with coated cloth, splitting on hinges and block). Provenance: William Grieve (1800-1844, booklabel on upper pastedown) -- John Duke Coleridge, first Baron Coleridge, 3 December 1852 (1820-1894, presentation inscription, recording gilt from his mother; [?]his sale, Sotheby's, 4-8 May 1896, to:) -- A.J. Coleridge (ALS tipped onto endpaper, recording the purchase of the volume, subsequent repairs, and gift to:) -- Bernard John Seymour Coleridge, second Baron Coleridge (1851-1927, bookplate).
SECOND EDITION, FOURTH ISSUE, THE LAST PUBLISHED IN PIRANESI'S LIFETIME. WILLIAM GRIEVE'S COPY. William Grieve was the son of John Henderson Grieve and younger brother of Thomas Grieve, and the Grieve family were, with Clarkson Stanfield and David Roberts, amongst the foremost British scenographic artists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, working for Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Charles Keen, and others. Their influence was particularly great in the second quarter of the 19th century, when the introduction of gas lighting into theatres, coupled with increasing sophistication of stage machinery, accelerated the development of a more realistic and illusionistic style of stage design, informed by gothic sensibilities. In the context of this aesthetic, Piranesi's Carceri would have been a most influential visual source and inspiration for William Grieve, who was not only a highly-regarded scenographer, specialising in historical, fantastical and picturesque designs (and reputedly the first to be called before a theatre's curtain for the audience's applause), but also an acclaimed painter who exhibited landscapes and architectural canvases at the Royal Academy and British Institution from 1826 to 1839. In 1852 the volume was given to John Duke Coleridge, first Baron Coleridge, Member of Parliament, and Lord Chief Justice of England. Following his death in 1894, his library was sold, and this volume was purchased at the sale by a cousin of Bernard Coleridge, second Baron Coleridge (and, like his father, a Member of Parliament and judge); the volume was given to Baron Coleridge and thus returned to the family library. Hind p. 81; Robison pp. 139-210.
2° (593 x 458mm). Etched title and 15 plates by and after Piranesi [bound: Robison 29/VIII; 43/V; 30/V; 31/V; 44/II; 32/VI; 33/V; 34/V; 35/VII; 36/V; 37/VI; 38/V; 39/V; 40/V; 41/VI; 42/V]. Extra-illustrated with a plate from the Descrizione e disegno dell'Emissario del Lago Albano. (Some light browning and dampstaining, occasional small perforations or abrasions, some reinforced tears on centre folds.) Late 18th-century marbled boards (some rubbing, rebacked with coated cloth, splitting on hinges and block). Provenance: William Grieve (1800-1844, booklabel on upper pastedown) -- John Duke Coleridge, first Baron Coleridge, 3 December 1852 (1820-1894, presentation inscription, recording gilt from his mother; [?]his sale, Sotheby's, 4-8 May 1896, to:) -- A.J. Coleridge (ALS tipped onto endpaper, recording the purchase of the volume, subsequent repairs, and gift to:) -- Bernard John Seymour Coleridge, second Baron Coleridge (1851-1927, bookplate).
SECOND EDITION, FOURTH ISSUE, THE LAST PUBLISHED IN PIRANESI'S LIFETIME. WILLIAM GRIEVE'S COPY. William Grieve was the son of John Henderson Grieve and younger brother of Thomas Grieve, and the Grieve family were, with Clarkson Stanfield and David Roberts, amongst the foremost British scenographic artists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, working for Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Charles Keen, and others. Their influence was particularly great in the second quarter of the 19th century, when the introduction of gas lighting into theatres, coupled with increasing sophistication of stage machinery, accelerated the development of a more realistic and illusionistic style of stage design, informed by gothic sensibilities. In the context of this aesthetic, Piranesi's Carceri would have been a most influential visual source and inspiration for William Grieve, who was not only a highly-regarded scenographer, specialising in historical, fantastical and picturesque designs (and reputedly the first to be called before a theatre's curtain for the audience's applause), but also an acclaimed painter who exhibited landscapes and architectural canvases at the Royal Academy and British Institution from 1826 to 1839. In 1852 the volume was given to John Duke Coleridge, first Baron Coleridge, Member of Parliament, and Lord Chief Justice of England. Following his death in 1894, his library was sold, and this volume was purchased at the sale by a cousin of Bernard Coleridge, second Baron Coleridge (and, like his father, a Member of Parliament and judge); the volume was given to Baron Coleridge and thus returned to the family library. Hind p. 81; Robison pp. 139-210.
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