Skelton’s Engraved Illustrations of the Principal Antiquities of Oxfordshire

Description

Original full tan diced Russia leather, elaborate gilt and blind frames to boards. Rebacked in near-matching calf with most of original backstrip laid down. Low raised bands, gilt decor, and gilt lettering to spine. Folio (28.5 x 35.2cm). Gilt decor to board edges and turn-ins. All edges gilt. Mild rubbing to board edges and boards. Hinges sound. Green endpapers discreetly repaired at gutters. Armorial bookplate of Thomas M. Lowndes to inside front board (likely Thomas Mee Lowndes (formerly Gorst) (1801-1853), barrister), with recent pictorial bookplate of Frank Greenhill (likely the expert in monumental brasses and incised effigial slabs). First edition of the topographical and antiquarian engraver Joseph Skelton’s Antiquities of Oxfordshire, engraved by Skelton after drawings by Frederick Mackenzie (1787-1854). Mackenzie was a topographical and architectural draughtsman and watercolourist who worked with Auguste Pugin, father of A. W. N. Pugin and one of the foremost architectural draughtsmen of his day; his style had much in common with Pugin’s, and they both drew on the work of John Nash. Frontis and engraved title page, with map of Oxfordshire and 50 further engraved plates, all with tissue guards, and numerous in-text illus. Accompanying text covers the areas according to Oxfordshire’s ancient divisions into ‘Hundreds’, each section with separate pagination. A little minor scattered foxing, but generally a clear copy of this impressive illustrated antiquarian work. Tracking can be added to overseas orders on request. Used books are exempt from USA tariffs.