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64 lovely coloured views of Vienna and vicinity in Beethoven’s time

EISNER, Josef, [and others?].
Collection de vues des prinéipaux [recté principaux] palais, eglises, bâtimens publies, campagnes & jardins tant de Vienne que de ses environs. | Ansichten Sam[m]lung der berühmtesten Palläste, Gebäude, und der schönsten Gegenden von und um Wien.
Vienna, Maria Geissler, [1812]. Large oblong 16m? (11 x 13.5 cm). With an engraved title-page and 64 (of a possible 100) engraved plates numbered 1-56, 58-61, and odd numbers 63-73 (including 2 folding plates with 2 numbers each, 21/22 and 23/24). Hand-coloured in watercolour by a contemporary hand. Contemporary half sheepskin, gold-tooled spine. [1], "73" [= 64] engraved ll.
€ 6,500
A series of charming views of Vienna and its environs in the middle of Beethoven's thirty-five years there, around the time Wagner was born there, and about eight years after it became the capital of the new Austrian Empire, including views of Baden, Klosterneuburg, Bratislava and other neighbouring sites, all attractively and artistically coloured by a contemporary hand. It shows palaces, castles and ruins, churches, chapels and the Vienna cathedral, gardens and pavilions, city streets and squares, the spa at Baden, Christoph de Bach's Circus Gymnasticus, the lavish Apollo Saal, views along the Danube and more. The famous streets, squares, buildings and interiors appear bustling with fashionable ladies and gentlemen, pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages, and the river full of boats. Four views are signed by the artist, Josef Eisner (1788-1861), and about a third by the engraver, mostly Johann Jaresch (but two by Johann Boehm (ca. 1770-post 1821), probably as engraver). All plates are captioned in French and German, and numbered in the centre.
With early owner's name. Although this book can have 100 plates, there is no evidence that any have been removed and none is numbered higher than 73. The present copy may therefore have been issued before the series was complete. The fact that most plates are still in their first states supports that suggestion. With a small stain affecting a couple letters on the title-page, an occasional lighter spot in some of the plates, and part of 1 letter shaved in one caption, but still in good condition. The binding is slightly worn, but is also still good. Lovely coloured views of Vienna when it was the musical and in many ways the cultural capital of Europe. Bobins 1037; KVK & WorldCat (8 copies, incl. at least 2 with less than 100 pl.); Nebehay & Wagner 193; not in Abbey, Travel.
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Art, architecture & photography  >  Architecture & Gardens | Drawings, Prints & Watercolours
Cartography & exploration  >  Geography, Topography & Views
Europe  >  Central & Eastern Europe | Drawings, Photographs, Prints & Watercolours