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Stunning collotypes and chromolithographs of Pompeii wall paintings in situ soon after their excavation

MAU, August.
Geschichte der decorativen Wandmalerei in Pompeji ... Mit 20 Tafeln in einer Mappe.
Berlin, G. Reimer, 1882. 1 text volume & 1 portfolio with plates. 8vo (text volume) and 1mo (plates portfolio 53 x 43 cm). With 20 large numbered plates showing Pompeii wall paintings in situ, mounted on card stock, loose in a separate portfolio with letterpress title-leaf and contents leaf: 9 sepia collotypes (21 x 16 to 26.5 x 24.5 cm) and 11 chromolithographs (21.5 x 19 to 37 x 36 cm), no. 18 actually comprising 7 small chromolithographs on 1 card, each plate with a letterpress label on the back; and 7 black and white floor plans in the text. Contemporary half sheepskin parchment (text); contemporary blue half cloth portfolio (plates). XII, 462 pp.
€ 7,500
First and only edition of a detailed and beautifully colour-illustrated study of Pompeii wall paintings by Augustus Mau, who "knew as much about Pompeii as any other scholar at the time and seems always to have been willing to share the latest information from new excavations with visiting scholars" (Pedley, p. 23). In the present book he established the classification scheme still often used today, distinguishing four different styles that he believed represented chronological phases, though this remains a point of dispute among archaeologists. Most importantly his stunning and richly-coloured chromolithographs and detailed collotypes show the wall paintings in situ and in the state they were found during the archaeological excavations. Besides their extraordinary beauty and their interest as examples of the scientific use of these reproduction techniques, they therefore also provide an extremely important record of the material, before attempts at restoration, the removal of items from their original context,
The portfolio with a contemporary owner's inscription and library stamps. With tears along the gutter fold of the final leaf and a couple others, but otherwise in very good condition, with only an occasional minor spot in the text and probably lacking a final blank leaf. The front board of the portfolio somewhat spotted. A stunning display of Pompeii wall paintings in situ, soon after their excavation. Estelle Lazer, Resurrecting Pompeii (2009), p. 9; John G. Pedley, Life and work of Francis Willey Kelsey (2012), pp. 23-24, 53-55; not in BAL.
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Art, architecture & photography  >  Architecture & Gardens | Art & Art History
Europe  >  France, Greece & Italy
History, law & philosophy  >  Archaeology & Classical Antiquity | History