COOKE, Edward William.

Fifty plates of shipping and craft drawn and etched by E. W. Cooke.

London, 1829. 4to (300 x 230 mm), 50 etched plates (including the title and contents page); some light marginal soiling and a few marginal stains; original brown cloth; worn. First edition. A series of plates depicting a wide selection of sea-going vessels by E. W. Cooke, who is ‘noted for his drawings and etchings of ships, rigging, ropes and all the minutiae of the sea which he executed in fine detail’ (Brook-Hart p. 35). The various coastal scenes betray a deep knowledge and understading of marine craft, visible from his etchings of such ships as HMS Victory and the Discovery convict ship (wrongly described as the Discovery that accompanied Cook’s third voyage – it is in fact, Vancouver’s), to the small scenes of the stationer’s barge, Yarmouth cobles on the beach and a Dutch galliot. The Fifty plates, issued when Cooke was only 18, was republished in 1831 with additional plates as Sixty-five plates of shipping and craft. Both were published ‘with great success then, and [are] very much sought after now’ (Brook-Hart, British 19th century marine painting p. 33–35).‘Fifty plates of shipping and craft is a famous work and many of its plates have been reproduced as illustrations in other books over the years; indeed they still are, so strickingly “right”, natural and full of information are they . . . . Some of the appeal of this book is due, in the words of the marine artist Roger Finch, to Cooke’s faithful recording of a generation of sailing craft which, by the time photography had become possible, had largely disappeared. He “communicates a boy’s enthusiastic discovery of the world of canvas, rope and wooden ships with preternatural technical skill and understanding”. There were few craft which escaped the young artist’s attention for the smallest fishing boats working in river or from beach had characteristics of shape, construction and gear which rendered their type highly individual. The nature of their catches and of their fishing grounds, their method of working, their markets and other factors had produced an evolution which Cooke now recorded. His images, because of this analytical drawing, have an impact which is found in the works of only a few artists’ (Munday, Edward William Cooke p. 50–2).

• GBP 750.00 > otras divisas
• nº de pedido: T2112

• librero: Bernard Quaritch Ltd. (GREAT BRITAIN)