Journals of a landscape painter in southern Calabria.

London: Richard Bentley, 1852. First Edition. . Hardcover. See Description. Edward Lear. 8vo. pp. XX, [4], 281, [1] With 21 sepia lithograph plates including 2 maps. Bound in publisher's blind stamped blue cloth; corners slightly bumped; re-backed preserving original gilt cloth spine - some wear, spots of discoloring, a couple letters faded. Endpapers are renewed in matching cream paper. Old inscription written on half title dated 1853; tiny date stamp on upper corner of title page; rear fly-leaf marked "National Library of Canada Seen by NLC." No other institutional markings. Scattered foxing - usually mild (heavier on verso blanks of some plates). The frontispiece map displays light but uniformly distributed foxing; 3-4 plates contain heavier spots of foxing - mostly marginal. A generally sound and attractive copy. Edward Lear (1812-1888) - English artist who is best known for the caricatures in his numerous nonsense books. Lear, however, was also an extensive traveler who produced illustrated accounts of his journeys. His journals in Southern Calabria contain not only beautiful landscape illustrations but also offer many interesting anecdotes concerning life in the Italian peninsula's southernmost province. [Abbey, Travel, 175; Lowndes p. 1328-29].