A PICTURESQUE ILLUSTRATION OF THE ISLAND OF CEYLON (1808) with AFRICAN SCENERY AND ANIMALS (Second and best edition, 1831)

Daniell (Samuel) A PICTURESQUE ILLUSTRATION OF THE SCENERY, ANIMALS, AND NATIVE INHABITANTS OF THE ISLAND OF CEYLON: in Twelve Plates, Engraved After the Drawings (from nature) of Samuel Daniell.

11 hand coloured aquatints and one soft-ground coloured etching, each inscribed ‘Drawn by Samuel Daniell, No.9. Cleveland Street, Fitzroy Square, each with tissue guards. 4 pages of descriptive text bound in before the plates, some light foxing on the tissue guards, plates in fine condition. London, Printed by T. Bensley, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, Published January 15, 1808

Bound with:

DANIELL (Samuel) AFRICAN SCENERY AND ANIMALS. Second (and best) edition, in two parts, 30 hand coloured aquatints, each inscribed ‘Drawn by Samuel Daniell. London . Published 1831 by R. Havell, 77 Oxford Street, each with tissue guards. 2 engraved dedication pages and 4 pages of descriptive text bound in before the plates, some light foxing on the tissue guards, plates in fine condition. The dedication pages are inscribed, ‘Republished by Robt. Havell, 77 Oxford Street.’

Bound together in half green roan with mauve moiré cloth sides, titled in gilt along the spine Daniell, Ceylon and Africa between gilt decorated panels, the leather at the top and bottom of the spine is splitting and the corners are bumped and worn, the plates are vividly hand coloured, some foxing on the tissue guards. The plates are coloured in a much more confident manner than is evident in the earlier edition, where the effect tends to be paler. It appears that Havell was able to draw upon the talents of the highly-experienced colourists who were in the middle of dealing with the magnificent plates that make up J J Audubon's 'Birds of America' - were they employed here? We cannot be sure, but, without doubt, the results are spectacular.

 A spacious copy measuring 650 x 464 mm.

 Mendelssohn (Sydney) South African Bibliography, volume 1, page 411.

 Tooley (R.V.) English Books with Coloured Plates 1790 to 1860, Batsford, London 1954, no. 169, ‘Reissued in 1831 with the text to the plates compressed on to 4 leaves, Daniell’s imprint removed from the plates which all bear the new imprint, London, Published 1831 by R. Havell, 77 Oxford Street. This reissue is extremely rare.’

 Abbey (J.R.) Travel in Aquatint and Lithography 1770 - 1860, Volume I, no. 321, describes this folio as follows, "In Mendelssohn's opinion this is 'the scarcest and most valuable of the large atlas folios of South African illustrations.' Samuel Daniell arrived at the Cape on 9 December 1799. He was appointed by Lieutentant-General Dundas, who became his patron there, and to whom the first volume (part) is dedicated, to act as secretary to a mission to the 'Booshuanas'. The expedition eventually reached Lataku, at that time the limit of European exploration, and was the source for Daniell of the plates."

 Sutton (Thomas) THE DANIELLS, Artists and Travellers, The Bodley Head, London, 1954

 Dr Frank R. Bradlow, in his comprehensive introduction to the facsimile reprint of AFRICAN SCENERY AND ANIMALS, published by A.A. Balkema,  Cape Town in 1976, discusses the second issue of 1831, ‘In 1831 R. Havell issued the album for a second time. According to Sutton ‘the colour is laid on much more heavily than in the original edition.’ There were only four pages of text and the imprint has been altered to London, Published 1831 by R. Havell, 77 Oxford Street. Some of the plates are watermarked J. Whatman, Turkey Mill, 1831 and others 1832 but plate no.1 The Korah Hottentot Village is watermarked 1834. In 1839 Robert Havell, Jr. left for the United States at the invitation of James Audubon becoming his close friend and collaborator.

 ‘This edition is very rare……There appear to be five differences between the two editions, (a) all the plates in the re-issue carry the wording, “London / Published 1831 by R. Havell, 77 Oxford Street; (b) the  colour is laid on much more heavily than in the original edition”; (c) the wording on the dedication pages has been altered; (d) the dedication pages  bear the words “London,/ Published 1831 by R. Havell, 77 Oxford Street.” in large lettering on the first, and “London / Published by R. Havell, 77 Oxford Street” in small lettering on the second; (e) the caption text is on four pages only.’

 Abbey (J.R.) Travel in Aquatint and Lithography 1770 - 1860, Volume II, no. 410, PICTURESQUE ILLUSTRATION OF THE SCENERY, ANIMALS, AND NATIVE INHABITANTS OF THE ISLAND OF CEYLON, calls for the plates to be watermarked 1801 but in this copy the watermark is 1811. The watermark of text agrees with Abbey as 1801. The plates are signed:  Drawn by Samuel Daniell London, Published by Samuel Daniell, No.9 Cleveland Street, Fitzroy Square, 1807. Sutton comments (page 108) ‘It would be difficult to make a choice of the masterpiece among these plates, but for sheer beauty perhaps that of the Spotted Antelope should be singled out for special praise; indeed it must surely rank among the most lovely aquatints ever published….Other lovely plates are those of the Wild Boar, with the magnificent background, and the quiet, almost unearthly beauty of the Distant View of Trincomanle.’ The 1811 watermarks means that the Ceylon book is an unrecorded second issue - the date when the plates were produced remains uncertain, but colouring of both works is of a similarly high standard and as they are bound together it is certainly possible that the plates were coloured at the same time.