[Fifty small original, and elegant views of the most splendid churches, villages, rural prospects. and masterly pieces of architecture, adjacent to London]

2nd ed, 50 pls, c1755-1775. In contemporary blue paper wraps, neatly rebacked paper spine, 50 un-coloured engraved views, lacks titlepage, a few leaves trimmed within lower plate mark, stab sew to inner margin. Per ESTC, A reimpression of the octavo edition of 1750; the plates have been numbered, and the date removed from them; some now bear the imprint: London: printed for Robt. Sayer, oblong 15.6*9.5 cms. Rarely seen on the open market. (ESTC T144299). Please contact for the full plate list. The work consists of small views of churches and villages that surrounded early Georgian London; these include, among others, Chelsea, Battersea, Highgate, Hampstead, Barnes, Kew, and St Pancras. The views were the work of the topographical draughtsman Jean Chatelain (1710-1758), and engraved by James Roberts (1725-1799), most probably Henry's brother. The set was first published by Henry Roberts in around 1750 under the title: 'Fifty small original, and elegant views of the most splendid churches, villages, rural prospects. and masterly pieces of architecture, adjacent to London'. The present example can be dated to around 1775 as eight of the views bear the imprint of Robert Sayer. Sayer and his business partner John Bennett had acquired the plates sometime before 1775, as they appear in their sales catalogue of that year under the title: 'Fifty Views of Villages, &c. from the most agreeable Prospects near London,drawn by the celebrated M. Chatelain, may be had in the following Numbers, for the Amusement of Youth in drawing after Nature. Priced 6d. each'. The catalogue divides the views into eight numbered sections: the first three containing views of villages to the south and west; numbers 4 and 5 villages to the west and north; 6 and 7 north and east; and 8 the south; with the view at the beginning of each section bearing the imprint of Robert Sayer. We are only able to trace four complete examples, which bear the Sayer imprint: The New York Historical Society; the Folger Shakespeare Library; and the Yale Institute of British Art. The present example, without the title page - which would appear to never have been bound in with the present set -conforms to the example in the British Library; both the Folger, and N.Y.H.S. example bear a printed title page; with the Yale example bearing a title in manuscript. 0.…