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First American edition, after the first London edition of 1815, of John Varley's Practical Treatise on Perspective, and "only the second work devoted to perspective issued in the United States" (Miles & Reese). John Varley (1778 1842) was an English watercolor painter and art teacher who published a number of art manuals. A letter from the Baltimore publisher, Fielding Lucas, Jr., to Mathew Carey dated March 16, 1819, in which Lucas mentions this edition, suggests the 1819 date of publication, although Shaw & Shoemaker date it to 1820 (see Schimmelman and Foster). Fielding Lucas, Jr., (1781 1854) was "perhaps the most successful American publisher of 1810 1830" (Reese) and "pioneered the use of color in American book illustration" (Miles & Reese). In 1827, he would go on to publish Lucas' Progressive Drawing Book, the text of which was based on another drawing book by Varley entitled A Treatise on the Principles of Landscape Design; with General Observations and Instructions to Young Artists. While the present work does not feature any of Lucas' color illustrations, it does include three diagrammatic plates on two folding sheets at rear. Most of the text serves to explain and elaborate on the plates, which illustrate aspects of perspective. We find no records of this edition at auction. OCLC locates copies at fifteen institutions across five records. A good copy, in contemporary binding, of a scarce early American drawing book. AMERICAN IMPRINTS 4082. SCHIMMELMAN, AMERICAN IMPRINTS ON ART 597. MILES & REESE, AMERICA PICTURED TO THE LIFE 80 (see also no.79). REESE, STAMPED WITH A NATIONAL CHARACTER 7 (ref). James W. Foster, "Fielding Lucas, Jr., Early 19th Century Publisher of Fine Books and Maps" in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, Vol. 65, part 2 (October 1955), p.195. OCLC 228703733, 68159606, 68159606, 229896523, 261232291. Contemporary quarter straight-grain red morocco and marbled paper boards. Binding rubbed, moderate edgewear, front joint fully cracked, but board holding by single cord, rear joint starting, leather chipped at spine head. Text tanned, dampstained throughout, with moderate foxing to front and rear blanks, half-title, and second folding plate. Good.
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