Simpson William 1823 (10 results)

Paperback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days.

Paperback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days.

First and Second series complete with dedication and lists of plates, 12 pages of text to the first volume and 14 pages to the second volume. 79 fine large hand coloured lithograph plates and two hand coloured vignette title pages heightened with gum Arabic. Plates by E. Walker, J. Needham and others after Simpson, each plate with a tissue guard. The plates number 81 when the vignettes to the titles are counted. Bound with 36 key plates (20 and 16)- small descriptive outline etched plates as keys to the larger lithographs. Half period red morocco, cloth boards, spine lettered and ruled gilt The rare deluxe hand coloured issue of a brilliant record of the war in the Crimea in 1854, by William Simpson, "Crimean" Simpson the first great war correspondent and artist, and a man who "occupied a unique position in art" (DNB). William Simpson, artist and war correspondent, was born in Glasgow in 1823. "In 1835 Simpson entered an architect's office in Glasgow, and there his taste for art was developed, two years later he was apprenticed to the firm of Allan & Ferguson, lithographers, Glasgow. David Allan took much interest in his apprentice, and confided to him the task of sketching many old buildings for Stuart's Views of Glasgow, which was published in 1848 by the firm. Simpson removed to London in 1851, and was employed by Day & Son, then the leading lithographers. After the Crimean war broke out Simpson was engaged upon views of the Baltic battles for Colnaghi & Son; and when that firm decided to publish a large illustrated work on the Crimean campaign from sketches made on the spot, Simpson was selected for the work on Day's recommendation. He started on short notice, arrived at Balaclava in November 1854, and remained with the British army till the fall of Sebastopol. Simpson was thus the pioneer war-artist, and received several commissions to paint incidents in the war for the Queen. The Seat of the War in the East was published in two volumes by Colnaghi in 1855-6, and is still regarded as a brilliant example of lithographic work." (DNB) The work was published in two basic forms. The cheaper issue included uncoloured tinted plates, and the deluxe issue hand-coloured plates, as here. The latter is much to be preferred: the beauty of the countryside, the drama of the battle-scenes, the strong contrast of the brilliantly coloured uniforms against the Crimean landscape, all these can only be really successfully rendered using the full palette of colours shown in the hand-coloured issue. 'These plates are indeed an impressive piece of work, not only artistically and technically, but also as pictorial reporting.' (Abbey). What Simpson set out to do with his images, the 'Times' correspondent William Howard Russell did with his words. The present copy also includes an additional, unsigned, chromolithograph, the subject - a symbolic one titled 'Spring in Crimea' - is in its way as memorable as the red poppies of Flanders field: in front of a gun emplacement, amongst discarded cannon balls, the artist has focused on the emerging wild crocuses, perfect exclamation marks of yellow amidst the destruction of war. Following the success of this work, Simpson went on to record with pen and pencil many 'exotic' locations, visiting Circassia, Hindostan, Tibet, the Himalayas, Russia, Jerusalem, Abyssinia, Suez, China, San Francisco, Yosemite, Utah, Niagara, Kentucky, Mycenae, Troy, Ephesus, and Afghanistan. He finally settled in Willesden on the outskirts of London in 1885, where he spent the remainder of his life in literary work, and he died there on 17 Aug. 1899. Abbey Travel 237; Lipperheide Qc 27; cf. M. Archer Visions of India: The sketchbooks of William Simpson (1986); Atabey 146 (reduced version). Not in Tooley or Blackmer. Folio (22 x 15 inches); 2 parts in 1 volume.

Condition: molto buono. Due volumi, folio (552 x 360). Volume I: titolo litografato, pagina di dedica, 12 pagine (descrizione delle tavole ) e 39 litografie a colori  (alcune con esplicazioni ), numerate 2-40 (il numero 1 è la pagina del titolo);  Volume II: titolo litografato, 12 pagine (descrizione delle tavole) e 40 litografie a colori  (alcune con esplicazioni ), numerate 1-41 (la tavola numero 37 è la pagina del titolo). Legatura coeva in mezza pelle rossa, dorso riccamente ornato, piatti marmorizzati, tagli dorati (la parte inferiore del dorso del secondo volume abilmente restaurata). Qualche brunitura e piccole e macchie, ma ottimo esemplare.Prima edizione. Durante la guerra di Crimea William Simpson fu inviato dai tipografi Colnaghi & Son, su raccomandazione di Day. In Crimea e Balaklava divenne un artista di guerra pionieristico, registrando le battaglie navali e facendo schizzi accurati sul posto. I suoi disegni furono poi sottoposti a Lord Raglan e mostrati alla regina Vittoria dal ministro della guerra, il duca di Newcastle. Ottanta dei suoi disegni di Crimea sono stati litografati in The Seat of War in the East, dedicato con il permesso alla regina Vittoria. Di questa edizione vennero stampati esemplari di lusso con le tavole colorati a mano.  . Book.

Original hand coloured lithograph on thick cream card measuring 21½'' x 15''. Small pieces of mounting tape to the reverse suggesting it had been mounted, one small diagonal crop across the bottom front corner. Sent rolled in a tube with plastic end caps. Member of the P.B.F.A. CRIMEA and GEORGIA.

Technic: Lithography, colorit: original colored, condition: Stains outer margins, size (in cm): 12 x 18 cm, View of the administrative centre of the city of Sevastopol on the Black Sea, on the Crimean peninsula.Published by Paul and Dominic Colnaghi & Co., London, 1855 in "The Seat of the War in the East".

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Simpson, W. [William] (1823-1899), lithographer (illustrator). Printed on thick rag paper. Image size: 300 x 204 mm. Sheet size: 387 x 286 mm. Print is larger than the scanner's glass platen hence the images are cut off in the scans.

Technic: Lithography, colorit: original colored, condition: Tear at the upper and lower part outer margin perfecrtly restored, size (in cm): 32 x 44 cm, View shows the camp of the Second Division looking east during the Crimean War 1853 - 1856. Published 1855 by Paul & Dominic Colnaghi & Co.

Condition: Later cloth. Pp.[i-]vii[-x; 1-]2-207, [208], 205-208, 209-224,230, [230 bis], 231-326, [small format leaf], 327-342, [small format leaf], 343-367, "638", 369-419 [-420]. Half-title. Frontispiece and 10 plates, numerous deletions, correction and insertions, most inSimpson"s hand. 8vo. A unique copy: variant title, publication date and text, manuscript corrections offering important insights intoSimpson"s working methods, and variant readings of much of the text (including a preface dated November 1873).Simpsonhere describes his Phileas Fogg-type round the world trip, via Venice, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Japan, San Francisco, the "Modoc War", Yosemite, Salt Lake City, the "Mammoth Caves" of Kentucky, and New York city. As the author makes clear in the preface, the title "All Round the World" was abandoned when it was discovered that the phrase had already been used for another work. Simpsonwas commissioned in 1872 by theIllustrated London Newsto travel to China to sketch the marriage of the Emperor, and he took the opportunity to extend the trip to a round-the-world journey.Meetingthe Sun: A Journey All Round the World, his account of this journey, was published in 1874, at about the same time as Jules Verne'sAround the World in 80 Days.The similarities between the two books are interesting. Phileas Fogg's fictional journey closely followed the route ofSimpson's round-the-world trip, and even the dates are close Simpsonleft London on 5 August 1872 and took 322 days for the trip; Verne had Phileas Fogg leave London on 2 October 1872, and dramatic necessity dictated that his journey take only 80 days. Moreover, Fogg notionally crossed the International Date Line on 23 November 1872 on board the Pacific Mail Steamship Company ship General Grant, whereasSimpsoncrossed it in reality ten weeks later on the same company's ship Alaska. Indeed, the "twist" in Verne's book that is, gaining a day in crossing the International Date Line was also highlighted inSimpson's book, hence the title:Meetingthe Sun. The publication dates of the two books preclude any suggestion that Verne usedSimpson's book as a source, but it is possible thatSimpson's earlier accounts in theIllustrated London Newsand theDaily News, formed some significant part of Verne's source material. With the opening of the Suez Canal the journey from England to India had been shortened considerably from three months to just one and this "new route" had become extremely popular. But asSimpson's steamer, the Ellora, negotiated the canal, and the heat of the desert permeated the ship,Simpson's main concern lay not with the discomfort, but with the "danger" of falling for some young lady in the confines of ship-board life an interesting preoccupation for a bachelor now well into middle age. EventuallySimpsonreached China and he set about his preparations to undertake the original purpose of this journey, which was to sketch the marriage of the Emperor. He found, however, to his consternation, that the ceremony and procession were to be conducted in utmost secrecy and the public was barred from viewing it. Undeterred, he found a spot in an opium den overlooking the route of the procession and sketched the scene through a spy-hole he made in the paper covering a window. It was later on this same trip that he visited California and had his close shave with the Modoc Indians. He travelled part of the way by stagecoach, not a mode of transport he relished "by imagining yourself rolling down a hill inside a barrel you may form some idea of the amount of comfort to be enjoyed." Provenance: WilliamSimpson(the unbound sheets passed to his wife on her husband"s death); Maria ElizaSimpson(1841-1931, inscription "Roughly corrected proof copy / of This work / Arranged & bound in Wellington NZ / 1917") Pp.[i-]vii[-x; 1-]2-207, [208], 205-208, 209-224,230, [230 bis], 231-326, [small format leaf], 327-342, [small format leaf], 343-367, "638", 369-419 [-420]. Half-title. Frontispiece and 10 plates, numerous deletions, correction and insertions, most inSimpson"s hand. 8vo.

A beautiful watercolor of three men on horseback admiring a towering redwood, the lower formation bearing a startling resemblance to a grizzly bear, in the Mariposa Grove of northern California, painted by the well-known war correspondent and graphic artist, William Simpson. The great tree still stands. Simpson won fame in England in the 1850s for his bold coverage of the Crimean War, and his production of a lavish color plate book, THE SEAT OF THE WAR IN THE EAST, commemorating the ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS. He arrived in San Francisco in April 1873, just as the war against the Modoc Indians was coming to a climax. Good correspondent that he was, Simpson headed for the battlefield, the Lava Beds near Mount Shasta on the California-Oregon line, and observed the demise of the Modocs. All of this, as well as further travels in Yosemite (with Bierstadt), San Francisco, and Japan, he describes in detail in his book, MEETING THE SUN (London, 1877). This handsome watercolor is the only known California image by Simpson presently available in the American art market. A number of his California watercolors are in the permanent collection of the Bancroft Library, with other pieces located at the Peabody Museum (Harvard) and the Victoria and Albert Museum. William Simpson, MEETING THE SUN (London, 1877), pp.356-83. Hughes, ARTISTS IN CALIFORNIA 1786-1940 (San Francisco, 1986), p.428. Watercolor on paper, laid down on board, 21 x 14¼ inches. Signed, inscribed, and dated across lower image: "The Grizzly Giant. Mariposa / WM Simpson / 1874." Perfectly preserved original condition, rich coloration. Framed and matted.