A Treatise on Painting. In Four Parts. Consisting of an Essay on the Education of the Eye with Reference to Painting, and Practical Hints on Composition, Chiaroscuro, and Colour. The Whole Illustrated by Examples from the Italian, Venetian, Flemish, and Dutch Schools

John Burnet

Published by Henry Sotheran & Co., London, 1880

About this Item

'New Edition. Illustrated with Copper Plates and Wood Cuts.' Part One (Fourth Edition), Part Two (Eighth Edition), Part Three (Eighth Edition), Part Four (Second Edition). Part One: An Essay on the Education of the Eye with Reference to Painting. Part Two: Practical Hints on Composition In Painting. Part Three: Practical Hints on Light And Shade In Painting. Part Four: Practical Hints on Colour In Painting. Quarter bound large hardcover, black leather spine with gilt lettering and design. Burgundy cloth boards. You can see the covers in the photos. There is a good deal of color loss on the front. There's one spot of the same on the rear. The spine is in very good condition. The gilt lettering and design there is quite bright. The spine ends have little to no wear. All four corners have rub-through. The cloth at the front bottom right corner has a small tear/crease. There's also rub-through on the front middle edge coming up a couple of inches from its bottom edge and an inch or so of the same coming down from its top edge. The other five edges have only minor rubbing. The top page edge is gilt. The middle and bottom page edges are deckled or rough- cut. The book is quite square and is quite solidly bound from cover to cover. The covers are tight. There is a thin tear at the juncture of the rear cover and rear end paper, a couple of inches long off the bottom edge with a little bit of webbing showing. It has No impact at all on the binding there. There is a thin space with a little webbing showing between the blank verso of the title page (for the whole book) and the facing half-title page. The black first front end paper (both end papers and inside covers are black and in very good shape) and the title page together appear to be bound only along parts of their edges, so there is some possibility that the two pages could detach if not handled carefully. However, after that the pages (all the pages) become quite tight and give no indication of any kind of binding vulnerability. There are a great many drawings throughout and then there are the numbered plates. I've looked at all of the plates. There are Eight in Part One. Ten in Part Two. Ten in Part Three. And Nine in Part Four. All of these plates 37 Listed Plates, listed at the start of each Part are present, and all are in excellent condition. Every one of them still has its full-page tissue guard. The nine plates in Part Four are in color. The overall condition of the text pages is very good. I've turned over a lot of pages and scrolled through many as well. The pages are very clean. You aren't going to find much by way of soiling. I'm scrolling through now, again and failing to find even one spot, although I'm sure there must be a few, it's a large book. The pages, as expected, have some margin toning, but it's pretty light. I don't see any foxing on any of the pages, including the illustrations. I've only found a handful of corners that have a small crease. Creasing is not an issue, although I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few more. As referenced, the middle and bottom edges are rough-cut. Most of the edges are smooth, but there are a handful toward the end of the book that have a little bit of bending/creasing just off a small part of their middle edge. Most, perhaps all, of the tissue guards have a bit of wear at their middle edge due to the fact that they are a little longer than the text pages. There are probably a few very small tears off the edges of some text pages, although I didn't see any. I did see a handful of tiny losses off a bottom or top edge, typically no more than 1/8th of an inch. That's pretty much it. There are no markings. No attachments of any kind (NOT ex-library). And no one has written their name or anything else anywhere in the book.

Seller Inventory # 003158

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Treatise on Painting. In Four Parts. Consisting of an Essay on the Education of the Eye with Reference to Painting, and Practical Hints on Composition, Chiaroscuro, and Colour. The Whole Illustrated by Examples from the Italian, Venetian, Flemish, and Dutch Schools
• Publisher: Henry Sotheran & Co., London
• Publication Date: 1880
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Art
  • Antiquarian
  • Painting, Painters