John Thomas Serres (14 results)

First edition hard back binding in publisher's original slate blue cloth effect covered boards, blocked and lettered silver back, colour illustrated lining papers. Landscape. 7½'' x 10''. Contains 144 pp with J. T. Serres colour illustrations throughout. Small bump to the top front corner. Very Good condition book in Very Good condition dust wrapper. Member of the P.B.F.A. ROYAL NAVY (RN).

First edition hard back binding in publisher's original air force blue paper covered boards, blocked and lettered gilt back and front, colour illustrated end papers. 4to. 11½'' x 8¼''. Contains 255 pp with portrait frontispiece and colour archive photographs throughout. Fine condition book in Fine condition dust wrapper, not price clipped. Dust wrapper supplied in archive acetate film protection. Member of the P.B.F.A. ISBN 9780956785503 ART [British].

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Large H/B,46x33cm.With unclipped D/W and no inscriptions.1979 reprint of 1805 edition. 41 Large Plates. In Near Fine condition with just tiny amount of scuffing to D/W and a bit of tape reinforcement to rear.

Reprint of 1805/1806 original edition, with an introduction by Basil Greenhill. VII, (2), 26, (2) PP, plus 41 full-page b/w plates. Hard cover, cloth spine, gilt illustration on front cover, gilt title on spine, dust jacket with small chips. Contained in a plain boxed slipcase. A near fine copy. Scarce. Large format: 45.5 x 33.5. Part I (17 plates): description of ships (masts, prow, stern, .) and studies for water (calm, breeze, gale, .). Part II (24 plates): different types of ships (sloop, cutter, collier, ninety-gun ship, .).

First edition; folio (41 x 28.5 cm); 10 hand-coloured lithograph plates including frontispiece, frontis. and title a little soiled otherwise internally bright; later half red morocco, cloth boards, spine in six compartments with gilt morocco lettering piece, later endpapers, a very good copy; 8pp. A lively set of plates depicting the cemetery of Pere La Chaise, in particular focusing on the monument of Abelard and Heloise. John Thomas Serres (1759-1825), son of Dominic Serres (1722â"1793), was a highly successful marine painter who exhibited extensively at the Royal Academy and rose to be official be Maritime Painter to King George III. Serres was ruined by the actions of his wife, Olivia Serres (1772-1834), who had several affairs (giving birth to a son by another man before their divorce in 1804) and went into debt trying to convince anyone that she was the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Cumberland. Serres attempted to restore his finances by establishing the Royal Coburg Theatre in 1818, which became the 'Old Vic', but failed to make the money he needed and died in a debtors' prison in 1825. Perhaps he saw himself in the tortured Abelard and produced this work, his last, as a different sort of monument to his failed relationship.

Folio (285 x 447 mm). (2), II, 144, (6) pp. With 20 hand-coloured aquatint plates, each showing several coastal views, and 24 hand-coloured detailed plans on 12 plates, engraved by John Luffman. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped red spine label. Later endpapers. First English translation of Le Sieur Bougard's famous and oft-printed navigation manual, the "Petit flambeau de la mer", which contains "the minute description of the coasts of the countries and islands indicated by the title" (Phillips). Crucially, this edition boasts a new and original series of illustrations, "beautifully drawn and colored views of the principal headlands, harbors, lighthouses, ports, etc. mentioned in the text" (Phillips), drawn by the English painter John Thomas Serres (1759-1825), who was created Maritime Painter to King George III in 1793. In 1800 Serres became Marine Draughtsman to the Admiralty, and the sketches he made on his ensuing coastal voyages around Britain, France and Spain, and into the Mediterranean, were self-published in the present form, with the consent of the Admiralty (which purchased two copies). "The vast majority of the [.] 170 subscribers were naval officers. This may well be considered to be Serres's most important contribution to the arts of naval victory, both because it was a valuable aid to navigation and because it displays such consummate workmanship" (Tracy). The harbour charts are the work of John Luffman, who was active between 1776 and 1820 as an engraver, publisher, and goldsmith, and the "Naval Chronicle" published quite a few of Luffman's charts. - Slight wear to extremities. Occasional light spotting, neatly rebacked to style. - Phillips 2852. Goldsmiths'-Kress library of economic literature; v. 5, reel 22, no. 4. Tooley, Mapmakers I, 172. N. Tracy, Britannia's Palette: The Arts of Naval Victory (Montreal 2007), p. 232. Cf. Polak 1044; NHSM 69.

Large folio, with printed title page, 16 pp. letterpress description, engraved dedication leaf and a total of 17 plates (12 engraved and 5 aquatints, one of which is handcoloured); recent half calf preserving original blue tinted wrappers. The first published part to Liber Nauticus, one of the great English naval aquatint books of the Napoleonic era. This ambitious work is the product of a fruitful collaboration between Dominick Serres and his son John Thomas. A Gascon by birth, Dominick Serres was educated at the Benedictine academy at Douai but ran away to sea to escape a life in the clergy. After working as a common seaman on the South American routes he rose to become a master of a ship trading from Havana until captured by a British frigate. When in England, Serres met the famous marine artist Charles Brooking and began a successful new career that included Royal Academy membership and a stint as marine painter to George II. John Thomas followed in his father's footsteps and likewise enjoyed Royal patronage. The title page of the present volume describes him as "Marine Draught-Man to the Honourable Board of Admiralty". In the elegantly engraved preface leaf titled "Address to the Amateurs of Marine Drawing", John Thomas Serres outlines his intention for Liber Nauticus: "Many are the obstacles to the attainment of a proficiency in drawing Marine subjects, particularly as it is not only a requisite that a person desirous in excelling in this Art should possess a knowledge of the construction of a ship, or what is denominated 'Naval Architecture'. but he should likewise be acquainted with seamanship." Accordingly, John Thomas published the Liber Nauticus to educate land-locked artists in the technical details of various naval craft so that they could accurately depict them in action settings. Thus it was possible to forego the rigour and brutality of naval life and "even those who are unacquainted with these floating monuments of British Power" could render them with relative ease. This is an early issue of the first edition, indicated by the single letter printed "S" as an overslip on the title page correcting "Nauticum" to "Nauticus". Likewise the last letterpress leaf bears the pasted slip reading "End of Part First". It is an appealing copy, with the original wrappers present, as is the engaging lithographed titling onlay depicting two leviathans beneath a crown formed from masts and sails. The onlay includes the original sale price for the first part of £2/2s, proof that this was an expensive publication in its day. . Title-page a little chipped, some plates thumbed and worn at the margins, but a very good copy with generous margins in recent half calf preserving original blue tinted wrappers.

Aquatint, coloured by hand, engraved 'under the direction of Edwd. Orme', marked 'proof' in lower right corner (small expert repairs to margins). A very fine proof impression of this rare view of the harbour, town and castle at Dover. John Thomas Serres, elder son of the marine painter Dominic Serres "was born in December 1759, and followed his father's profession. He was for some time drawing-master to a marine school at Chelsea. In 1780 he began to exhibit at the Royal Academy, sending two water-colour views and a painting of Sir George Rodney engaging the Spanish squadron. In 1790 he went to Italy, visiting Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, Genoa, Pisa, Florence, and Rome, where he passed five months, and then proceeded to Naples. In 1793 he succeeded his father as marine-painter to the king, and was also appointed marine draughtsman to the admiralty. In the latter capacity he was frequently employed in making sketches of the harbours on the enemy's coast, and had a vessel appointed for his service, receiving 100£ a month when on duty. He also contributed regularly (chiefly shipping and marine subjects) to the exhibitions of the Royal Academy till 1808. In 1801 he published a translation of The Little Sea-torch, a guide for coasting ships, illustrated by a large number of coloured aquatints, and in 1805 his Liber Nauticus, or instructor in the art of marine-drawing." (DNB).

Folio (17 4/8 x 10 5/8 inches). 20 leaves with 138 fine aquatint coastal profiles and views, all with original hand-colour, 24 engraved charts on 12 sheets, all with original hand-colour in full. Contemporary calf , the smooth spine decorated with fine gilt tools (rebacked, a little rubbed). Provenance: with the contemporary ownership inscription of Charles Hamlyn (?Rear-Admiral fl 1803-1855) on the front paste-down and the head of the title-page; with the bookplate of F. William Cock on the front paste-down; from the library of Christopher Henry Beaumont Pease, Lord Wardington (1924-2005), his sale Library of Important Atlases and Geographies, 10th October 2006, lot 469. First and only edition, and AN ATTRACTIVE COPY., of this charming coasting pilot, translated from Rene Bougard's "Le Petit de la Mer" of 1810. Serres, who most famously painted "The Thames at Limehouse", had a distinguished career as marine painter to George III, in which position he succeeded his father, and to the duke of Clarence. He was an official draughtsman to the Admiralty, and as such "Serres was frequently absent from home, for as much as six months in 1800 when he was actually on sea service. He made 'drawings in the form of elevations' of the coasts of France and Spain, a selection of which were published in 'The Little Sea Torch' (1801) [as here]. He taught drawing at the [short-lived] Chelsea Naval School and in 1805 published, under joint authorship with his father, 'Liber nauticus, and Instructor in the Art of Marine Drawing', a work intended to assist his students which contained plates after his own work and that of his father. In his absence, his wife committed numerous infidelities, and several frauds, which included forging her husband's name on bank drafts to the extent that Serres became a declared bankrupt. In 1802 a separation was mutually agreed, trusteeship for the daughters being invested, inter alia, in Olivia's current lover. In 1804 Serres abducted one of the daughters, for which he was charged by the trustees with breaching the trust and consigned to prison. Olivia evidently pursued her artist's career, since in 1806, two years before Serres's release from prison, she was appointed landscape painter to the prince of Wales (D. D. Aldridge). From the distinguished library of Lord Wardington whose collection of Atlases was unique: "a panoply of the history of cartography and of great mapmakers" (Andrew Phillips "An Appreciation", Sotheby's sale catalogue). Pastoureau (1984) Bougard N. pp. 79-80; Phillips 2852. Catalogued by Kate Hunter.

First edition. An excellent copy of probably the grandest English naval aquatint book, eight of the plates here coloured - in Abbey's copy only plate XVII was coloured. In keeping with the nautical subject matter, this copy has been bound using reindeer russia salvaged from the Danish brigantine Metta Catherina, which sank off Drake's Island in Plymouth Sound in 1786. Dominick and John Thomas Serres were father and son. The father was born at Auch in Gascony, and educated at the famous Benedictine academy in Douai, being intended for the clergy. However, he ran away to sea, shipping as a common seaman to South America, and eventually becoming master of a ship trading with Havana. He was captured by a British frigate and brought to England, where he met the marine artist Charles Brooking, being much influenced by his work. "In 1765 Serres became a member of the Incorporated Society of Artists, with which he exhibited for two years. On the establishment of the Royal Academy in 1768 he was chosen one of the foundation members, and was a constant contributor up to the time of his death. Between 1761 and 1793 he exhibited eight works at the Society of Artists, twenty-one at the Free Society, and 105 at the Royal Academy" (ODNB). He was briefly marine painter to George III. John Thomas Serres was trained by his father and succeeded him as marine painter to the King, and to the Duke of Clarence, later William IV "the Sailor King." He was also a regular contributor to the Royal Academy, for the first time at the precocious age of 17, and on the title page here is described as "Marine Draught-man to the Honourable the Board of Admiralty". He "worked skilfully in various media but, while his accuracy in ship depiction was akin to that of his father, John Thomas Serres was inclined to over-dramatize weather conditions. He is, however, more extensively represented at the National Maritime Museum than his father." The book was "intended to assist his students" at the Chelsea Naval School, and it is interesting to note that the plates in the first section, which are all after John Thomas, are in the main comprised of ship details and simply engraved ship portraits of various types of vessel. The more complexly composed aquatint plates of the second part, showing shipping in a variety of naturalistically rendered, recognizable settings - for example plate XXXI depicts "A Schooner with a View of New York", and XXXVIII "A Polacca with a View of Strombouli" - are all after Dominick. Abbey Life 345. 2 parts in 1 vol., folio (475 x 330 mm). The title page to the first part is an early issue with the title corrected to "Liber Nauticus" with an overslip pasted over the final "m" of the second word, and slip "End of the First Part", pasted in at the end of the description of the plates on p.16. Watermarks, where present, are for 1802. Engraved Address to the first part with decorative head- and tailpiece, that to the second letterpress, with an engraved border of flags. The first part has 17 plates, 12 of them engraved, the other 5 aquatint, one printed in sanguine, 2 in sepia and one with hand-colour; the second part with 24 aquatinted plates, 7 of them coloured. Recently bound to style in 18th-century half diced russia, marbled boards, matching russia patch label with gilt title to the front board. Some light marginal finger-soiling, a couple of short edge-splits, but overall an excellent copy.

London, J. Debrett for the "author" (Serres), G. & W. Nicol, et al. (printed by T. Rickaby), 1801, in-folio, 44 x 28 cm, title + vi pp + 144 pp + (5)(index) + (1)(bl) + 20 hand coloured aquatint plates of the 137 approaches + 24 hand coloured plans on 12 sheets. (complete). Bound in contemporary leather, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, binding with some traces of use and some wear at extremities, back cover scratched. Fine, stainless interior, with high quality hand coloured plates. Manuscript ex-libris on fly leaf (dated 1857, a member of the Mannock Strickland family). Abbey, Life in England 344; Cat. National Maritime Museum 218; Phillips & LeGear 2852. Only edition in English. This is an extensively revised edition of Bougard's Le Petit Flambeau de la Mer, a marine pilot guide to coastal navigation first published, in French, in 1684 . The list of subscribers contains the name of admiral Nelson duke of Bronte. It is almost certain that some copies of this atlas were on board of the English ships which participated in the sea battle at Trafalgar, which took place 4 years after the publication. On sheet 5 of the plans is represented the port of Cadiz, from which the French-Spanish fleet sailed to Trafalgar.

First Edition. First edition, folio, pp. [2], [i]-ii, [v]-vi, 144, [6]; likely original marbled boards, rebacked in gilt-paneled brown calf, original red morocco label preserved; minor spotting; a very good, sound, and attractive copy. The subscribers' list contains 171 names taking 191 copies, so the edition was likely a small one. This copy with the engraved bookplate of Joseph Neeld, one of the subscribers. A lovely work on "how to navigate along the coasts of England, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Sicily; the isles of Malta, Corsica, Sardinia, and others in the straits; and of the coast of Barbary . enriched with upwards of one hundred appearances of head-lands and light-houses, together with plans of principal harbours." With 130 pages of sailing directions for and descriptions of the above-named places, followed by 20 full-page hand-colored aquatints, showing views of about 125 ports, harbor entrances, and harbors. These are followed by 12 engravings with 24 hand-colored charts of harbors and seaports. The text is a translation, with revisions and additions for the British market, from the French of Bougard's Petit Flambeau de la Mer. Phillips 2852; National Maritime Museum III, 218; Abbey, England, 344.

First English edition, with aquatint profiles, of Bougard's Le Petit Flambeau de la Mer, a marine pilot guide to coastal navigation originally published in 1684 and extensively revised for the present edition by Serres. The coastal profiles cover the British Isles, Spain, Portugal, Italy and France, and the islands included among the maps include Corsica, Malta and Corfu. The coastal profiles show many spectacular cliffs and rock formations, numerous light-houses (an important source for their history), fortresses and occasionally other buildings, as well as ships and smaller boats, a large view of the whole city of La Valette on Malta, and even three smoking volcanoes (Vesuvius, Stromboli and Etna). The text includes information on the Barbary Coast, and islands and coasts en route to the East Indies. This is the first major revision to the maps and views of the Petit Flambeau, which saw only minor changes of content from 1684 to 1716 and no more in the editions (to 1789) before the present.With a contemporary owner's signature on the title-page (Peter Rye) and the lovely armorial bookplate of the Philadelphia publisher and bibliophile Moncure Biddle (1882-ca. 1952). Spine subtly restored, but otherwise fine and wholy untrimmed.l Abbey, England 344; Blackmer, Greece and the Levant, 179; Cat. NHSM, p. 218; Pastoureau, Bougard N (5 copies); Phillips & LeGear 2852. Contemporary boards, blue-grey paper sides. With 20 numbered aquatint plates containing 137 coastal profiles, and 12 partly numbered engraved plates containing 24 maps of port cities, harbours, islands and the Strait of Gibraltar. All coastal profiles and maps beautifully and subtly coloured by a contemporary hand. Pages: VI, 144, [5] pp.

Hand-coloured engraved view. Dimensions: 430 x 560mm. (17 x 22 inches).