Coveny Christopher (2 results)

Quarto, etched additional title-page, and 21 etched plates (plate 7 present in two forms, as noted in the Preface); publisher's half roan. First edition and quite rare: the first purely artistic suite of etchings produced in Australia. Excellent impressions, well inked on thick paper, they have a real charm and vitalilty. Coveny, an illustrator and painter of literary subjects, was the first to produce a series of etchings or engravings outside the natural history and topographical genres. This suite of plates shows a mastery of the form and is not only a good example of the art of etching but also a key work in the development of printing arts in colonial Australia. The book was printed by John Sands who, coincidentally, had worked in England on the illustration of Dickens's novels. A self-taught printmaker, Twenty Scenes, published when he was 36 years old, would prove to be Coveny's chief work. The year that it was published he travelled to England hoping to establish himself there as a graphic artist, but suffered a mental breakdown from which he never fully recovered. . Cloth sides of the binding scuffed and marked, otherwise fine, with the text and plates clean and crisp.

Half-Leather. Condition: Very Good+. First Edition. Small folio, (12 1/2" x 9 5/8"), bound in half red leather over marbled paper covered boards, Spine has five raised bands and is heavily decorated in gold. Top edge gilt. Marbled endpapers. Two titles, one engraved and illustrated, one letterpress. Contains all 20 etchings by Coveny on heavy stock, images appearing on rectos, with corresponding letterpress on verso of opposing page. Plate seven is in two states, one being printed on India paper and bound in before the actual plate, as issued. Coveny was born in 1846 and sent to England to be educated. Returning to Australia to practice law he soon abandoned the profession and took up teaching, before embarking on a career in art in 1878, the year of his father's death. "Twenty Scenes." is undoubtedly his most famous work and he garnered mixed reviews upon its publication: "A.E. Greenwood and H.W.H. Stephen in Catalogue (Descriptive and Critical) of the Art Gallery with Sydney Art Notes (Sydney, 1883) called him 'a caricaturist of great power' and claimed that his copper etchings illustrative of Pickwick were 'almost worthy of Cruikshank himself' (their only too obvious source)." His career was short lived, however, as he suffered a nervous breakdown in 1884 which effectively ended his artistic career. Leather spine shows light rubbing to tips and bands, and there is mild general wear to extremities and a touch of mild shelf-wear to front cover. Interior is very clean, with no previous ownership marks, no foxing and no marking. A superior copy of this very scarce Sydney imprint, purportedly limited to print run of 219. One copy is housed in the National Gallery of Australia. A very good+ copy. Scans sent on request. Podeschi H1042 Size: Folio - over 12" - 15" tall.