Gems of Beauty, Displayed in a Series of Twelve Highly Finished Engravings of Spanish Subjects

The Countess of Blessington [Marguerite Gardiner]

Published by Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans, London, 1839

About this Item

The very scarce first edition of this beautifully illustrated volume of Spanish themed poetry by Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington. A charming and very scarce first edition of this work, in which twelve poems from Lady Blessington, all Spanish in theme - with titles including 'The Bull-Fight', 'The Prado', 'The Masquerade' and 'The Siesta' - are accompanied by beautifully engraved plates from 'the finest artists'.Illustrated with twelve steel engraved plates of beautiful Spanish women and girls, with contributions from artists including E. H Corbould, H. Cook, and H. Robinson. Collated, lacking an engraved title page.The Countess of Blessington was well-known as a contributor of drawing-room publications of this sort, frequently ornamented with steel engraved plates. This work is part of a series sharing the 'Gems of Beauty' title, with a number of very scarce volumes published between 1836 and 1840.She was also an acquaintance of Lord Byron in Genoa, and published a book about her conversations with him. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Bumping to back strip head and tail. Lacking the front free endpaper and engraved title page. Internally, binding lightly strained. Significant spotting, and instances of foxing, to plate perimeters. Very Good.

Seller Inventory # 833F35

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Gems of Beauty, Displayed in a Series of Twelve Highly Finished Engravings of Spanish Subjects
• Publisher: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans, London
• Publication Date: 1839
• Binding: Cloth
• Illustrator: E. H Corbould, H. Cook, and H. Robinson et al.
• Edition: First edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Book Type: book
• Seller catalogs:
  • Poetry