Collection of Sporting and Humorous Designs, A.
- London: Collected and Published by Thomas M'Lean, 1824
London: Collected and Published by Thomas M'Lean, 1824. The Golden Age of English Sporting Color-Plate Books
A Monumental Regency Collection of Henry Alken's Finest Sporting & Humorous Designs
Over 320 Hand-Colored Plates in Three Elephant Folio Volumes
ALKEN, Henry. A Collection of Sporting and Humorous Designs, Comprising A Variety of Entertaining Works, by Henry Alken, Illustrative of the Manners, Customs, Sports and Pastimes of England. London: Collected and Published by Thomas McLean, 1824.
Three elephant folio volumes (21 5/8 x 13 3/8 inches; 550 x 340 mm.). Three engraved general titles and 321 superb hand-colored soft-ground etchings, all carefully trimmed and inlaid on gray wove paper, interleaved throughout with blank white leaves.
Handsomely bound in contemporary plum straight-grain morocco gilt, covers elaborately paneled and decorated in gilt, expertly rebacked with the original spines laid down, spines with six shallow raised bands elaborately tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments, gray endpapers, all edges gilt. Bindings lightly rubbed and scuffed, as expected with a work of this immense scale and weight, but entirely sound and highly attractive.
An extraordinarily rare and visually magnificent deluxe large-paper collection of Henry Alken's sporting masterpieces, preserving more than 320 hand-colored plates in monumental elephant folio format. These vast assembled Alken collections rank among the grandest survivals of the English Regency sporting print tradition and were originally intended for wealthy sporting gentlemen and aristocratic patrons. Because the plates were frequently broken up for framing during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, coherent collections of this scope are now of the utmost rarity.
The present set contains many of Alken's most celebrated and elusive suites, including:
Four Sporting Subjects - 4 hand-colored plates, complete
Hunting; or, Six Hours Sport - title and 6 hand-colored plates, complete (Schwerdt I, p.16; Tooley 32)
Shooting; or, One Day's Sport of Three Real Good Ones - title and 6 hand-colored plates, complete (Schwerdt I, p.21; Tooley 49)
Specimens of Riding Near London - 18 hand-colored plates (Tooley 51)
Comparative Meltonians - 6 hand-colored plates, complete (Schwerdt I, p.13; Tooley 23)
Scenes in the Life of Master George - 12 hand-colored plates, complete (Tooley 46)
Illustrations to Byron - 10 hand-colored plates, complete
Humourous Miscellanies - 6 hand-colored plates, complete (Schwerdt I, p.16; Tooley 30)
Also included is an almost complete example of the 1821 folio edition of The National Sports of Great Britain - 50 (of 51) hand-colored plates (Schwerdt I, p.19; Tooley 41), and several other Alken suites including Symptoms of Being Amused - 39 (of 41) hand-colored plates; Involuntary Thoughts - 8 hand-colored plates, complete; Tutor's Assistant - 6 hand-colored plates, complete; Illustrations to Popular Songs - 43 (of 43) hand -colored plates; National Sports (small format) 30 plates, complete; A Touch at the Fine Arts - 12 hand colored plates, complete; and Illustrations of Byron - 10 plates, complete.
Together these works form an unparalleled pictorial survey of Regency sporting life, documenting with wit, energy, and astonishing observational skill the hunting field, coaching roads, shooting parties, riding schools, race meetings, and comic misadventures of English sporting society during the golden age of the hand-colored sporting print.
Henry Alken remains the supreme comic sporting artist of the Regency era. His collaborations with the great publisher Thomas McLean helped define the visual language of English sporting art and influenced later artists from John Leech to Cecil Aldin. Today Alken's finest plates are prized not merely as sporting images, but as vivid social documents of early nineteenth-century England.
The luxury production of this set is especially noteworthy. Each plate has been individually inlaid on gray wove paper in the grand Regency manner, a costly process intended both to protect the delicate soft-ground etchings and to elevate their presentation for display in aristocratic libraries. The surviving contemporary morocco bindings further underscore the exceptional status of the collection.
Auction records confirm the rarity of such monumental Alken compilations. A three-volume collection of 318 hand-colored plates appeared in the celebrated John Herbert Slater sale at Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge in 1904, described as "a fine and interesting collection," realizing the substantial sum of £181. A later two-volume example containing 208 hand-colored plates from the collection of Henry Arthur Johnstone realized £12,100 at Christie's London in 1992 and again sold at Christie's New York in 2011 for $21,250.
Large-scale Alken collections of this caliber have become increasingly elusive, particularly examples preserving so many major suites together in contemporary deluxe bindings. A monumental survival from the golden age of English sporting caricature and among the most visually spectacular Henry Alken collections to appear on the market in modern times.
Full listing of plates available on request.
A Monumental Regency Collection of Henry Alken's Finest Sporting & Humorous Designs
Over 320 Hand-Colored Plates in Three Elephant Folio Volumes
ALKEN, Henry. A Collection of Sporting and Humorous Designs, Comprising A Variety of Entertaining Works, by Henry Alken, Illustrative of the Manners, Customs, Sports and Pastimes of England. London: Collected and Published by Thomas McLean, 1824.
Three elephant folio volumes (21 5/8 x 13 3/8 inches; 550 x 340 mm.). Three engraved general titles and 321 superb hand-colored soft-ground etchings, all carefully trimmed and inlaid on gray wove paper, interleaved throughout with blank white leaves.
Handsomely bound in contemporary plum straight-grain morocco gilt, covers elaborately paneled and decorated in gilt, expertly rebacked with the original spines laid down, spines with six shallow raised bands elaborately tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments, gray endpapers, all edges gilt. Bindings lightly rubbed and scuffed, as expected with a work of this immense scale and weight, but entirely sound and highly attractive.
An extraordinarily rare and visually magnificent deluxe large-paper collection of Henry Alken's sporting masterpieces, preserving more than 320 hand-colored plates in monumental elephant folio format. These vast assembled Alken collections rank among the grandest survivals of the English Regency sporting print tradition and were originally intended for wealthy sporting gentlemen and aristocratic patrons. Because the plates were frequently broken up for framing during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, coherent collections of this scope are now of the utmost rarity.
The present set contains many of Alken's most celebrated and elusive suites, including:
Four Sporting Subjects - 4 hand-colored plates, complete
Hunting; or, Six Hours Sport - title and 6 hand-colored plates, complete (Schwerdt I, p.16; Tooley 32)
Shooting; or, One Day's Sport of Three Real Good Ones - title and 6 hand-colored plates, complete (Schwerdt I, p.21; Tooley 49)
Specimens of Riding Near London - 18 hand-colored plates (Tooley 51)
Comparative Meltonians - 6 hand-colored plates, complete (Schwerdt I, p.13; Tooley 23)
Scenes in the Life of Master George - 12 hand-colored plates, complete (Tooley 46)
Illustrations to Byron - 10 hand-colored plates, complete
Humourous Miscellanies - 6 hand-colored plates, complete (Schwerdt I, p.16; Tooley 30)
Also included is an almost complete example of the 1821 folio edition of The National Sports of Great Britain - 50 (of 51) hand-colored plates (Schwerdt I, p.19; Tooley 41), and several other Alken suites including Symptoms of Being Amused - 39 (of 41) hand-colored plates; Involuntary Thoughts - 8 hand-colored plates, complete; Tutor's Assistant - 6 hand-colored plates, complete; Illustrations to Popular Songs - 43 (of 43) hand -colored plates; National Sports (small format) 30 plates, complete; A Touch at the Fine Arts - 12 hand colored plates, complete; and Illustrations of Byron - 10 plates, complete.
Together these works form an unparalleled pictorial survey of Regency sporting life, documenting with wit, energy, and astonishing observational skill the hunting field, coaching roads, shooting parties, riding schools, race meetings, and comic misadventures of English sporting society during the golden age of the hand-colored sporting print.
Henry Alken remains the supreme comic sporting artist of the Regency era. His collaborations with the great publisher Thomas McLean helped define the visual language of English sporting art and influenced later artists from John Leech to Cecil Aldin. Today Alken's finest plates are prized not merely as sporting images, but as vivid social documents of early nineteenth-century England.
The luxury production of this set is especially noteworthy. Each plate has been individually inlaid on gray wove paper in the grand Regency manner, a costly process intended both to protect the delicate soft-ground etchings and to elevate their presentation for display in aristocratic libraries. The surviving contemporary morocco bindings further underscore the exceptional status of the collection.
Auction records confirm the rarity of such monumental Alken compilations. A three-volume collection of 318 hand-colored plates appeared in the celebrated John Herbert Slater sale at Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge in 1904, described as "a fine and interesting collection," realizing the substantial sum of £181. A later two-volume example containing 208 hand-colored plates from the collection of Henry Arthur Johnstone realized £12,100 at Christie's London in 1992 and again sold at Christie's New York in 2011 for $21,250.
Large-scale Alken collections of this caliber have become increasingly elusive, particularly examples preserving so many major suites together in contemporary deluxe bindings. A monumental survival from the golden age of English sporting caricature and among the most visually spectacular Henry Alken collections to appear on the market in modern times.
Full listing of plates available on request.
Details
Title
Collection of Sporting and Humorous Designs, A.
Author
ALKEN, Henry
Condition
Unknown
Publisher
London: Collected and Published by Thomas M'Lean, 1824