Norman Monuments of Palermo and Environs

Boston, MA: Ticknor and Company, 1892. Hardbound. VG, oval blindstamp and ornate art museum bookplate. 3/4 mustard cloth with sea-green paper covered boards. 14" x 18". xviii, [2], 30 pp., followed by 72 pages of plates, each with an oval blindstamp in the margin of the image. A large-format book with exquisite plates in various media, including 12 Gelatine Prints, 20 photo-grain views on ten sheets and 50 measured drawings (however, the list of illustrations only calls for 49 drawings). Additional illustrations within the text. A very nice, clean and fresh (truncated) copy. Scarce in the marketplace. From Charles Wood in 1984: Very nice copy of a rare work, of particular interest for the two different kinds of early photo-mechanical plates - there are 16 "gelatine" views and 20 "photograin" views. The gelatine views were printed by the Heliotype Printing Co. and are a sharp form of photogravure. The photo-grain plates are a primitive form of photogravure and look at first glance like early halftones but do not show screen lines. There are in addition 50 plates of line drawings. (Inventory #: 115276)