Odd Whims and Miscellanies
London: William Miller, 1804. First Edition. 2 vol, small 8vo.; 9 x 5 3/8 (226 x 140 mm); vol. 1: xii, [2], 171 [1 blank]; vol. 2: iv, 164, [1 blank] pp.; large paper copy. Ten hand-colored aquatint plates by J. Stadler after Repton's drawings. Stipple-engraved title vignettes by H.R. Cook after Repton. Bound in tree-calf with gilt decorations on boards and spine, back morocco title label, marbled end papers, edges speckled in brown, Housed in a marbled paper slipcase; occasional small stains to some sheets but paper overall bright and clean, plates brilliantly colored; spine and corners a bit rubbed but binding tight and square.
[Prideaux, p. 349; Abbey Life 247].
Better known for his 1803 work with intricate hand-colored plates after his own drawings of landscapes, Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening, Repton both wrote the several amusing essays and dialogues that comprise Odd Whims and furnished the drawings for the aquatint plates.
Humphry Repton (1752 – 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown. He is well-known for his fine books on Architecture and Landscape Gardening - Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening (1794), Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (1803), Designs for the Pavilion at Brighton (1808) and Fragments on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (1816). Repton sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of the 19th century. His Odd Whims; and Miscellanies (1804) were dedicated to William Windham, the British Whig Statesman. Some of the essays in Variety were reprinted in this collection, and in the second volume is Odd Whims, or Two at a Time; a Comedy, Written in the year 1783, which was played at Ipswich in 1804.
The plates: 1. A View of the Life & the Mountain of Calamity
2. The Hall of Silence
3. 1745-1787-1804
4. The Bashful Man
5. The Friars Tale
6. Sir Geffry Oddwhim, Lady Jane, Charlotte & Peerson
7. Sir Geffry & Sir James Oddwhim
8. Charlotte & Madame Crepon
9. Lady Jane & Lord Blazon
10. Peerson, Stanley, Sir Geffry, Ruki & Tim.
Condition: Near Fine.
Item number: 521
Price: $2,250.00
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