"ONE OF THE GREAT BOOKS OF AMERICAN ILLUSTRATIONS": WITH 49 ENGRAVED FOLIO PLATES

BRYANT, William Cullen, editor. Picturesque America; Or, The Land We Live In. New York: D. Appleton, circa 1874. Two volumes. Thick folio (10-1/2 by 13 inches), original full brown pebbled morocco gilt, raised bands, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. $2500.

Second edition of this treasury of 19th-century American views, illustrated with 49 full-page steel-engraved plates, including title pages and frontispiece engraving of Niagara Falls, together with numerous in-text wood engravings, in handsome publisher’s deluxe morocco-gilt bindings.

"One of the great books of American illustrations… The best landscapes engraved in this country are to be found here" (Hamilton, 216). "It exemplifies the delight of the American in his own landscape, just as the earlier topographical works do in England" (David Bland). The superbly-executed steel- and wood-engravings in this work, "by eminent American artists," depict cities and towns (including one of the first images of the City of Cleveland), as well as such rugged natural scenes as Yellowstone Falls, the Smoky Mountains, and Mount Hood. The text was actually written by Oliver B. Bunce, whose phraseology was then edited by Bryant. Second edition (according to BAL) with Bryant's name appearing on both the title page of Volume I and the preface. BAL 1732. Sabin 62692. Owner signature to front flyleaves; owner pencil inscription to letterpress title page of Volume I.

Interiors quite clean, just a touch of rubbing to extremities, fine condition. Handsome and desirable in the publisher's morocco.