Ramsay, Allan. The Gentle Shepherd, A Pastoral Comedy. printed by James Ballantyne for Watt & Baillie and sold by Bell & Bradfute, W Creech, P Hill, A Constable & Co and others, Edinburgh, 1808.

Price: US$173.16 + shipping

Condition: Good

Description: xxvx (ii) 121pp, hand coloured frontispece and 12 hand coloured engraved plates, new calf spine with blue morocco label, contemporary marbled boards and leather corners (worn with boards showing at the corners), offsetting (some heavy) and spotting throughout, 4to (21.5x27cm)

Seller: Flora Books, Mears Ashby, United Kingdom

RAMSAY, Allan [1686-1758].. The Gentle Shepherd, A Pastoral Comedy.To Which Is Prefixed A new Biographical Memoir Of The Author, And A Critique On His Writings.. Leith: Watt And Baillie, Printed at Edinburgh By James Ballantyne And Company; And Sold By Bell And Bradfute., 1808., 1808.

Price: US$517.70 + shipping

Description: 4to. pp. 2 p.l., xxx, [2], 121. with half-title. 13 aquatint plates, including frontis. portrait, by David Allan. contemporary half calf (very worn, covers detached, paper of text lightly embrowned - half-title darker, staining to 2 leaves, occasional spotting, small hole in last leaf affecting 5 words, marginal defects to some plates). ownership entries of John Douglas Law, 1817, and of John Law, Hamilton, Canada, 1844, with his blindstamp on some leaves & plates. engraving of Washing Green from the Edinburgh Magazine, 1801, inserted. Originally published with these illustrations by David Allan [1744-1796] in 1788. Allan [1744-1796] studied at the Academy of Arts founded in Glasgow by the printers Robert and Andrew Foulis. At the age of twenty he departed for Italy, where he took further instruction at the Academy of Saint Luke in Rome. There he was assisted by Gavin Hamilton, and earned two medals, a silver for drawing, and the gold of St. Luke's for the best specimen of historical composition. He remained in Italy for twelve years, producing numerous works, including some portraits bordering on caricature and others of Italian manners, which earned him the name of the 'Scottish Hogarth'. Following three years spent painting portraits in London, 1777-80, he took up permanent residence in Edinburgh, where he was installed as director and master of the Trustees' Academy in 1786. From this point forward, most of his work was devoted to often humorous representations of Scottish character, as evidenced in these illustrations for Ramsay's popular Scottish pastoral drama. cfAbbey, Life, 244 & cfRothschild 1732 (1788 edn.).

Seller: D & E LAKE LTD. (ABAC/ILAB), Toronto, ON, Canada