THIS VIEW OF FORT CHARLOTTE, THE TOWN OF NASSAU, &c. &c. IN THE ISLAND OF NEW PROVIDENCE, TAKEN FROM SILVER KEY AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE HARBOUR.... [with:] THIS VIEW OF THE TOWN OF NASSAU IN THE ISLAND OF NEW PROVIDENCE TAKEN FROM THE PIAZZA OF THE

by [Irving, John, Lieut.-Col.]:

Price: $30,000.00
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Book desription: London: Published by Edward Harding, printed by Hubery and Stadler, 1802.. Two prints, the first 56 x 99 cm., the second 49 x 60 cm. Large folio handcolored aquatint prints. Handsome full margined prints with excellent contemporary color, fine. Matted. These magnificent prints are among the rarest printed views of British colonial possessions in the Americas. They are also among the very few early views of Nassau; there are virtually no early pictures of the Bahamas in any form, and these are certainly the handsomest. The first print, almost double elephant folio in size, shows a panorama of the roadstead at Nassau from the small island of Silver Key. From left to right the viewer sees Hog Island, then empty, now filled with hotels and casinos; the harbor, with numerous vessels; the town of Nassau; and on the right, the barracks and Fort Charlotte. Silver Key, with wreckage and a small boat, is in the foreground. This dramatic view is the finest early depiction of Nassau. The second print looks from the porch of the barracks back down toward the roadstead. On the left appears the bastion of Fort Charlotte, with the own in the center of the print and the harbor beyond. In the foreground is the piazza, with an officer and his lady friend enjoying the view. These prints are exceedingly rare. The only record we can find of them at auction was in the last American session of the sales from the famed collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps, the great 19th-century British book collector, at Sotheby's on Oct. 28, 1969. There they were sold with two other prints (as four separate lots) by Lieut.- Col. Irving, "View of the Town of Nassau...from the Terrace of Ft. Fincastle" and "View of Governor Dowdeswell Residence...." All four views were printed by Hubert & Stadler at 98 Pall Mall, and issued on Jan. 1, 1802. A superb pair of views of the capital of the Bahamas. BIBLIOTECA PHILLIPPICA, New Series, 5th part, lots 930, 933.

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