Views in South America: From original drawings made in Brazil, The River Plate, The Parana

Rio De Janeiro: Kosmos, 1974. Large plate folio with text volume. used - good. Views in South America: Brazil, The River Plate, The Parana, Original Drawings + Notes by WM Gore Ouseley, Esq. Lithographed by J. Needham Facsimile of the original Edition by T. McLean, 1852 in London. Folio - 540mm x 370mm (21" x 15")
One of an edition limited to 350. Two volumes. Volume I: In English and Portuguese, 8°, recent navy morocco, spine and covers gilt, inner dentelles gilt, In very good condition. 128 pp. ===. "This Description is more difficult to find than the album" (Borba). Ouseley devotes between one and seven pages to each of the lithographic views in his Views in South America. The Appendix ("General notes and observations") offers comments on the aborigines of Tenerife, whales in Rio harbor, the health and climate of Rio, loud monkeys and pretty parrots, Indian tribes and languages, "influence of tropical climate and great fertility of soil on the disposition and habits of natives of Brazil," and destruction of property caused by the invasion and siege of Montevideo. Volume II: Elephant Folio - over 15 - 23" tall (56 x 38.5 cm). Publisher's red cloth case, embossed, front cover inlaid with a leather "scroll" bearing the author and title. In very good condition. It includes 26 hand-colored images based on Ouseley's watercolors. "This rare and valued album contains very picturesque lithographs," says Borba. They include images of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro (a grotto in the Bay of Jurujube, the Corcovado mountains, convents and churches, the headquarters of the British legation, Botafogo Bay, the waterfall at Itamaraty), plus views of Montevideo, Ouseley's home in Buenos Aires, the government's headquarters in Paraná, Tenerife (a former convent) and Funchal (Fort Loureiro). The plan of Obligato shows the position of British and French ships during the five-year blockade of Buenos Aires that began in 1845. Sir William Gore Ouseley (1797-1866) was a diplomat in Stockholm and the United States. In 1823 he was sent to Latin America, where he served until 1850, much of the time in Brazil. The selection of his watercolors for this volume was made by Queen Victoria.