The Wye Tour, or Gilpin on The Wye, with picturesque additions, from Wheatley, Price, &c. and archaeological illustrations

London: Printed by and for W. Farror, sold by Messrs. Nichols, 25 Parliament Street and Messrs. Baldwin, Cradock and Joy, 1826. Half-Calf. Fine. Beautifully bound Third Edition (first published 1818) of this popularization of Gilpin's first picturesque tour, introducing the picturesque to a whole new readership. Foolscap 8vo (170 x 99mm): vi,199,[1]pp, with engraved frontispiece (view of Symond's Yat, on the Wye). Contemporary green half calf over marbled paper-covered boards, spine in six compartments elaborately decorated in gilt, red morocco lettering piece gilt, marbled edges and end papers. Later book label of P. R. Glazebrook, presumably the author of Blackstone's Statutes On Criminal Law and other books. Dedicated to the engraver John Britton, who has "exhibited our richest remains of Antiquity in a superb style." An excellent example, tightly bound and clean throughout. In June of 1770, William Gilpin embarked on his first picturesque tour, creating an entirely new class of travel. "Sailing down the Wye proved a very different trip from [Gilpin's earlier] tame journey down the Thames: the ruined castles and mountains of Wales were indeed exciting after the flat countryside of eastern and south-eastern England. . . . here was landscape that called for description, that matched his conceptions of beauty and grandeur." (Barbier) Gilpin's Wye Tour disappeared from print after the fifth edition of 1800. It no longer met the needs of a new century, even after Gilpin experimented with an unillustrated pocket edition. Fosbroke abbreviated Gilpin's descriptions for a contemporary audience, and his book remained in print for twenty-three years. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).