Reading Books by their Covers
Images which have graced the front cover of literary works published by Penguin and Oxford University Press:
OUP used Quentin Matsys' The Misers for the cover of Five Plays by Ben Jonson.
The original is lost but there are many surviving copies, including one in the Royal Collection which was the basis for our print:
The Misers. From the celebrated Picture by Quintin Matsys in His Majesty's Collection Windsor Castle. Les Avares. D Apres le celibre tableau par Quintin Matsys de la galerie de sa Majeste au Chatea de Windsor.
Dean & Munday Litographer's Threadneedle St.
[A. Friedel.] [n.d. c.1830.]
Lithograph on india, rare with large margins. 406 x 272mm. 16 x 10¾". Slight foxing bottom right
Misers sat at a table logging in a book their worth. Three bulging bags of coins, tied into one, sit on the table in front, with coins spread out to the right; a bird on a perch sits behind on the wall below the shelf. After the 'Blacksmith of Antwerp', Quentin Matsys (1466-1529).
[Ref: 24887] £90.00 (£108.00 incl.VAT)
A group of spectacle-wearers by 19th century French satirist Boilly may not immediately make one think of Jonathan Swift, but this was the choice for his Major Works in the OUP edition:
Les Lunettes.
L. Boilly. I. Lith de Delpech.
[n.d. c.1823.]
Hand-coloured lithograph. 360 x 265mm (14¼ x 10½").
Five caricatures of men and women using different types of optical aid including a quizzing glass, a pair of scissor spectacles with a handle, a pair of wig spectacles with jointed sides, a pair of nose spectacles and a spyglass.
[Ref: 28759] £320
Penguin's edition of sometime Wandsworth resident Voltaire's Letters on England uses a view of London from the south very similar to this one:
Londres.
A Paris chez Crepy rue St. Jacques a St. Pierre [n.d., c.1700].
Etching, 180 x 230mm. 7 x 9". A fine impression, with very large margins.
From a series of city prospects; probably engraver and publisher Louis Crépy (1680 - 1754 after), son of Jean.
[Ref: 27810] £550
For editions of Defoe's Moll Flanders, both Penguin and OUP choose images of women from Hogarth. Penguin choose the 'Before' scene from a pre- and post-coital pair:
[Before.] [&] [After.]
...while OUP crop the third plate from the Harlot's Progress, which in many ways parallels that of Moll Flanders herself (our impression is a reversed copy):
A natural cover for Boswell's Life of Johnson (Penguin) is the unfinished oil sketch by James Barry in the National Portrait Gallery reproduced here:
Doctor Samuel Johnson.
Painted by James Barry, Esq. R.A. Engraved by Anker Smith A.R.A.
Published March 1st 1808, by John Manson, Bookseller, No 10, Gerrard Street, Soho.
Engraving. 330 x 270mm, 13 x 10½".
Dr Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784), lexicographer and author.
Pressly Paintings 50
[Ref: 10395] £220
For Byron's Selected Poetry, OUP use the portrait of Byron by Westall (cropped close to his face):
The Right Hon.ble Lord Byron.
Painted by R.Westall Esq.r R.A. Engraved by C.Turner.
London, Published July 15 1815 by A.Molteno, 29 Pall Mall. [but c.1890.]
Mezzotint. Sheet 330 x 220mm. Creases and scuffing to the image and title.
George Gordon, sixth lord Byron (1788-1824). A late printing from the original plate.
Whitman: 87, state iii of iii; CLB: iv of iv. Ex: Collection of The Hon. C. Lennox-Boyd.
[Ref: 14189] £120.00 (£144.00 incl.VAT)
while for Keats they use the portrait by Severn:
John Keats. [facsimile signature.]
J. Severn. H. Robinson.
London, Edward Moxon, Dover Street, 1848.
Mixed-method on india paper, with very large margins; 210 x 140mm. 8¼ x 5½".
Scarce portrait of John Keats (1795 - 1821), poet. Ending his life as British Consul in Rome, the young painter Joseph Severn (1793-1879) arrived in Italy's capital in November 1820 with Keats. To Severn's distress, Keats died at their villa near the Spanish Steps three months later.
[Ref: 27385] £140.00 (£168.00 incl.VAT)
OUP used Quentin Matsys' The Misers for the cover of Five Plays by Ben Jonson.
The original is lost but there are many surviving copies, including one in the Royal Collection which was the basis for our print:
Dean & Munday Litographer's Threadneedle St.
[A. Friedel.] [n.d. c.1830.]
Lithograph on india, rare with large margins. 406 x 272mm. 16 x 10¾". Slight foxing bottom right
Misers sat at a table logging in a book their worth. Three bulging bags of coins, tied into one, sit on the table in front, with coins spread out to the right; a bird on a perch sits behind on the wall below the shelf. After the 'Blacksmith of Antwerp', Quentin Matsys (1466-1529).
[Ref: 24887] £90.00 (£108.00 incl.VAT)
A group of spectacle-wearers by 19th century French satirist Boilly may not immediately make one think of Jonathan Swift, but this was the choice for his Major Works in the OUP edition:
L. Boilly. I. Lith de Delpech.
[n.d. c.1823.]
Hand-coloured lithograph. 360 x 265mm (14¼ x 10½").
Five caricatures of men and women using different types of optical aid including a quizzing glass, a pair of scissor spectacles with a handle, a pair of wig spectacles with jointed sides, a pair of nose spectacles and a spyglass.
[Ref: 28759] £320
Penguin's edition of sometime Wandsworth resident Voltaire's Letters on England uses a view of London from the south very similar to this one:
A Paris chez Crepy rue St. Jacques a St. Pierre [n.d., c.1700].
Etching, 180 x 230mm. 7 x 9". A fine impression, with very large margins.
From a series of city prospects; probably engraver and publisher Louis Crépy (1680 - 1754 after), son of Jean.
[Ref: 27810] £550
For editions of Defoe's Moll Flanders, both Penguin and OUP choose images of women from Hogarth. Penguin choose the 'Before' scene from a pre- and post-coital pair:
Invented, Engraved and Published Decem.br y:e 15th 1736 by W.m Hogarth Persuivant to an Act of Parliament.
[Later impressions, 19th century.]
Pair of engravings, 400 x 330mm, 15¾ x 132.
[Later impressions, 19th century.]
Pair of engravings, 400 x 330mm, 15¾ x 132.
As is typical of
Hogarth, the scenes are crammed with visual references to the action,
such as the 'before and after' pictures hanging on the walls, a book of
poems by the scandalous Earl of Rochester and furniture in disarray in
the latter.
Paulson: 141 & 142, second state of three.
[Ref: 24680] £280
Paulson: 141 & 142, second state of three.
[Ref: 24680] £280
...while OUP crop the third plate from the Harlot's Progress, which in many ways parallels that of Moll Flanders herself (our impression is a reversed copy):
[after William Hogarth]
Printed for Thomas Bowles in St Pauls Churchyard and John Bowles at the black Horse in Cornhill [1732].
Set of six line engravings, rare as a set, each 340 x 380mm (13¼ x 15") to platemark.
Early copies of William Hogarth's celebrated set of engravings showing the degrading effects of London life upon a young woman.
[Ref: 22460] £950
Eighteenth Century Women Dramatists in the OUP edition use Reynolds' portrait of Mrs Abingdon as Roxalana:
Roxalana. Mrs. Abbington in that Character, in the Sultan.
Painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Engraved by J.K. Shirwin.
London, Publish'd Feby. 1. 1791, by J. Thane, Rupert Street, Hay Market.
Stipple and etching, printed in colours. 285 x 210mm. 11¼ x 8¼". Some mount burn. Unexamined out of frame.
The famous comic actress Frances Abington (1737 - 1815) in character as Roxalana, an English slave in Isaac Bickstaffe's play 'The Sultan; or A Peep into the Seraglio'
[Ref: 13807] £260
Printed for Thomas Bowles in St Pauls Churchyard and John Bowles at the black Horse in Cornhill [1732].
Set of six line engravings, rare as a set, each 340 x 380mm (13¼ x 15") to platemark.
Early copies of William Hogarth's celebrated set of engravings showing the degrading effects of London life upon a young woman.
[Ref: 22460] £950
Eighteenth Century Women Dramatists in the OUP edition use Reynolds' portrait of Mrs Abingdon as Roxalana:
Painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Engraved by J.K. Shirwin.
London, Publish'd Feby. 1. 1791, by J. Thane, Rupert Street, Hay Market.
Stipple and etching, printed in colours. 285 x 210mm. 11¼ x 8¼". Some mount burn. Unexamined out of frame.
The famous comic actress Frances Abington (1737 - 1815) in character as Roxalana, an English slave in Isaac Bickstaffe's play 'The Sultan; or A Peep into the Seraglio'
[Ref: 13807] £260
A natural cover for Boswell's Life of Johnson (Penguin) is the unfinished oil sketch by James Barry in the National Portrait Gallery reproduced here:
Painted by James Barry, Esq. R.A. Engraved by Anker Smith A.R.A.
Published March 1st 1808, by John Manson, Bookseller, No 10, Gerrard Street, Soho.
Engraving. 330 x 270mm, 13 x 10½".
Dr Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784), lexicographer and author.
Pressly Paintings 50
[Ref: 10395] £220
For Byron's Selected Poetry, OUP use the portrait of Byron by Westall (cropped close to his face):
Painted by R.Westall Esq.r R.A. Engraved by C.Turner.
London, Published July 15 1815 by A.Molteno, 29 Pall Mall. [but c.1890.]
Mezzotint. Sheet 330 x 220mm. Creases and scuffing to the image and title.
George Gordon, sixth lord Byron (1788-1824). A late printing from the original plate.
Whitman: 87, state iii of iii; CLB: iv of iv. Ex: Collection of The Hon. C. Lennox-Boyd.
[Ref: 14189] £120.00 (£144.00 incl.VAT)
while for Keats they use the portrait by Severn:
J. Severn. H. Robinson.
London, Edward Moxon, Dover Street, 1848.
Mixed-method on india paper, with very large margins; 210 x 140mm. 8¼ x 5½".
Scarce portrait of John Keats (1795 - 1821), poet. Ending his life as British Consul in Rome, the young painter Joseph Severn (1793-1879) arrived in Italy's capital in November 1820 with Keats. To Severn's distress, Keats died at their villa near the Spanish Steps three months later.
[Ref: 27385] £140.00 (£168.00 incl.VAT)
