first edition 12 leaves of letterpress text. Ten lithographic prints on proof paper, tipped onto bristol board with glossy backs (one tinted p
1845 · New York
by Heine, William
New York: Putnam, 1845. First edition, deluxe colored issue on card. 12 leaves of letterpress text. Ten lithographic prints on proof paper, tipped onto bristol board with glossy backs (one tinted portrait of Perry from a daguerreotype by P. Hass, nine views by Heine, printed in colors and finished by hand), all printed by Sarony & Co. Large folio. Original half black morocco and cloth covered boards, lettered in gilt on the upper cover, restoration to the spine with minor areas of loss. Minor foxing and wear to the plates. Very good. In a cloth folding box. First edition, deluxe colored issue on card. 12 leaves of letterpress text. Ten lithographic prints on proof paper, tipped onto bristol board with glossy backs (one tinted portrait of Perry from a daguerreotype by P. Hass, nine views by Heine, printed in colors and finished by hand), all printed by Sarony & Co. Large folio. The very rare deluxe colored issue on card of this important work recording Commodore Perry's expedition to Japan. Evidence of the rarity of this album is given by Bennett writing in 1947: "Obviously several copies must have been preserved, but the one described seems to be the only one yet offered for public sale."
William Heine was the official artist of Commodore Matthew C. Perry's expedition to Japan in 1853-54. On returning to the United States he produced several series of prints commemorating the trip. A group of six elephant folio prints appeared in 1855, and the following year the present volume was issued, with different images, and with explanatory text. Both projects employed the New York lithographic firm of Sarony, probably the best lithographers in the United States at that time. "As artistic productions, the pictures speak for themselves ... none superior to them have been executed in the United States, and they have no cause to shun comparison with some of the best productions of Europe" (Introduction).
Copies were produced on regular paper with tinted lithographs, and in a deluxe form, as in the present copy, mounted on bristol board and beautifully with the plates finished by hand. The plates are numbered and titled as follow: 1. portrait of Perry; 2. "Macao from Penha Hill"; 3. "Whampoa Pagoda"; 4. "Old China Street, Canton"; 5. "Kung-kwa at On-na, Lew-Chew"; 6. "Mia or road side chapel at Yokohama"; 7. "Temple of Ben-teng in the harbor of Simoda"; 8. "Street and bridge at Simoda"; 9. "Temple of the Ha-tshu Man-ya-tshu-ro at Simoda"; 10. "Grave yard at Simoda Dio Zenge."
Bennett describes the plates as "many times finer than those in the regular account of the Perry expedition." His remarks on the work's great rarity are confirmed by its absence from both the Abbey catalogue and Cordier's Japanese bibliography. Bennett, p.53; McGrath, p.123 (Inventory #: 371181)
William Heine was the official artist of Commodore Matthew C. Perry's expedition to Japan in 1853-54. On returning to the United States he produced several series of prints commemorating the trip. A group of six elephant folio prints appeared in 1855, and the following year the present volume was issued, with different images, and with explanatory text. Both projects employed the New York lithographic firm of Sarony, probably the best lithographers in the United States at that time. "As artistic productions, the pictures speak for themselves ... none superior to them have been executed in the United States, and they have no cause to shun comparison with some of the best productions of Europe" (Introduction).
Copies were produced on regular paper with tinted lithographs, and in a deluxe form, as in the present copy, mounted on bristol board and beautifully with the plates finished by hand. The plates are numbered and titled as follow: 1. portrait of Perry; 2. "Macao from Penha Hill"; 3. "Whampoa Pagoda"; 4. "Old China Street, Canton"; 5. "Kung-kwa at On-na, Lew-Chew"; 6. "Mia or road side chapel at Yokohama"; 7. "Temple of Ben-teng in the harbor of Simoda"; 8. "Street and bridge at Simoda"; 9. "Temple of the Ha-tshu Man-ya-tshu-ro at Simoda"; 10. "Grave yard at Simoda Dio Zenge."
Bennett describes the plates as "many times finer than those in the regular account of the Perry expedition." His remarks on the work's great rarity are confirmed by its absence from both the Abbey catalogue and Cordier's Japanese bibliography. Bennett, p.53; McGrath, p.123 (Inventory #: 371181)
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