DANIELL, Samuel (1775-1811) and William Daniell (1769-1837)
Sketches Representing the Native Tribes, Animals and Scenery of Southern Africa.
London: Richard and Arthur Taylor [for] William Daniell and William Wood, 1820.

Comparables: Christie's, 2008 - $3,926; Antiquarian Auctions, 2014 - $2,500.

4to (14" x 11 1/4".; 35.6 x 28.6 cm). 48 etched plates by William Daniell after Samuel Daniell, 48 text leaves, tissue guards; light, chiefly marginal foxing to most plates. Later half green morocco over green marbled boards, marbled endpapers, spine lettered gilt, top edge gilt; joints lightly rubbed, spine faded to brown.

FIRST EDITION, "A MOT BEAUTIFUL AND SENSITIVE WORK" (Abbey).

Mendelssohn and Abbey distinguish between two editions, one quarto as in the present instance, and the other oblong folio, the latter considered by Mendelssohn to be the second issue. Known as the "artist-adventurer," Samuel Daniell arrived at the Cape on 9 December 1799, joining an expedition which travelled the perilous 700 miles to Lataku, the seat of King Mooliahaben of the Booshuanas-then the extreme limit of European exploration. His drawings of the landscape, the wild animals, and the inhabitants of the interior became the source for both his African Scenery and Animals (1804-1805) and the present work, published posthumously. His brother William used soft-ground etching for the latter in the belief that it would best "transfuse the spirit of the originals." Daniell's sketches are now highly regarded as an early and sympathetic record of African life. If you have additional queries about this book, please contact Elizabeth Muller senior cataloguer at the Gallery with over two decades of experience as a specialist with Sotheby's New York Books and Manuscripts Dept.

REFRENCES: Abbey, Travel 326; Gay 3136; Mendelssohn I, p. 412 (L64F24E).[65ERM0259]