1833 ❧ From the Rothschild palace Ferriere's. PROUT, SAMUEL. 1783-1852. Fac Similes of Sketches Made in Flanders and Germany and Drawn on Stone by Samuel Prout. London: [Charles Joseph] Hullmandel, [1833]. Imperial folio (560 x 390 mm). Lithographic title page, dedication leaf addressed to Her Majesty Queen Adelaide, and 50 tinted lithographic plates drawn on stone by Samuel Prout and printed by the master lithographer Charles Joseph Hullmandel. This example consists entirely of early proof impressions on India paper, yielding crisp typographic contrast and highly refined line registry that are not visible in later, commercial distributions. Light spotting. 3/4 green morroco gilt over marbled boards, covers with a central morrocco panel emblazoned with the arms of Rothschild in gilt. Extremities lightly rubbed. Provenance: Baron James Mayer de Rothschild (1792-1868): Founder of the French Rothschild banking line (circular bookplate); The Château de Ferrières Library (Rothschild palace just East of Paris) (Affixed location label); Frank de Rothschild Collection (Family descent lineage noted). FIRST EDITION, IMPERIAL FOLIO ISSUE FEATURING EARLY INDIA PROOFS. Originally published in 1833, Samuel Prout's Fac Similes of Sketches Made in Flanders and Germany stands as one of the defining triumphs of early British architectural lithography. Appointed Royal Watercolorist to King George IV in 1829, Prout possessed an unrivaled ability to translate the picturesque, crumbling textures of medieval European facades, gables, and gothic spires onto stone. As his student, the legendary art critic John Ruskin, famously observed, Prout's published lithographic sketches are 'of the greatest value, wholly unrivalled in power of composition and in love and feeling of architectural subjects'. Complete copies of this landmark first edition folio have virtually disappeared from commerce, as the vast majority were systematically broken apart over the last century by print sellers to be sold as individual plates. This example, boasting early proof impressions, yields a depth of shade and crisp ink density absent from standard copies. Ray English 44. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing