IRELAND, Samuel A picturesque tour through Holland,... Lot 996

IRELAND, Samuel A picturesque tour through Holland, Brabant, and part of France; made in the Autumn of 1789. Illustrated with copper plates in aqua tinta, from drawings made on the spot. London T. & I. Egerton 1790 2 vol., 8vo: xvi-213, vi-209 pp.; 45 pl. (some browning on the margins of the plates). Contemp. mottled sheep, gilt border on covers, gilt-orn. flat spines, gilt sides, gilt inside dentelles, a.e.g. (corners bumped, joints rubbed, starting to split, some min. def. on spines). First edition of this travel account by the English drawer and engraver Samuel Ireland (c. 1750-1800). Ill. with 2 oval title-vignettes in aquatint and 45 aquatint plates. One of the earliest descriptions with aquatint views of Dutch cities in the Northern Republic (1st vol.) & cities in Belgium and France (2nd vol.). The plates are engr. after drawings by S. Ireland and show views of i.a. Rotterdam, Dordrecht, Delft, Leiden, Haarlem, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Breda, Antwerp, Valenciennes, Amiens, Paris, etc. ref. Landwehr, Dutch Books with col. plates, 321.