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Lot 65

STUBBS (GEORGE)
The Anatomy of the Horse, FIRST EDITION, J. Purser, 1766 [but plates watermarked 1815]

4 December 2019, 11:00 GMT
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £1,912.50 inc. premium

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STUBBS (GEORGE)

The Anatomy of the Horse, FIRST EDITION, later issue, 24 engraved plates printed on wove paper (one keyplate with several tears repaired some loss to margins, 7 others with short, mostly marginal, tears repaired, 2 just touching printed area, loss to blank margin of a few), without the errata slip, several leaves of text with short repairs and marginal trace of worming, modern half morocco, reusing original marbled boards, printed label "Stubbs' Anatomy of the Horse. £4 4s. 0d." on upper cover [Garrison and Morton 308.1; Nissen ZBI 4027; Podeschi 57], oblong folio (425 x 555mm.), J. Purser, 1766 [but plates watermarked 1815]

Footnotes

Stubbs executed the drawings for The Anatomy between 1756 and 1759, during which time he undertook numerous detailed dissections of horses. Subsequently he engraved these himself, producing the sequence of plates which combined perfect "scientific exactitude with a harmonious beauty of placing and balance" (R.T. Godfrey, Printmaking in Britain, 1978). They depict views of the skeleton of the horse from the side, front, and back, followed by views from similar angles of different stages of dissection. On the back of the work's success Stubbs established himself as the most successful animal artist of his day. First published in 1766, the work retained its importance, copies found with plates watermarked with dates from 1798 to 1827.

Provenance: "J. Ferneley, Melton Mowbray", pencil inscription inside upper cover, presumably the sporting painter John Ferneley (1782-1860).

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