Beschreibung:

Pen and brown ink w. brown wash (25x, 1x handcol. and 1x touched w. colour), pen and black ink w. grey wash (6x) and pen and red ink over black chalk (4x), various sizes, with 20 handcol. engravings after present drawings in mirror image, depicting children's games and pastimes, partly juxtaposed to the drawings, all mounted recto and verso on a total of 35 lvs., in loose quires/ lvs., 1 leather cover preserved, sm. 8vo (17 x 11 cm).
All drawings w. glue stains, overall a bit thumbed/ soiled/ stained; a few empty spaces where formerly a print or drawing was mounted; the prints (irregularly) cut to the central image. In all, 35 drawings and 76 (mostly handcol.) prints by various artists are present. Wonderful and unique album of excuisite original designs for engravings, with very nice subjects and adorned with cartouches in Rococo-style, ca. 1740-1750. For the greater part with the prints after these designs present. The writing-master and calligrapher George Bickham the Elder is famous for a number of publications on calligraphy, such as "The Universal Penman" (1733-1741). Most of the prints after the drawings are adorned with engr. (1x in pen) calligraphed titles and/ or curls that are not present in the drawings. We were unable to trace the published booklet (or perhaps catchpenny print) of children's games, but also the other prints could not be traced. One small print is signed in the plate by James Cole The titled games (titled in drawing and/ or in print, partly only the drawing present, mostly titled in mirror image) are: "The dancing puppets", "Playing with cards", "Playing with marbles", "Arithmatick", "Hi cards", "(T)umbling", "Sculpture", "Writing", "Painting", "Husbandry", "Botany", "Blindmans buff", "Hot cockles", "Truss fail", "Fire-works" and "Poetry". Untitled drawings show children blowing bubbles, playing with a puppet, hooping, playing astronomers, badminton (adults), miscroscopy and telescopy (games w. lenzes), swings, letting birds fly tied to cords (a cat trying to catch them), kid jump, flying a kite, viewing optical prints in a chimnied box, blowing air in a pottery-oven, and children in a library. The four drawings in red ink depict dogs (2x), a cock and a bull, all finely calligraphed in a single, curly line. The (handcol.) prints without drawings are (partly with finely calligraphed titled/ ornaments, partly in a different style) show different subjects such as a procession (several clippings of a larger print), soldiers, war-related scenes (3x titled, mentioning King George, defeated rebels, the Earl of Kilmarnock and Lord Balmerino beheaded (dated "18th Augt 1746") and the Duke of Cumberland), dwarves, coat-of-arms, allegorical figures, a very fine portrait of King George II, etc. The album also includes: The artists assistant in drawing, perspective, etching, engraving, mezzotinto -scraping. painting on glass, in crayon, and in water-colours. Containing the earliest and most comprehensive rules for the attainment of those truly useful and polite arts (...). London, T. Kitchin, n.d., (8),48 pp., w. 3 fold. engr. plates, sm. 8vo. In almost loose quires. One plate w. mounted engravings on a blank part of the leaf, another plate w. traces of formerly mounted prints. With owner's entries in pen of James Sammin, and dated 1792 in pen below the printed address. Very rare artist's manual. (total 1 album)