Antique Portrait of Bryan Edwards with Title Leaf, British West Indies, 1818
€ 190
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1818
Sheet size
26.8 × 21 cm (10.6 × 8.3 in)
Condition
Fair
Reference
BG-13306-1-FP & BG-13306-1-1
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Wear consistent with age and use. Fair antique condition with general age-related toning, foxing and scattered spotting. Some wear and irregularity along the sheet edges consistent with age and removal from the original volume. Please study the photographs carefully.
About this sheet
Bryan Edwards, historian of the British West Indies, in an engraved half-length portrait by Thomas Holloway after a painting by Lemuel Francis Abbott, issued with the engraved title leaf of the 1818 London edition of his History of the British West Indies. The two original leaves are offered together. The painter's and engraver's names are lettered below the image, and "Bryan Edwards Esqr" is engraved beneath it.
Edwards is shown in a dark coat with a high collar and a white cravat, his hair curled, before a hanging curtain, with a view of palms and a tropical landscape at the left. The title leaf reads "History of the British West Indies by Bryan Edwards Esq. F.R.S. With a continuation to the present time. Illustrated by Maps & Plates. In Five Volumes. London. Printed for the Proprietors, 1818." Its lettering is surrounded by a decorative calligraphic frame with a small coastal vignette.
Edwards (1743 to 1800) was a Jamaica planter and merchant, a Member of Parliament, and a Fellow of the Royal Society from 1794. His history was a standard account of the islands, and he defended the plantation system and opposed the abolitionist campaign of William Wilberforce.
