Ackermann, Rudolph, The Microcosm of London

THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON. Ackermann, Rudolph (1764-1834). London: T. Bensley for R. Ackerman, 1808-10. 3 volumes. Folio. Woodcut title pages, engraved dedication pages by Robert Ashby and Thomas Williamson after drawings by E.F. Burney and Thomas Tomkins, First Edition
104 fully collated brilliantly produced hand colored aquatints by Bluck, Stadler, Hill and Sutherland after A. Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson. Minor foxing and staining as well as common offsetting throughout. Minor rubbing to the edges. Full original diced Russia, lovingly re-backed with bright gilt titles and decor to spinal labels in red and green morocco, with gilt borders all around.
Footnote: The Microcosm of London, or London in Miniature, begun by Rudolph Ackermann in 1808, was published and sold in 26 monthly sections or (numbers). These numbers containing 4 plates were later bound into three volumes and sold thus as a three volume set. Ackermann was among the first few publishers in England to produce books with colored illustrations. And as a well connected Londoner had the latest technologies and quality materials at his disposal as well as the ability and foresight to hire the two most talented artists in London at the time. Charles Augustus Pugin, a talented draftsman who handled the architectural elements, and the noted caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson who populated all the figures into Pugins architectural spaces. For the text, Ackermann wrote the introduction himself but commissioned William Henry Pyne for the first two volumes then William Combe for the third.
Condition Report: All in all a spectacular set.