First edition of this major four-volume work. One of the landmark achievements of early American publishing, The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans (1834–1839) stands among the most ambitious illustrated works produced in the United States during the nineteenth century. Issued in monthly parts over five years, this wonderful four-volume set presents 146 finely executed steel-engraved portraits of the nation's most celebrated political leaders, military heroes, jurists, authors, and cultural figures, each accompanied by a biographical sketch.
This handsome complete set retains its period leather boards, professionally restored with new gilt-lettered spines and refreshed endpapers, creating an attractive and sturdy presentation while preserving its nineteenth-century character.
Description
- Complete in four volumes.
- 8vo (approximately 8¾ × 6 inches), originally issued in monthly parts.
- Illustrated with 146 steel-engraved portraits with tissue guards
- Engravers include James B. Longacre, A. B. Durand, J. B. Forrest, and others.
- Contemporary leather boards decoratively stamped in blind and gilt on both covers.
- New leather spines with gilt titling; refreshed endpapers.
- All edges gilt.
Condition ~ A very attractive, complete set. Leather corners are bumped and scuffed with expected rubbing and edge wear to the boards. Interiors are remarkably clean for the period, with generally light toning and scattered foxing, somewhat more noticeable on a handful of plates. Overall, an exceptionally presentable example of a work that is often encountered with considerably heavier wear.
Among the distinguished subjects are frontispiece portraits of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and James Madison, together with beautifully engraved likenesses of Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Daniel Boone, Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster, James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, and many of the foremost figures of the early American Republic.
James Barton Longacre drew many of the portraits directly from life—including Jackson, Madison, Webster, and Calhoun—before later serving as Chief Engraver of the United States Mint, where he became famous for designing the Indian Head Cent.
The accompanying biographical essays are of exceptional historical interest, with many written by John Quincy Adams, lending the work unusual literary and documentary significance.
Provenance ~ From the library of William Young DeFord (1820–1891), with his signature appearing on the preliminary leaves of several volumes.
Own this important cornerstone of Americana, combining exceptional portrait engraving, notable historical scholarship, and the biographies of the men who shaped the early United States. Complete sets in attractive condition remain highly desirable among collectors of Americana, presidential history, engraving, and nineteenth-century illustrated books.