“George Baxter (1804–1867) was an English artist and printer based in London. He is credited with the invention of commercially viable colour printing.” (wikipeadia)
These are two beautiful prints handled by George back in the day.
‘Day Before Marriage’ and ‘Fruit Girl of the Alps’
Both mentioned in the book.
It’s a thick impressive one. I’ve got in front of me now, so let’s go through it:
The cover is in very good to excellent. No splits where you usually find them. A little bit rough around the edges, but we’d expect that. All good.
Ok. Open it up and we’ve got a signature. Iain illegible. Maybe this was his book originally? There’s a few numbers and ‘oak’ marked on the otherwise uninteresting blank couple of pages of space, which have yellowed a bit with age.
There’s another couple of those blank pages before we get straight in with a picture (Print No. 159.)
The thin paper sheet which covers the picture page is in decent shape.
Ok, so now we find out that this book was printed 1911
Somebody has written in pencil 1908. Small unobtrusive mistake by the scriber.
I did notice as I was flicking through the 364 pages that there’s a little cut-out from an old newspaper, detailing the auction prices achieved for ‘Launch of the Trafalgar’ (of which the section (Print 132) describing the print is right above where it’s been stuck down) and also the price reached for this very book (!)
The pages are in good condition. Thick paper. Only one thin paper page has come loose a bit (just over half-way)(the page with Print No. 159 on, which was mentioned earlier)
The prints which come with this book are mentioned (on pages 23, 97, 104 & 285)
A good solid sturdy book. That I haven’t got time to read, so it needs to be with someone who does have some time on their hands, really.
Wouldn’t you say?
Oh – The paintings are beautiful
I’ve got them here now as I write this:
First up: Day Before Marriage.
Ok, immediately it’s noted that the frame needs replacing. It’s gotten quite brittle around the edges and some chunks seem to have fallen off, which doesn’t suit the kind of sad innocence that I can sense from her face. She’s holding a letter…
Just spotted a Baxter blind stamp on the print, so that confirms she’s genuine.
Spots of age present on the off-white border
Oo… found some writing painted into picture perfectly in the bottom right corner
“London. Published by the proprietor. George Baxter. Patentee. 11 & 12 Northampton Square.”
Then, printed in what resembles typewriter letters, “March 1854”
Cool. That dates it for us then.
Cheers George. Or the mysterious typist…?;
Next up: Fruit Girl of the Alps:
ok. Now, her frame is nice. No sign of brittleness and no chips anywhere
Some spotting again in the off-white borders
A beautiful fruit she is. Holding her basket full of fruit and looking thoughtful.
No blind stamp or writing on her print, yet it’s most assuredly George’s work, but I can’t guarantee that without doing a deep dive into blind stamps and George’s process and prints, which would take far and away too much time that I really can’t spare at the moment, so this uncertainty is naturally reflected in the price.
They do complement each other though, I think.
Both 22 x 17 inches
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Thank you.
(Free postage on this item if within 50 miles of SL7, as we will personally deliver)
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