THE RURAL CEMETERIES OF AMERICA GREEN-WOOD ILLUSTRATED 1st Ed, 1847 GRAVEYARD

THE RURAL CEMETERIES OF AMERICA: GREEN-WOOD ILLUSTRATED IN HIGHLY FINISHED LINE ENGRAVING, FROM DRAWINGS TAKEN ON THE SPOT. Jame Smillie (ART) and Nehemiah Cleaveland (TEXT).

Hardcover Pagination: 119, followed with more full-page plates. Very scarce first edition of THE RURAL CEMETERIES OF AMERICA: GREEN-WOOD ILLUSTRATED IN HIGHLY FINISHED LINE ENGRAVINGS. Steel engravings throughout this fundamental work on cemetery landscape design. Ound in original publisher's deluxe tan cloth with gilt-stamped and illustrated vignette of the Cemetery entrance on front cover. Gilt tile and decorations on spine. In overall good condition: some shelfwear, with bumped corners and wear to spine edges. Attachment to spine, but binding is tight, strong and solid. Pages are clean and free of interior markings. Some sporadic foxing, most notably on first title page.

Please see pictures for further condition. "Long before the professionalism of landscape architecture, new American cemeteries provided models of landscape taste and trained generations of landscape designers, producing lasting effects on our built environment" (Blanche Linden-Ward, American Landscape Architecture).

Cemeteries have long been green oases in urban areas, and in the 19th century a tradition of opulence developed in which the wealthy spared no expense in building mausoleums and memorials to themselves. Thus at least in the more celebrated cemeteries can be found a bucolic beauty enveloping architectural splendor and notable landscape design, and this series captured these attributes for an appreciative audience.

Please see below for more information on Green-Wood and the artist, James Smillie. Green-Wood is a vast expanse in Brooklyn. Founded in 1838 and now a National Historic Landmark, Green-Wood was one of the first rural cemeteries in America. By the early 1860s, it had earned an international reputation for its magnificent beauty and became the prestigious place to be buried, attracting 500,000 visitors a year, second only to Niagara Falls as the nations greatest tourist attraction.

Crowds flocked there to enjoy family outings, carriage rides, and sculpture viewing in the finest of first generation American landscapes. Green-Woods popularity helped inspire the creation of public parks, including New York Citys Central and Prospect Parks. As an adult after spending time in Quebec.

He is best known today as an engraver who worked with such Hudson River School artists as Thomas Cole and Albert Bierstadt. His bread and butter work, though, was engraving bank notes. Smillie was, in the words of David Stauffer, "an admirable line-engraver of landscape" who worked largely from his own drawings.

The plates herein exhibiting a very high degree of execution and artistic sensibility. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions! Also check out our other rare and out-of-print antiquarian books at Black Cat Caboodle. Available to anywhere that the UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE delivers.

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The item "THE RURAL CEMETERIES OF AMERICA GREEN-WOOD ILLUSTRATED 1st Ed, 1847 GRAVEYARD" is in sale since Monday, February 11, 2019. This item is in the category "Books\Antiquarian & Collectible". The seller is "blackcatcaboodle" and is located in Atlanta, Georgia. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Norway, Saudi arabia, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Brazil, Chile, Costa rica, Panama, Trinidad and tobago, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Bangladesh, Brunei darussalam, Bolivia, Ecuador, Egypt, French guiana, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Macao, Martinique, Nicaragua, Peru, Pakistan, Paraguay, Viet nam, Uruguay, Thailand, Switzerland, China, Sri lanka, South africa, Colombia, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman islands, Maldives, Oman, Reunion, Ukraine.

Topic: Architecture
Binding: Fine Binding
Subject: Art & Photography
Original/Facsimile: Original
Language: English
Modified Item: No
Modification Description: PERSONAL COPY / STAMP of The Order of the Magi, Chicago
Place of Publication: New York
Publisher: R. Martin
Author: Jame Smillie (ART) and Nehemiah Cleaveland (TEXT)
Special Attributes: 1st Edition
Year Printed: 1847