Imitations of Original Drawings by Hans Holbein in the Collection of His Majesty, for the Portraits of Illustrious Persons of the Court of Henry VIII. With Biographical Tracts. [HANS HOLBEIN] CHAMBERLAINE, John, and Edmund LODGE.

A BEAUTIFUL SPECIAL COPY of this important work gathering 168 stipple engraved plates showing 84 drawings by Hans Holbein IN DOUBLE SUITE (COLOURED AND UNCOLOURED) representing Henry VIII's most renowned courtiers. Jane Seymour, Anne Boleyn, Sir Thomas More, King Edward VI and many more! [HANS HOLBEIN] CHAMBERLAINE, John, and Edmund LODGE. Imitations of Original Drawings by Hans Holbein in the Collection of His Majesty, for the Portraits of Illustrious Persons of the Court of Henry VIII. With Biographical Tracts. London, Printed by William Bulmer and Co., 1812. Folio (34x26,5 cm). Stipple engraved plates with portraits by Bartolozzi, Bourlier, Cardon and others after Holbein. 84 hand-coloured plates and 84 plates uncoloured, all separately printed on India paper and tipped onto full-page leaves, the plates with protective leaf separating the two, each image with two variations, mezzotint portraits of Holbein and his wife as frontispiece plates, a total of 168 illustrations on full-page plates, including two finely coloured miniatures of the Dukes of Suffolk. The plates are printed on a variety of papers, slightly different from one another in colour. A.e.g. Fine copy bound in elegant contemp. green morocco gilt, marbled endpapers. Paper Bookplate of Buddle Atkinson (double-headed eagle with Latin motto "Deo et regi fidelis"). The plates are fine impressions and mostly clean throughout, with sporadic marginal spotting; else, excellent condition. "This magnificent work is surely the finest example of English color printing" (Ray). "In every way a splendid book, the colour printing reproducing with extraordinary fidelity the original designs" (Abbey) The biographical details were provided by Edmund Lodge (1756-1839). First published in 1792, this is a second edition, an imitation of the first in a lesser size, and with other engravers (for the first edition, see Abbey 205, and for the present edition the note). References: Abbey 205 (note).