Falls of Terni

View of the town, taken from Sketches at home and abroad., London: Charles Tilt, [1836] by Harding.

“This book represents something of a landmark in the history of the lithograph in that it may be said to initiate the series of tinted lithographs, which ... were to dominate the market for many years, reaching a peak of ambitious bulk in Roberts’s Holy Land, 1842–9” (Abbey).

Sketches at Home and Abroad was published as a set of imperial folio size and contained in total fifty-one original plates of single tinted lithographs (including the title page), all drawn on the stone by James Harding. The views included scenes of Britain, France, Monaco, Italy and Germany.

The original drawings were made over a period from September 1824 to October 1835, but many date from 1834 when J. D. Harding made an extensive continental tour. It is not known when the drawings were put on stone, but presumably some time after October, 1835. They were printed by Hullmandel and published by Charles Tilt in an edition of 1,000 copies, after which the drawings were then effaced from the stones.

The lithographs from this meticulously made set gained for James Duffield Harding a strong reputation, both in England and on the continent. In fact, for his work dealing with Sketches at Home and Abroad the artist was presented with a diamond ring from King Louis-Phillipe of France.

Tinted litograph, with fine later hand colour, very good condition.