COLEMAN, Edmund Thomas (ca. 1823-92) - Scenes from the Snow-Fields; being, Illustrations of the Upper Ice World of Mont Blanc from Sketches made on the Spot in the Years 1855, 1856, 1857, 1858. Londra: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1859.   A magnificent first and only edition of one of "the rarest and most precious mountaineering books" (Neate). The 12 large format plates drawn from life by Coleman and engraved in chromolithograph by Vincent Brooks depict the Montagne de la Cote, with the Bossons Glacier, the Aiguille and the Dome de Gouté, the Tacconay Glacier, the serac area, the views, one towards the valley, the other towards the mountain, taken from the Grands Mulets, the Grand Plateu at sunrise, a large crevasse at the foot of the Rochers Rouges, the Mur de la Cote, towards the Maudit and the Mur de la Cote beyond the Brenva, the passage of the Couloir on the Aiguille du Gouté, the serac on the Dome du Gouté, the panorama from the Tet Rouge, the bivouac on the summit of the Aiguille du Gouté and other splendid landscapes. The work is dedicated to John Ruskin, glorifier of William Turner's painting.   Coleman chose Mont Blanc as a field of observation for the variety of landscapes it could offer and for the historical references connected to the ascents of De Saussure and Jacques Balmat. A passionate mountaineer and painter, he tried to demonstrate that mountain painting was possible despite making the majority of painters powerless in being able to faithfully render its majesty, and he also managed to maintain its verisimilitude. Neate, Mountaineering Literature, C92.   Folio (555 x 370mm). 12 chromolithograph plates with 19 subjects engraved by Vincento Brooks after life drawings by Coleman, captions added in pencil for each plate (tiny restoration at plate IV, plates III and VI with marginal restored tear not touching the engraving, light foxing). Editorial cloth printed in gilt and decorated in blindstamp (rebacked, scuffed and rubbed at extremities).

Estimate € 6,000 - 9,000

Sold € 9,000