ACKERMANN, RUDOLPH. 'A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, ITS COLLEGES, HALLS, AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS'. LONDON: R. ACKERMANN, 1814. 3 VOLS

2 volumes, 4to (14 5/8 x 11 3/5 in.; 365 x 290mm). Half-titles, list of subscribers, 114 hand-colored aquatint plates (including 33 of the founders), the plates mixed first and second states according to Abbey, plain engraved portrait of Lord Grenville; some offsetting, some scattered foxing to preliminary leaves. Half brown calf, printed covers taken from the parts issue, spine with raised bands in six compartments, second and fourth with red morocco labels, gilt lettered, other with gilt fleur de lis motif; rebacked, overall wear to extremities, some rubbing to boards. 

Hermann Marx (bookplate to front pastedowns) — Sotheby's London, 19 April 1948, lot 154 — Sotheby's London, 2006, 16 November, lot 113

Abbey, 'Scenery' 278; Tooley 5

2 volumes, 4to (14 5/8 x 11 3/5 in.; 365 x 290mm). Half-titles, list of subscribers, 114 hand-colored aquatint plates (including 33 of the founders), the plates mixed first and second states according to Abbey, plain engraved portrait of Lord Grenville; some offsetting, some scattered foxing to preliminary leaves. Half brown calf, printed covers taken from the parts issue, spine with raised bands in six compartments, second and fourth with red morocco labels, gilt lettered, other with gilt fleur de lis motif; rebacked, overall wear to extremities, some rubbing to boards.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot provided by Sotheby's. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colours and shades which are different to the lot's actual colour and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation because Sotheby's is not a professional conservator or restorer but rather the condition report is a statement of opinion genuinely held by Sotheby's. For that reason, Sotheby's condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot.

"These two books [Ackermann's 'History of Oxford' and 'History of Cambridge'] are among the finest ever executed. A. Pugin, F. Nach, F. Mackenzie, and W. Westall were associated in the drawings, which are worthy even of the splendid architectural monuments they commemorate, while the engraving was carried out by such masters of aquatint as J. Bluck, J.C. Stadler, F.C. Lewis, D. Havell and others of like reputation. The result was the production of plates of unequalled merit in their particular line" (Prideaux, pp. 125-6).