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Bewick, Thomas and John : THE DANCE OF DEATH, from Original Designs of HANS HOLBEIN, Illustrated with Fifty-two Woodcuts

Printed for William Charnley, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1789

8vo., tan diced binder's cloth, plain sides, title gilt-stamped on the spine: HOLBEIN'S DANCE OF DEATH. Spine rebacked with a small portion of the original lacking. FIRST EDITION with 52 woodcuts of the Dance of Death of which 51 are after Holbein's designs; the full-page frontispiece, which contained a figure of the Deity habited as a Pope, was changed in deference to Protestant sentiment, for an original design. This Charnley/Newcastle imprint, unlike the Hodgson/London imprint of the same year makes no claim that the cuts imitate a "Painting in the Cemetery of the Dominican Church in Basel;" Charnley's title-page correctly states that they are all from the Holbein series which dates back to 1538, and which are far too well known to describe here. This is the ONLY COPY of the Newcastle imprint we have seen. Even the Susan Minns collection lacked a copy (although it had several copies of the London edition). It differs from Hodgson' London imprint only through the insertion of another title-page.(which in this case is printed on a different paper and is slightly more foxed). Shortly after its publication, the blocks were destroyed in a London fire. An American edition by Alexander Anderson based on the Bewicks' version appeared soon after the turn of the century. Both Bewick versions are scarce; we would not, though, hesitate to use the word rare to describe this book.See: Hugo. Nos. 35 and 36. Minns Sale Catalogue. No. 242. Warthin, A.S. p. 81. Not in Collins, M. The Dance of Death in Book Illustration.

WITH THE NEWCASTLE IMPRINT AND A DIFFERENT TITLE

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