[Rarebooks] FS: Joshua Reynolds self-portrait mezzotint by V. Green, 1780

[Powers Rare Books]

I can offer...

      REYNOLDS, Joshua.  Mezzotint engraving after his well-known 
self-portrait.  London: V. Green, 1780.
      Images measures appx. 17 3/4 by 15 inches, hand-colored, in a gilt 
Arts & Crafts frame (with remains of a label from The Rosenbach Company 
of Philadelphia on the verso).  A few scratches with early restoration, 
minor marks in the blank upper right section; some mild overall toning; 
the frame has a few nicks at the edges and corners; overall a very good 
copy.
      A very handsome image with discreet coloring to Reynolds's 
clothing and face--whether it's contemporary or was done when Rosenbach 
framed it I cannot say--engraved by Valentine Green, "Mezzotint 
Engraver to his Majesty, and to the Elector Palatine."  The full 
caption reads, "Sir Joshua Reynolds, Knight, President of the Royal 
Academy, Member of the Imperial Academy at Florence, Doctor of Laws of 
the Universities of Oxford and Dublin, And Fellow of the Royal 
Society."  The portrait was painted by Reynolds in 1780 for the Royal 
Academy, two years before he suffered his paralytic stroke, and this 
mezzotint was produced the same year by Green, the greatest mezzotint 
engraver of his day.  A member of the Royal Society and Society of 
Antiquaries, Green (1739-1813) engraved about four-hundred plates over 
his career.  "All show great mastery of his art and originality of 
style...His finest portraits are after Sir Joshua Reynolds, and include 
[that] of the painter himself" (DNB).
      The choice of frame is an odd one, but somehow it seems to work, 
at least to my eye.  To each his own, eh?

To see a picture go to 
http://home.comcast.net/~powersrarebooks/JoshuaReynoldsMezzo.jpg
PLEASE NOTE: the spot just beyond Reynolds's sternum is from the camera 
and is not on the print.

$950 plus shipping.  Reciprocal trade consideration given.

Cheers,
Greg Powers
Powers Rare Books
344 Orange Street
Manchester NH  03104
603-624-9707
powersrarebooks at comcast.net
http://www.powersbks.com
Member: ABAA, ILAB, NHABA