RARE BOOK & COLLECTORS’ SALE 12th -13th December 2023

64 IMPERFECTIONS NOT STATED Fonsie Mealy’s Est. 1934 559. Views in Jersey Ouless (Philip John) Scenic Beauties of the Island of Jersey , Folio St. Helier, c. 1840. 22 hand. coloured lithographs, all mounted and framed, in gilt. As a collection, w.a.f. Good. (22) €350 - €500 560 – 563 – See pages 65 – 68 564. After Jonathan Fisher (1740-1809) “A Picturesque Tour of Killarney, describing in Twenty Years,” 17 (ex. 20) acquatint Views engraved by Jonathan Fisher, each approx. 28cms x 38cms (11” x 15”), mounted uniformly framed. (17) €600 - €800 View of the Law Courts, Dublin, approx. 41.5cms x 61cms (16½” x 24”) This impressive sepia and watercolour painting of the Four Courts in Dublin, by an unknown artist, is closely based on James Malton’s engraving of the same subject. The painting appears to date from around 1800, and so would have been done not long after Malton’s aquatint view was published, in the 1790’s. Although signed ‘Malton’ it is probably by a follower of the artist. * An English-born engraver and watercolourist, James Malton moved to Ireland as a child in the 1780’s, and following his father in taking up the profession of architectural draughtsman, working for a time in the offices of architect James Gandon. Leaving this employment, he began working as an artist, and in 1790 submitted two drawings to the Society of Artists in London. He is best known for a series of twenty five aquatint and etching prints entitled A Picturesque and Descriptive View of the City of Dublin, published in the 1790’s. Several of the buildings he drew, including the Law Courts, had been designed by his former employer James Gandon. Although Malton hoped to capitalise on the growth in prosperity of Dublin, the passing of the Act of Union reduced the importance of the city, and he was obliged to maintain his ties with London, exhibiting frequently there, at the Royal Academy. Among the works he showed at the RA were seventeen views of Dublin in Indian ink and watercolour, mostly depicting the same subjects as his published prints. Larger than the original plates, they also differed in detail, with some figures removed and other added. While it is tempting to see this sepia and watercolour painting of the Law Courts as an autograph work by Gandon, it lacks his firm grasp of architectural perspective and his ability to include figures and carriages rendered with elegance and flair, as exemplified in his book Designs for Rural Retreats, published in 1802. He died the following year, 1803. Dr. Peter Murray, 2023 €800 - €1000 560. After James Malton (1761-1803) 565. Archive of the Blood Estate, Co. Clare Co. Clare: A collection of Papers relating to the Estate of Bindon (“the Vampire”) Blood (1775-1855) of Cranagher, Co. Clare. Leases, rentals, cause papers of lawsuits, tradesmen’s bills and receipts, workman's wages with details of work done. Mid-19th century, with some copies of earlier deeds. Townlands in Co. Clare and house property in Ennis. Includes half-yearly rentals from May 1840 to November 1853, i.e. covering the Famine period. Also documents relating to “the Lord Lieutenant’s Lodge” at Newtown, Dublin, built by John Lees and granted in 1792 to the Lord Chancellor, John Fitzgibbon, Earl of Clare. An important Archive for the detailed study of a 19th-century landed estate in Co. Clare in the mid-19th century. (1) €1000 - €1500