vienna in colour

An outstanding series of plates recording the palaces, monuments, theatres, coffee houses, and markets of Vienna. They are all separately mounted on card, to make it easy to frame or display all of the plates together.

Joseph Ignaz Gurk (1773–1835) and Eduard Gurk (1801-1841) were a father and son artistic duo. Joseph served as head of the art gallery and library of Nikolaus II, Prince Esterházy. This gave his son Eduard, an early interest in painting. Their first collaboration was this present work, which attracted attention from the Austrian elite and encouraged Klemens von Metternich to sponser Eduard. He found the promising Eduard the role of assistant to the court painter, Johann Baptist Hoechle (1754–1832), and three years later became the court painter to the new Emperor Ferdinand I.

First edition; landscape folio (36 x 28.5 cm); text in French and German, hand-coloured engraved calligraphic title, 64 (of 79?) fine hand-coloured aquatint plates by Joseph Ignaz Gurk and Eduard Gurk, each mounted on card as issued, each image captioned, last 3 plates rubbed; loose within original publisher's boards, preserved in modern calf-backed box with replica of title pasted to upper board, a very good set.

Nebahey & Wagner, 428.