A General Account of All the Rivers of Note in Great Britain : with Their Several Courses, Their Peculiar Characters, the Countries Through Which They Flow, and the Entire Sea Coast of our Island; Concluding with a Minute Description of the Thames, and Its Various Auxiliary Streams.
London: Printed by T. Bensley for P. Elmsley in the Strand, 1801. Double page acquatint frontispiece depicting Thamesis, Tava, and Vaga (The River Gods of The Thames, The Tay and The Wye). Seventeen full page maps in rear. First edition. Publisher's dark green cloth, gilt spine title, all edges trimmed. Octavo. [xx], 412, [34, maps]. 8.5" x 5.5" Period calligraphic inscription to front fly, mild to moderate foxing throughout, with a couple spots of darker acid burning, overall a very good, handsome, tight, and square. In custom mylar cover. Item #222115
First edition of Skrine’s topographical survey, valued as much for its vivid prose as for its striking double-page aquatint frontispiece. The plate, depicting Thamesis, the River God of the Thames, attended by Tava, the Nymph of The Tay in Scotland, and Vaga, the Nymph of the Wye in Wales, presenting a chart of Great Britain, intersected by its Rivers, to Neptune, is a finely executed allegorical composition blending classical mythology with Enlightenment cartographic ambition. The work charts the principal rivers of Britain with geographical precision, historical anecdote, and travel observations, reflecting late 18th-century interests in both the picturesque and national identity. Skrine’s text, paired with the artistry of the aquatint, makes this a desirable copy for collectors of British topography and engraved views.
Price: $250.00