GELL, William (1777-1836). The Topography of Troy, and its Vicinity. London: C. Whittington for T.N. Longman and O. Rees, 1804.
Folio (432 x 267 mm). Hand-colored engraved vignette on title-page, 31 engraved and aquatint plates on 30 sheets, 3 of which folding, and 14 mostly hand-colored vignettes, numbered 1-45 (some offsetting from plates to text). Half tan modern antique niger, original marbled sides, spine gilt with morocco lettering-piece gilt, bound by W. Forth with contemporary binders’ ticket (boards a bit toned or darkened, light edge rubbing along covers, small paper repair to front flyleaf). Provenance: contemporary inscription on front flyleaf verso of a later Lord Byron footnote from his 1809 poem “English Bards and Scotch Reviewers”.
FIRST EDITION of “the most beautiful book on Troy ever published” (Lascarides). Gell’s pioneer work placed the ancient city of Troy at Bounarbashi- just three miles south of the currently accepted site of Troy at Hisarlik. Gell, known for his rapid sketching ability, used a camera lucida to produce in very short time extremely accurate sketches of landscapes and scenes that faithfully convey the Greek landscape. Abbey, Travel 399; Atabey 483; Blackmer 660; Lascarides, The Search for Troy 81.