HOLBEIN, Hans. Imitations of Original Drawings by Hans Holbein, in the Collection of His Majesty, for the Portraits of Illustrious Persons of the court of Henry VIII. Biographical notices by Edmund Lodge. 2, 1, 69 ff. With 84 colour-printed stipple engravings on 83 leaves of plates executed by F. Bartolozzi (80), C. Metz (3), and C. Knight (1), after designs by Hans Holbein. Folio, 540 x 440 mm, bound in contemporary English tan calf, re-backed, a.e.g. London: W. Bulmer for John Chamberlaine, 1792 [-1800].

First Edition. This magnificent work comes as close as one could imagine to replicating Holbein's sublime colour chalk drawings. It is " surely the finest early example of English color printing" (Ray). Eighty-four stipple engravings, of which eighty were executed by Bartolozzi, reproduce all but five of Holbein's drawings in Windsor Castle. In this copy, all but eighteen of the plates are printed on PINK PAPER.

The originals, in chalk heightened with pen and metalpoint, were made by the German master during his two sojourns in England (1526-1528, 1532-1543). They constitute preliminary studies for a number of Holbein's most famous oil paintings, including his portrait of Sir Thomas More in the Frick Collection. K.T. Parker has observed that Bartolozzi's prints were the principal means through which the drawings reached a wider public. Abbey's great catalogue, which generally offers little comment, even on works of this magnitude, states: "In every way a splendid book, the colour printing reproducing with extraordinary fidelity the original designs." Some wear to binding extremities.

PROVENANCE: H.C.M. Porter with his bookplate.

Hardie, pp. 62-3 ("beautiful"). Prideaux, p. 56. Abbey, Life 205. Lowndes I, 405. Ray 19. K.T. Parker, The Drawings of Hans Holbein in the Collection of His Majesty the King at Windsor Castle 20-21. J.M. Friedman, Color Printing in England 1486-1870 16A-C. ESTC T140028.

Brooke, Xanthe and David Crombie. Henry VIII Revealed. HOLBEIN's Portrait and its Legacy. 124 pp., over 100 color and b&w illustrations. 4to, wraps. London, Paul Holberton Publishing, 2003.
Published to accompany an exhibition at the Walker, Liverpool.

Foister, Susan. HOLBEIN and England. xii and 308 pp., 267 color and b&w illustrations. 4to, cloth. London, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, in association with New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2004.
The first book to examine the full range of Hans Holbein the Younger's English work, as well as the relation of this work to the visual and material culture of Tudor England. The author discusses both the well-known portraits and his decorative paintings and murals.

Holbein, Hans, after.
Imitations of original drawings by Hans Holbein in the collection of his majesty, for the portraits of illustrious persons of the court of Henry VIII.
London, 1812.
This plate: The Lady of Richmond.
Original color-printed stipple engraving by William Nicholls.
Sheet size: 13 1/4 x 9 7/8 in.

Holbein, Hans, after.
Imitations of original drawings by Hans Holbein in the collection of his majesty, for the portraits of illustrious persons of the court of Henry VIII.
London, 1792.
This plate: The Lady of Surry.
Original color-printed stipple engraving by Bartolozzi.
Sheet size: 13 1/4 x 9 7/8 in.

Holbein, Hans, after.
Imitations of Original Drawings by Hans Holbein, in the Collection of His Majesty, for the Portraits of Illustrious Persons of the court of Henry VIII.
London, 1792.
This plate: The Lady of Ratclif.
Original color printed stipple engraving printed by Bartolozzi.
Sheet size: 13 1/4 x 9 7/8 in.

Holbein, Hans, after.
Imitations of original drawings by Hans Holbein in the collection of his majesty, for the portraits of illustrious persons of the court of Henry VIII.
London, 1812 [1792?].
This plate: Thomas Eliott Knight.
Original color-printed stipple engraving by Bartolozzi.
Sheet size: 13 1/4 x 9 7/8 in.