The tomb of Juliet ... [graphic] / Orme, Conduit Street excudit.

[London] : Sold & published June 1, 1799 by Edwd. Orme, printseller to the King, corner of George Street & Conduit Street, London, [1799]

1 item ; 53.3 x 33.4 cm, sheet 56 x 36.1 cm

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Great Britain -- England -- London, -- publication place.

272773

From dealer's description: "67 [SHAKESPEARE]. [ROMEO & JULIET]. ORME, Daniel. TO THE RT. HON.BLE WILLIAM LORD AUCKLAND, ONE OF HIS MAJESTY’S POST MASTERS GENERAL &c. &c. &c. THIS PRINT OF THE TOMB OF JULIET, From an Original Transparent Drawing in His Lordships possession is with permission humbly Dedicated by His Lordships most obliged & obed. serv.t Edwd. Orme. The original Drawing by a Gentleman. Sold & Published June 1, 1799 by Edwd. Orme, Printseller to the King, Corner of George Street & Conduit Street, London. here may be had a great variety of Transparencies, and every requisite for drawing them. [1799]. Mezzotint printed in colours [plate mark 53.3 x 33.4 cm, sheet 56 x 36.1 cm] partly varnished for translucency; in very clean original condition. One of the most detailed and expensive of Orme’s transparency prints. The coloured copy, as here, was sold for a Guinea or if uncoloured at 7s 6d, the majority of Orme’s prints being priced at half this price. The scene from Shakespeare’s play depicts Juliet falling to her knees, arms outstretched, letting fall Romeo’s dagger having just used it to stab herself, while he lies dead beside her on the left; in a tomb with a plaque inscribed ‘Capulet’s’, and a group of people approaching from above, carrying torches. The mezzotint engraver Charles Turner (1774-1857) is known to have engraved the work as he mentions the print in the ‘Diary and Work Book’ he kept between 1798 and 1804, ‘it would appear that the engraver did a number of “odd jobs” for publishers and others, or engraved plates that were not issued with his name upon them, as well as executed commissions for paintings and drawings.’ [See Alfred Whitman Charles Turner, George Bell, 1907, pp. 285-86]. ‘Edward Orme (1775–1848), engraver and property developer, was born in Manchester, the thirteenth child of Aaron Orme (1707–1782), fustian manufacturer of Manchester, and his third wife, Margaret Walmsley (bap. 1739, d. 1808). One brother, Robert (1767–1827), became solicitor to the East India Company at Madras, and two other brothers, Daniel Orme (1766–1837) and William (1771–1854), were professional artists. Edward moved to London, and in 1794 his first engraving was published by his brother Daniel. Orme was married on 22 June 1802 at St George’s, Hanover Square, London, to Hester (Etty) Edmonds (1781–1864). Three sons and two daughters are mentioned in his will. On 21 January 1799 Orme was appointed printseller in ordinary to George III and on 5 April 1820 editor of prints in ordinary to George IV. In May 1800 he had a shop in Conduit Street, London (at the corner of George Street), and in 1801 exhibited a portrait at the Royal Academy. In the same year he established himself at 59 New Bond Street, London, at the corner of Brook Street, and published Rudiments of Landscape, a volume of uncoloured etchings after his brother William’s drawings. He advertised that he stocked ‘Books of Instruction in every Branch of Drawing, and Drawing Materials’. Then began the publication of a series of coloured aquatint books, ending in 1819 with Historic, Military, and Naval Anecdotes. Some separate engravings of London markets were issued in 1822, but in 1824 the shop was closed, and he concentrated on his new career’ as a property developer.’ [ODNB] From the collection of The Late Hon. Christopher Lennox-Boyd" Ordered from Pickering & Chatto Antiquarian Booksellers, D9626, 2023-04-04, from Cat. 810 "Women in literature and society", item #67

272773