1809 – Lectures on Paining by John Opie | Art History, Royal Academy Portraits

John Opie was a turn-of-the-century British painter who is primarily remembered for his dark, serious portraits. Many of these portraits appear in this 1809 printing of Lectures on Painting, a collection of his lectures that he delivered at the Royal Academy of Arts. His lectures describe his dark style as well as emphasizing the importance of effort, hard work, and faithfulness to tradition.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Lectures on Painting, Delivered at the Royal Academy of Arts
• Author(s): John Opie
• Illustrator(s): John Opie
• Publisher: London, Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme
• Edition: First Edition, 1809
• Binding: Leather spine, hardcover boards
• Format: (4to), single volume
• Size:  10.75 in x 8.5 in (27.3 cm x 21.6 cm)
• Collation: VII, [81], 186 pp
• Illustrations: Portrait engravings including frontispiece
  • Michelangelo
  • Durer
  • Titian
  • Poussin
• Contents Include:
  • Lecture I–VII
  • Introductory pages and portrait front matter
• Provenance: bookplate – John Allnutt
  • Allnutt was an iconic 19^th-century art collector, most notably a patron of John Constable and Thomas Lawrence

Condition:

Good. Leather spine with worn boards and visible stains. Hinges show wear but hold well after repair, which is slightly visible in the front inner gutter. The text block is secure. Heavy staining appears on the title page and frontispiece; foxing is present in margins throughout.

Why Collect This?

• First published lectures by a Royal Academy professor
• Valuable for art historians and collectors of theory-based volumes

Item Number: # 50021