Grapes and Grape Vines of California (3 Plates) by Bosqui, Edward - 1877: Published under the auspices of the California State Vinicultural Association; oleographed by Wm. Harring from original water color drawings by Miss Hannah Millard

Own a piece of history...three of the original chromolithograph prints from "Grapes and Grape Vines of California" by Edward Bosqui, the Johannesburg Riesling (the most desirable of all), The Zinfandel, and the Sultana. There might have been a total of 200 prints made, but most of these and the original illustrations were burned along with the printer's studio; an estimated eleven bound copies remain. Three of the ten original illustrated rare prints (even rarer than Audubons) narrowly missed being destroyed in the fire somehow, and were never bound or cut, showing the original printing registration marks (these were never stamped with the later added Swiss-Italian Colony insignia), and so were possibly once displayed on a gallery wall to be admired. Your own gallery could host one or all of these three sumptuous pieces of California history. The three Edward Bosqui wine grape chromolithographs (oleographs) printed in 1877 are: 1. The Johannisberg Riessling. 2. The Zinfandel. 3. The Sultana. They measure: Riesling 14 1/8 x20 1/8, Zinfandel 14 1/8 x 19 7/8, Sultana 14 1/8 x 19 7/8 *This listing is for all three, including the praised Johannesburg Riesling. Condition is very good, with some foxing on each, some moisture marks on the Sultana and Zinfandel, a small tear at the top edge of the Zinfandel, and pin pricks at the four corners of each. Edward Bosqui, the famous San Francisco printmaker, was inspired to create these real to life grape images, the first time California grapes were to be seen in color, life-size, and reflecting all phases and seasons of the life of the grape in each illustration. Bosqui co-created each image with watercolor illustrator Hannah Millard (the first California prints illustrated by a woman) and engraver William Harring, using a special oleolithographic method, which was meant to create an oil on canvas look. Called 'the best and most elaborate specimen of bookmaking ever attempted in San Francisco,' the Johannesburg Riesling alone used 28 stones to create just one image, where it was displayed at the Paris Exposition of 1878 to great accolade. Prints of ten grape varietals were originally produced and then bound into the book "Grapes and Grape Vines of California" in 1877, with the description of the grapes likely having been written by Arpad Haraszthy.