The Works of Antonio Canova, In Sculpture and Modelling, Engraved in Outline by Henry Moses; with Descriptions from the Italian of the Countess Albrizzi, and a Biographical Memoir by Count Cicognara. 2 vols

London: Septimus Prowett, 1824. ~Original quarter red morocco, marbled paper to boards. Gilt lettering to smooth spines. Mild wear to spine edges. Mild rubbing to marbled paper on boards. Some wear to board edges, especially corners. Small 4tos (19.8 x 28.8cm). Cracking at gutter after vol. I contents, and around central gathering in vol. II. Endpapers uncracked at gutters. Mild offset browning and foxing to endpapers. Pencil inscription to blank front endpage of both vols. 40pp. 'Biographical Memoir' to start of vol. I. Unpaginated except for Memoir. Portrait frontis to vol. I by W. H. Worthington after F. X. Fabre. Over 100 engravings in outline by Henry Moses of Canova's works, with tissue guards. Some edgewear to tissue guards. Foxing largely confined to tissue guards. These two volumes were first published in parts from 1823; this is the first edition in vols. Presumably the project was begun immediately after the death of the great neoclassical sculptor in October 1822. Isabella Teotochi Albrizzi (1760-1836) was a brilliant Venetian salonnière and a close friend of Canova; her Opere di scultura e di plastica di Antonio Canova, from which the descriptions in these vols are translated, was first published in 1809. Byron, in an 1816 letter to his friend Thomas Moore, described her as a 'very learned, unaffected, good-natured woman (...) She has written very well on the works of Canova'. Henry Moses (1781/2-1870), printmaker: Thomas Dodd, in his biographical catalogue of English engravers, described him as an 'eminent artist distinguished for the neatness and purity of outline' who attained 'the highest proficiency in the decorative and ornamental department of the arts' (Dodd, in ODNB). His lucid neoclassical engravings, with their 'Flaxmanesque manner of etching outlines, free from shading or modelling' (ODNB) are well-suited to depicting the works of Canova. These vols provide an early record of the relocation of several of Canova's works to England as spoils of the Napoleonic Wars, notably the colossal statue of Napoleon himself, recorded here as 'now in the possession of the Duke of Wellington' and still on display in Wellington's London residence, Apsley House. A third volume of the Works of Canova, again with engravings by Moses & translations of text by Albrizzi, was first published in parts by Septimus Prowett in 1827. These vols are the earliest 2-volume version. Influential work in original binding. Vol.1 is sound, VG. Vol.2 slightly shaken.~Robust packaging. All UK orders trackable, others on request. . 1st edn. Hardback. Good+. c. 300pp per vol. Text block unmarked.