The Work of Edward Burne-Jones

London: The Berlin Photographic Company. 1900.

Limited edition, one of two hundred copies signed by Philip Burne-Jones. 667x500mm. Ninety one photogravure plates on china paper. Original blue morocco, gilt triple fillet to borders, lettered and decorated in gilt to upper cover. Rubbing to extremities and some scuffing to the boards and spine. Internally, there is some marginal foxing and spotting and staining to the top left of a number of the leaves. The front free endpaper and half title are creased but this is in excellent condition with the plates beautifully preserved.
Edward Burne-Jones died in 1898 and two years later, his son Philip produced this extraordinary book bringing all his father's paintings together in one volume. The Berlin Photographic Company who published this work specialised in photogravure. The original paintings were photographed and then the negatives then exposed onto a copper plate covered with gelatin. The plate is then etched which gives a high quality intaglio able to reproduce the depth and tonal variety of a photograph. with acid and then printed in a similar way to engraving. This technique produces a richness which made it ideal for high quality art prints such as this extraordinary collection of the works of Edward Burne-Jones. As well as the complete paintings there are two portraits of the artist, one by Philip and the other by G.F.Watts. Only two hundred copies of this book were made but many, if not most, have been broken up with the photogravures sold individually. It is therefore uncommon to find complete copies.