Views in Greece.

dodwell's Views in Greece is a cornerstone of any collection of Greek topography. A large copy, the plates clean and fresh.

Views in Greece was originally published in 1819-21 in two forms; most printed on thick paper with a smaller number in the deluxe issue coloured on card and issued in a portfolio. The portfolio issue was not very successful and was remaindered at a lower price in a half binding in 1823. A second edition was published in 1830 with an extra engraving, The Festival at Athens, not called for in the list of plates tipped in. The leftover copies of the plates from the portfolio edition were acquired by Bohn and republished in 1847 using the 1830 title-page but without the extra plate. The present example is probably from this issue and is bound in a typical deluxe Bohn binding. The plates are from the original 1819-21 issue, at a later date.

Edward Dodwell, (1776 7–1832, traveller and archaeologist, was born in West Molesey, Surrey. In April 1801 he arrived at Trieste to embark on his first tour of Greece; his 'intention was to visit Greece, to explore its antiquities, to compare its past with its present state, and to leave nothing unnoticed, which, to the classical reader, can be an object of interest, or a source of delight'. On this journey, he was accompanied by his friend Sir William Gell (1777–1836), who also travelled with Dodwell through Greece in 1805 and 1806. By the end of May 1801 they had reached Corfu. In June 1801 Dodwell travelled on to Ithaca, the island of Cephalonia, Patras, and through the provinces of Phocis and Boeotia, to Athens, and then on to the islands of the Greek archipelago, the coast of Troy, and Constantinople.

Dodwell's second tour of Greece began on 1 February 1805 when he departed from Messina with his artist, Signor Simone Pomardi. They landed at Zákinthos, and after about a week proceeded on their journey to Mesolóngion, Patras, Galaxidhion, and Ámfissai. Dodwell also visited the ruins at Delphi, Mount Parnassos, Levádhia, Thebes, and by about 26 March 1805 he had proceeded to Athens.