A Picturesque Guide to Bath, Bristol Hot-Wells, the River Avon, and the Adjacent Country;

Ibbetson was a Yorkshire born artist whose first opportunity came when he was invited to accompany Cathcart on his embassy to China. Cathcart died en route, however, and this seems to sum up Ibbetson's luck; soon after his elegant views of Bath had been aquatinted and published by Hassell, his wife died. He had already suffered the loss of eight children and this latest tragedy brought on an attack of brain fever. After he recovered from this he found that he had been robbed by his servants; this led him to seek escape in a life of dissipation which led to penury. At the end his artistic skill enabled him to pay off his debts. The small scale of his drawings suited book illustration and his special skill as an animal, and in particular, cattle painter can be seen in the illustrations in this work.

First edition; 4to (24.5 x 19.5 cm); 16 hand-coloured aquatint plates including frontispiece, with the half-title, a touch of spotting to least few leaves otherwise clean internally; later full calf, gilt rolled boards, gilt spine in six compartments with contrasting gilt lettering piece, board edges and turn-ins gilt rolled, all edges gilt, extremities a little rubbed, otherwise a very good copy; [4], 266, [2]pp.

Abbey (Scenery), 38; ESTC T54291; Tooley 277.