"Sketches of Lago Maggiore and Pallanza" - 1879 - Bound with 17 accomplished watercolours of the Italian lakes by a woman traveller and accompanied by a letter from Queen Victoria's Private secretary

Bound with 17 accomplished watercolours of the Italian Lakes, and accompanied by letters from Queen Victoria’s Private Secretary

-Sketches of Lago Maggiore and Pallanza — By the Reverend William Owen.

-Privately printed by Bickers & Son, London, 1879.

-Small 8vo. 112pp., [1]. Complete. Bound with 17 original watercolours.

-Contemporary black calf, gilt title to upper cover, marbled endpapers. Some wear to corners and intermittent spotting, but very good overall.

-Extra-illustrated copy, bound with 17 original watercolour views and studies, together with additional decorative marginal watercolours to the text.

-With two autograph notes signed by Sir Henry Ponsonby, private secretary to Queen Victoria, one dated Villa Clara, 22 April 1879. One with the Royal seal.

A privately printed guide to Lago Maggiore and Pallanza, extra-illustrated with a series of original watercolours in a refined late Victorian manner. The accomplished images include views of Isola Madre and Santa Caterina, together with studies of palms, oranges, olive branches, cloisters, flowers and lakeside scenery.

According to accompanying family tradition, this volume was presented to Mary Jane Morgan, who was holidaying on the Italian Lakes at the same time as Queen Victoria. It is likely that she executed the watercolours and subsequently bound them into the volume as a personal souvenir of the tour. Queen Victoria herself is known to have produced watercolours during her stay at Lago Maggiore in 1879, several of which are now preserved in the Royal Collection.

The volume is accompanied by two short letters from Sir Henry Ponsonby acknowledging copies of the book presented to Queen Victoria during her stay at the nearby Villa Clara in 1879. One note conveys “the commands of Her Majesty the Queen to thank the Revd. W. Owen for the volume which he has forwarded”. Rev. William Owen served as English chaplain at Pallanza.

A personal record of a lady's season in the Italian Lakes, illustrated with accomplished watercolours

OCLC records only 5 institutional copies: British Library, Oxford, Cambridge, National Library of Scotland, and Yale.