“HIS BEST PERFORMANCE”: FINELY ILLUSTRATED FIRST EDITIONS OF THOMAS PENNANT’S TOUR IN WALES AND JOURNEY TO SNOWDON

(WALES) [PENNANT, Thomas] [GRIFFITHS, Moses, illustrator]. A Tour in Wales. BOUND WITH: Supplemental Plates to the Tours in Wales. BOUND WITH: The Journey to Snowdon. London: Henry Hughes, 1778, 1781. Two volumes (and supplement) bound in one. Thick quarto, contemporary full brown polished calf rebacked, elaborately gilt-decorated spine, raised bands, black morocco spine label, renewed endpapers.

First editions of celebrated 18th-century naturalist and historian Pennant’s picturesque tour through Wales and his journey to Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales, richly illustrated with 48 finely engraved plates (13 folding), two engraved title pages and three vignettes.

Thomas Pennant, a member of the Royal Society whose “name stands high among the naturalists of the 18th century” (DNB), was also renowned for his travel narratives. Pennant was praised by his contemporary, Samuel Johnson, as a man who “observes more things than any one else does.” “The Tour in Wales has less the character of a journal than Pennant’s other ‘Tours,’ and his biographer, W.T. Parkins, considers it his ‘best performance” (DNB). “This tireless naturalist and antiquary reached out to the ends of the world to gather in knowledge” (Cox). Illustrator Moses Griffiths, “being clever with his pencil, was taken into service by Thomas Pennant about 1769. Pennant helped him to study drawing and engraving, and Griffiths became his constant companion on his tours and excursions, making the drawings and engravings for Pennant’s numerous works. Griffiths obtained some proficiency both as a draughtsman and engraver” (DNB). Pennant’s first tour in Wales took place in 1773; the erroneously printed date “MDCCLXX” was corrected by hand to “MDCCLXXIII” on a number of copies, including this one. Though A Tour in Wales calls for 26 plates numbered in sequence, there are actually 27, with two different plates given the number XI. The Supplemental Plates, published in 1781, adds ten engravings to A Tour in Wales; The Journey to Snowdon features 11 plates—one folding—and two vignettes. Bookplate.

Text and plates clean and fine, with only minor creases to a few folding plates. Expert restoration to corners of contemporary calf. An attractive copy in excellent condition.