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Samuel
Palmer
(Newington,
south London 1805 – 1881 Redhill, near
Reigate, Surrey)
The Rising Moon or An
English Pastoral
a.
The Rising Moon or An English
Pastoral
Alexander 7 vii?/ix, Lister 7 vii?/ix
147 x 222 mm (plate); 117 x 191 mm (image); 256 x 350 mm (sheet)
Etching,
1855-57. The plate initialled. Published state,
as plate 10 in Etchings
for the Art Union of London by the Etching Club,
1857, with the associated letters; edition of 500;
the only edition. On laid india paper. The wove support
sheet trimmed fractionally at the edges. Occasional
foxing in the margins and a little rubbed in the
margins at the plate edges.
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b.
The
Rising Moon or An English
Pastoral
Alexander 7 viii?/ix Lister 7 viii?/ix
147 x 222 mm (plate); 117 x 191 mm (image); 265 x
365 mm (sheet)
Another
impression in a published state (not illustrated),
but a different state to the previous example,
the plate reworked. Margins light-stained at the
edges of the wove support sheet and slightly soiled.
The sheet gilt-edged on three sides.
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Additional
Information about the Print
Palmer’s largest plate to date *, twice
the size of his previous etchings, and for the
first time landscape in format as well as theme,
sets the approach to the subsequent plates in its
panoramic view, high viewpoint, dramatic sky (the “Margate
mottle”), and mixture of motifs taken from
Shoreham, his travels in Italy, his sketching tours
in Devon and Wales, and his retreats to Margate.
The hurdled provender trough makes a first appearance,
as the huddled roofs nestling in a valley, silvered
by the moon.
Palmer
began the plate in 1855, the Etching Club minutes
for 29 October that year record “Palmer produced a new etching”.
The plate went through many small changes and refinements
and Palmer even probably continued to work on it
while printing for the edition was in progress,
so that the published states are confusing to distinguish.
*The
plate for The
Vine had of necessity been larger,
to allow room for the text in addition to the
two vignettes. The smaller dimensions
of the earlier plates had been determined presumably
by the Etching Club, who supplied the plates. The Songs
of Shakespeare plates
perhaps established a new larger standard size. |
