Rare Views: Historic Cities from Around the World

Featuring Rare and Beautiful Views from Around the World!

Below are featured artists who are widely known for their grand display of important landmarks, landscapes and city-scapes 

David Roberts (1796-1864)

from The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia

London: 1842-1849

Hand-colored lithographs

Roberts began his grand tour of the Near East, departing for Alexandria in the summer of 1839, and spent the remainder of the year exploring Lower Egypt, encountering innumerable ancient ruins and monuments. Early in 1840, he embarked on a circuitous route to the Holy Land, via Mount Sinai and the legendary Nabataean city of Petra, in modern Jordan. He finally reached Jerusalem, before visiting other important sights in modern Israel, and finally concluding his tour in Syria. Upon his return to England, F.G. Moon introduced Roberts to the master lithographer Haghe, a collaboration that resulted in this masterpiece, which Abbey described as "one of the most Important and Elaborate
ventures of nineteenth-century publishing.

Rudolph Ackermann

The Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashions and Politics

London: 1809-1828

Hand-colored engraving

Ackermann was a successful shop owner, his store the Repository of Arts opened in 1797 and became a spot for the English elite to socialize and shop for prints, illustrated books, decorative objects, art supplies, old master paintings and miniatures Ackermann extended his shop and created a yearly publication that showcased British manufacturing, in 1809 he began publishing his serious The Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufacturers, Fashions ad Politics.  Ackermann's Repository, as it was also known, influenced English fashion, tastes, architecture, politics and literature throughout the Regency period and into the Georgian Era.

Carel Allard

“Constantinopel”

From Orbis habitabilis oppida et vestitus

c. 1695

Copperplate engraving

Allard is considered to be the first compiler of a townbook to couple the plates this way. Orbis habitabilis comprises 28 views of European towns , 24 Asian towns, 24 African towns and 24 American towns. The text for the book was in Latin by Ludolph Smids, a Groningen doctor and antiquary who settled in Amsterdam in 1685. The plates are by Aldert Meyer and Thomas Doesbergh, and Allard himself closely supervised the engraving of the plates.

Henry Salt (1780-1827)

Twenty-four views in St. Helena, the Cape, India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia, and Egypt

London: William Miller, 1809

Hand-colored aquatint engravings 

In 1816 Salt was given the post of British Consul-General of Egypt. His position gave him unique opportunities to pursue his growing interest in the monuments and antiquities of Egypt. He employed archeologists such as Giovanni Belzoni to excavate ancient Egyptian sites, such as Thebes, Giza and Abu Simbel, and undertook important archeological research at the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Salt also collected a large number of artifacts, such as the head of Ramses II, most of the antiquities Salt collected were purchased by, and can be seen at, The British Museum and the Louvre.

Mathias Merian

From: Topographia Galliae

Amsterdam: 1661

Copperplate engravings

Mathias Merian was one of the most prominent members of the leading print publishing family of 17th-century Germany, known throughout Europe for his engravings of cityscapes and landscapes, his scientific books, and his editions of the noted series of travel books, the “Great Voyages.” Born and trained in Basel, Switzerland, Merian joined the Frankfurt publishing house of Johann Theodor de Bry in 1616 and, the following year, he married de Bry’s daughter Maria Magdalena. Merian gained his greatest acclaim as head of the family publishing house following the death of his father-in-law in 1623.

Here at Arader San Francisco we have a wonderful space that enables us to showcase our finest examples of rare maps and original works on paper, however we simply cannot showcase all the works we possess. For this reason we will be exclusively showcasing works from within our vast antiques inventory. Please follow our blog or join our mailing list by emailing us at Aradersf@sbcglobal.net.
For more information and pricing inquiries Please call 415-788-5115, or visit us at Arader Galleries 432 Jackson Street, San Francisco, Ca 94111.

Tropical Beaches: Island watercolors of the 19th Century

William Alister MacDonald (1860-1956)

Opunoho Bay Moorea

1928

Watercolor 

Summer is a time for much needed relaxation and fun in the sun, however here in San Francisco provides us with prolonged gloom, chilly weather and sometimes rain until the fall.

We mean to fill this summer weather void inside the gallery by showcasing the beautiful original watercolor Islandscapes painted by William Alister MacDonald (1860-1950), and Robert Taylor Pritchett (1828-1907).Within these Islandscapes Pritchett and MacDonalad depicted colorful atmosphere which the viewer is instantly transported to a tranquil and tropica lbeach scene. Large palm trees move with the breeze as the waters gently ripple from ocean waves.

William Alister MacDonald was the son of a Scottish Free Church Minister. In the 1880's MacDonald moved to London and began painting watercolor scenes of London, and in particular, the Thames. Towards the end of the 19th century, MacDonald was exhibiting his watercolors at the Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists. Robert Taylor Pritchett was a landscape and marine painter, contributed illustrations to many publication in the mid- to late-19th century, including the records of Darwin's voyage in the Journal of Researches into the Natural History & Geology of the Countries Visited During the Voyage Round the World.

William Alister MacDonald (1860-1956)

Dawn Full moon

1928

Watercolor 

Robert Taylor Pritchett (1828-1907)

Tahiti

1921

Watercolor 

For more information and pricing inquiries Please call 415-788-5115, or visit us at Arader Galleries 432 Jackson Street, San Francisco, Ca 94111.

Thomas Moore: Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland

On View: The Fine works of Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore (1821-1887)

Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland

London: 1855

Pressed Nature Prints

Moore was an English botanist and gardener who most notably helped with the botanical design of Regent's Park gardens, and became editor of several gardening publications; Such as: the Gardeners' Magazine of Botany, the Garden Companion and Florists' Guide, the Floral Magazine, among others. He also acted as the secretary to the floral committee and floral director of the Royal Horticultural Society.  Moore's passion was focused on the study of ferns, which lead to his extensive regional publication, Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland.

From the early fifteenth century on wards experiments with making prints from pressed leaves and flowers were conducted. The first ventures into this technique were relatively simple with the specimen inked and paper laid upon it. Pressure was then applied by hand to gain an impression. This rather crude method was advanced and perfected during the nineteenth century by the Imperial Printing Office in Vienna. Plants were now passed under pressure between a lead and a steel plate and an electrotype made, on the lead plate, from the impression. It was this innovative technique that Thomas Moore chose for the creation of the plates in his splendid book, Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland. The plates were produced for Moore by Henry Bradbury and are the finest example of nature-printing available. Indeed, Thomas Moore’s book heralded a craze for ferns during the nineteenth century perhaps because of the exquisite delicacy of the images projected.

For more information and pricing inquiries Please call 415-788-5115, or visit us at Arader Galleries 432 Jackson Street, San Francisco, Ca 94111.

Warren Heckrotte Summer Catalog

Adrien Hubert Brue (1786-1832)

Nouvelle Carte du Mexique, Et D'une Partie de Provineces Unies De L'Amerique Centrale

Paris: 1834

Hand-colored copper-plate engraving

2 Sheets: 36 4/8” x 24 4/8”, Framed: 32 3/4” x 45”

We are happy to announce that a Special limited West Coast Maps Catalog will be distributed this Summer season. Please request a copy of this catalog by contacting the gallery.

You can also view the entire collection online here, view our Exhibition onsite during our open hours, or you can make a special appointment with a call to the gallery.

We are delighted to share this collection with you, including a total of 14 rare maps exquisitely preserved of Gold Rush California, Oregon, Texas, and Mexico. This collection was formerly owned by the Bay Area maps Collector Warren Heckrotte.

For more information or to make an appointment Please call 415-788-5115, Arader Galleries 432 Jackson Street, San Francisco, Ca 94111.