BELL, CHARLES. 1774-1842.


Essays on the Anatomy of Expression in Painting. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1806. 4to (300 x 244 mm). 6 engraved plates, numerous engraved illustrations in the text. Contemporary quarter brown morocco and textured cloth, marbled endpapers. Chipping to spine, library stamps to title and first and last pages of text, spotting.Provenance: Oddfellows Library Association of San Francisco (bookplate and stamps).FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed on the title page "From the Author." The first treatise on anatomy and physiology directed toward painters. "Bell's artistic and literary skills combined with his knowledge of anatomy and physiology to make this work a tour de force of art history and the anatomical and physiological basis of facial expression" (Garrison-Morton, 6604.92). Norman 170.