Letts - The Hundred Best Pictures - 1901

ONE HUNDRED MASTERPIECES OF EUROPE COLLECTED IN A SINGLE VOLUME

Fascinating illustrated anthology of the Victorian era aiming to bring together in one volume the hundred most famous paintings housed in the great galleries and private collections of Europe. Edited by C. Hubert Letts and published in London in 1901, the work represents a kind of portable museum for the educated public of the time, allowing the admiration and study of masterpieces kept in London, Paris, Rome, Venice, Berlin, Dresden, Madrid, Milan, Antwerp and Windsor without leaving one’s library. The large photogravure plates reproduce works by Botticelli, Correggio, Dürer, Claude Lorrain, Corot, David, Delaroche, Burne-Jones, Alma-Tadema and many other European masters, accompanied by explanatory texts and biographical notes.

MARKET VALUE
The illustrated collections of art history published by Charles Letts & Co. at the turn of the century were valued for the quality of the reproductions and for the elegance of the editorial presentation. Complete copies of the hundred plates, in good condition and in the publisher’s original decorated binding, generally fetch between €150 and €300.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Original publisher’s binding in burgundy cloth decorated in black and gold on the front board and spine. Typographic title page. Photogravure plates mounted on card, each accompanied by a descriptive page with historical, artistic and biographical information. Works by Botticelli, Correggio, Dürer, Claude Lorrain, Corot, David, Delaroche, Burne-Jones, Alma-Tadema, Rosa Bonheur and numerous other European artists are included. Plate 11 is missing. Some signs of use to the binding, age-related marks and foxing. In old books, with a long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 220; 2nn; 60; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
The Hundred Best Pictures.
London, Charles Letts & Co., 1901.
Letts, C. Hubert (editor).

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
This work belongs to the great era of British popular art publishing. At the dawn of the 20th century cultural tourism was still reserved for a privileged minority, and volumes like this allowed one to idealistically visit the principal European galleries. The selection criterion reflects the dominant artistic taste of the Victorian and Edwardian eras: beside the great masters of Italian Renaissance are also the leading figures of contemporary academic and Symbolist painting. The volume today stands as a valuable testimony to the international artistic canon perceived in 1901 and to how the British public was educated in art history.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
C. Hubert Letts was an editor, compiler and cultural communicator affiliated with the London house Charles Letts & Co., renowned for producing diaries, educational works and illustrated publications aimed at a broad bourgeois audience. His collections helped disseminate artistic and historical culture in late Victorian and early 20th-century Great Britain.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Published in numerous editions and reissues, The Hundred Best Pictures was one of Charles Letts & Co.’s major publishing successes. The presence of the Seventh Edition testifies to the broad distribution of the work. The volume was conceived as a true domestic art gallery, exploiting the most modern photographic reproduction techniques available at the time. The plates devoted to masterpieces housed in the principal European museums made the work particularly popular in private libraries and British educational institutions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
WorldCat, records of the various editions of The Hundred Best Pictures.
British Library Catalogue, editions of Charles Letts & Co.
Library of Congress Catalogue, The Hundred Best Pictures.
The Dictionary of Victorian Publishers, entries dedicated to Charles Letts & Co.
COPAC / Jisc Library Hub Discover, copies held in British libraries.
British Museum Library Catalogue, illustrated and educational works by Charles Letts & Co.
The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain, vol. VI, sections dedicated to late 19th-century illustrated publishing.