Malta and Italy--An album of

Oblong 8vo (148 x 208mm.), 30 watercolours and drawings of views and costume, one later albumen print mounted on preliminary leaf (possibly of F.H. Atkinson's family, see provenance) and 2 coloured costume prints, nineteenth-century brown cloth by C. Le Feuvre of Jersey, a little light spotting, joints splitting, spine slightly rubbed

1) Francis Baring Atkinson (1805-1864) of Morland Hall, Westmorland. In 1831 he married Mary Anne Stoddart, daughter of Sir John Stoddart, Chief Justice of Malta. Mary died in 1832 following the birth of a son. In 1837 Atkinson married Ellen Frances Home. 2) Rev. Francis Home Atkinson (1840-1901), sometime private tutor to the Tennyson children; in 1880 he was appointed curate of St Paul's, Jersey and later All Souls, Jersey. Atkinson was a close friend of Lewis Carroll and during a stay with him in Oxford in the summer of 1862 Atkinson was photographed by Carroll (28 June 1862), a print of which is in Carroll's Christ Church Album II, page 73 (now at Princeton). It was also during Atkinson's stay in Oxford that Lewis Carroll and Duckworth rowed Alice Liddell and her sisters on the river and told them "Alice's Adventures."

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The watercolours include 12 views of Malta (including St. Julian's from Sliema, Valletta, Pietà, Fort St Angelo, the dockyard, and Fort St Elmo), 11 views of Italy and Sicily (including the bay of Naples, Palermo, 6 views of Pompeii and 2 of Paestum), and 4 costume studies; in addition there is one pen and ink drawing and one unidentified sepia wash view by Francis Baring Atkinson signed with initials and dated 1832.