A Catalogue Raisonné Of The Works Of The Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, And French Painters; In which is included a short Biographical Notice of the Artists, With A Copious Description Of Their Principal Pictures; A Statement Of The Prices At Which Such Pictures Have Been Sold At Public Sales On The Continent And In England; A Reference To The Galleries And Private Collections, In Which A Large Portion Are At Present; And The Names Of The Artists By Whom They Have Been Engraved; To Which Is Added, A Brief Notice Of The Scholars And Imitators Of The Great Masters Of The Above Schools: By John Smith, Dealer In Pictures, Late Of Great Marlborough Street. - Part The First. (- Ninth.)
The frontispiece portraits of Vols. I-VIII are signed by source-artists and engravers, Source-artists were G. Dow, A. Van Dyck, A. Van Dyck, J. Steen, Ronbrandt, M. Van Muscher, Rembrandt and N. Poussin. Reproducers were S. Mountjoy Smith (draughtsman), C.W. Marr (engraver), C. Hamburger (lithographer), Chas. G. Lewis (engraver). The additional plate in Vol. II. is signed as lithographed by J. Netherclift. The first additional plate in Vol. VII is signed as drawn by Albertus Brendgeest and engraved by C.G. Lewis; the second, as made by J. Netherclift.
Most plates carry the imprint of the publisher, Smith & Son, 137 New Bond Street, and some carry that of the lithographic printer, C. Hullmandel.
The text printers are named on the title-page versos and in the colophons: (vols. 1-8) 'London: Printed By T. Brettell, Rupert Street, Haymarket'; (vol. 9) 'London: Richards, Printer, St. Martin's Lane.'
The work is dedicated by John Smith to Robert Peel.
References
C. Hofstede de Groot, A catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch painters of the seventeenth century, tr. E.G. Hawke (8 v., 1907-27); 'Smith's Catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish and French painters: a memoir of the author by his grandson', in Connoisseur, 5 (1903), p.213-16.
G. Schwarz, 'Rembrandt: connoisseurship et erudition', in Rev. A., 42 (1978), p.100-06.
Summary Note
The dates of publication are given on the title pages of the nine volumes as 1829, 1830, 1831, 1833, 1834, 1835, 1836, 1837 and 1842.
This ambitious catalogue has been described as a 'landmark' in connoisseurship, although it was inevitably incomplete and several of Smith's attributions have been revised. In his introduction Smith writes on such practical matters as the cleaning and lining of pictures and on the standards to be maintained in art-dealing.
The text catalogues works by the following painters: Vol. I. G. Dow, P. van Slingelandt, F. van Mieris, W. van Mieris, A. Ostade, I. Ostade, P. Wouwermans; Vol. II. Rubens; Vol. III. A. Van Dyck, D. Teniers the younger; Vol. IV. J. Steen, G. Metsu, G. Terburg, G. Netscher, H.E. Vander Neer, A. vander Werf, P. de Hooge, N. Maes, G. Cocques; Vol. V. N. Berghem, P. Potter, A. Vander Velde, K. du Jardin, A. Cuyp, J. Vander Heyden; Vol. VI. J. Ruysdael, M. Hobbema, J. and A. Both, J. Wynants, A. Pynaker, J. Hackaert, W. Vander Velde, L. Backhuysen, J. Van Huysum, R. Ruisch; Vol. VII. Rembrandt; Vol. VIII. N. Poussin, Claude, J.B. Greuze; Vol. IX addenda on most of the above artists.
The frontispiece portraits of Vols. I-VIII show Gerard Dow, Peter Paul Rubens, Antony Van Dyck, Jan Steen, Nicolas Berghem, William Vander Velde junior, Rembrandt and N. Poussin. The additional plate in Vol. II shows a facsimile of the handwriting of Rubens; those in Vol. VII show [1] Rembrandt's house, Amsterdam, and [2] a facsimile of Rembrandt's handwriting.
Copy Note
Imperfect: lacks the half-title of Volume IV.
Binding Note
19th-century half red morocco, red cloth-covered boards; spines lettered 'Smith's Catalogue Raisonné' and 'R.A.'