BONNEY (Thomas George) and WALTON (Elijah). The Peaks and valleys of the Alps. London, Sampson Low son & Marston, 1868. Large folio, half cloth binding with corners, gilt title on first board (recent binding, the title has been salvaged from the original publisher's binding and pasted on the first board). (Publisher's binding). Second edition of this important album of views by the painter Elijah Walton, much sought after for the quality of its execution (the first edition appeared a year earlier with the same publisher). Decorated with a lithographed title and 21 large chromolithographs by J. H. Lowes after the author's watercolours, accompanied by an explanatory text by T. G. Bonney. The views are of the Dents du Midi, the Weisshorn, the Mer de Glace at Chamonix, Mont Viso, Gran Paradiso, the Grivola, the Matterhorn, Tenneverge, etc. Proof edition, with an unretained version of the lithographed title added on top of the original title. Elijah Walton (Birmingham 1832 - Lickey 1880) was an English painter and watercolourist. Born into a modest family, he apprenticed at the Birmingham Art School of Design and exhibited his first drawing at the Royal Academy in London at the age of 15; his talent was noticed and he entered the prestigious Royal Academy at the age of 18. He made many trips to Egypt, Greece and the Alps, which provided him with fertile sources of inspiration. He worked in oil and watercolour, but excelled especially in the latter. His works faithfully render both shapes and colours, especially in mountain landscapes and atmospheric phenomena, such as an Alpine peak peeking through the mist, or a sunset over the Nile. Few true artists have equalled him in the rendering of rock structure and mountain morphology, or in the depiction of alpine flora. He has published numerous albums on the Alps, in collaboration with the geologist Thomas George Bonney. Perret 4512 - Regards sur les Alpes 86 - Waeber I, 91 - Coolidge 204 - Rean pp. 153-155