Brierly Oswald, "Marine and coast sketches of the Black Sea, Sea of Azof & c", London 1856. FIRST and ONLY edition. Imperial Folio (56x38cm). Leather over red boards with leather edges. A very good full contemporary binding. 10 large lithographic plates with fine contemporary colouring, painted by the painter. Lightly rubbed at spine, light marginal browning in few plates, overall a very good copy of the rarest marine Atlas of the Black Sea. Oswald Walters Brierly (1817-1894) was one of the most famous marine painters of Victorian England. He travelled in Australia and the Pacific in the 1840s and following the great successes of his works, he reached the position of the fellow of the Royal Geographic Society in 1853. In 1854, during Crimean war, he travelled first in the Baltic and prepared a work with 15 lithographs, painted by him, with title: "The English and French Fleets in the Baltic". The next year, on board of HMS Duke of Newcastle, he travelled in the Black Sea, the main scene of the war and prepared the paintings for the current work, issued in 1855/1856 in livraisons and subscriptions. Only 60 copies were issued, prepared and painted personally by Brierly and based on his original paintings (now in National Gallery), depicting several naval battles between Russian and British fleets in the Black Sea and views of the coastal towns. Impressed by his talent, Queen Victoria commanded him to take sketches from the Royal yacht of the great naval review, held at Spithead, at the end of the war. A fine set of marine lithographs of the Black Sea coloured by the painter. EXTREMELY RARE. Not in Atabey, Blackmer or any other known collection.