Josiah BOYDELL (Hawarden 1752 - Halliford 1817) "King Charles the First" Rare original halftone etching from a Van Dyck subject printed and published in London by John Boydell in 1778. Beautiful specimen printed with a refined ink rich in shades of gray, on laid paper bearing the watermark "IHS monogram with Cross and Flower" and literal countermark "Dupuy Fin Auvergne 1742", similar to Heawood 3310, typical of French paper production of the 18th century, complete with the imprint of the plate and with small margins, with some slight traces of ancient gluing visible at the edges and corners mainly on the reverse but overall in excellent general condition. The painting was part of the prestigious collection of Sir Robert Walpole (1676 - 1745), Prime Minister of England and refined connoisseur of art; this magnificent corpus of paintings was sold by Walpole's nephew several times between 1778 and 1779 to Empress Catherine II of Russia and is now part of the heritage of the Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg. Bibliography: Heawood "Monumenta chartae papyraceae" Hilversum 1986 n ° 3310. LeBlanc "Manuel de l'Amateur d'Estampes" Paris 1854 vol.1 pag.505 n ° 5. Lewine "Bibliography of Eighteenth Century Art and Illustrated Books" London 1898 p. 204. Measurements in mm: 533 x 355