British auction house Holloways of Banbury has sold a complete set of 13 lithograph plates, circa 1848, entitled Views of the Bermudas or Somers Islands for £10,500 (around $15,000).

Originally painted by British military surveyor Edmund Gilling Hallewell (1822-1869), the lithographs show 13 panoramic views of three different areas of Bermuda – the Spanish Point area, the Port Royal area and St. George's.

To some people, the price of £10,500 seemed low considering the rarity of the pieces, but according to antiquities dealer Anthony Pettit, who is currently offering a complete coloured, mint condition set for $65,000, the price makes sense.

"The price wasn't low considering it was listed in British pounds, then adding in the premium that the auction house took (18 or 20 per cent), the fact that the prints are uncoloured and the condition that the prints were in," he said.

The prints sold in Oxfordshire were in black and white and were "considerably foxed" with spotting covering much of the artwork.

"The person who bought them will have to have them restored," Mr. Pettit said. "And, there is about a 60 per cent chance that is possible."

Lithography, developed in 1796, is a method for printing using a plate or stone with a completely smooth surface. While the original paintings by Mr. Hallewell have probably been lost to the test of time, the plates can live on providing us a glimpse into the past.

According to Mr. Pettit, Mr. Hallewell did all of the original artwork himself as part of his surveying duties for the military and "exercised his surveying skills" to imagine what the land would look like without any buildings or structures on them.

The dealer also said that the complete 13-piece set includes six views that form a panorama of the islands in the Great Sound seen from a hill west of Gibbs Hill lighthouse. Four views form a panorama from a hill on Spanish Point looking to the Great Sound with the shores of Warwick, Southampton and Sandys parishes beyond; and three views from near St. David's lighthouse form a panorama looking over Smith's Island to the town and parish of St. George's.

Via his web site, Mr. Pettit offers a full set of 13 lithos and a second set with 12 out of the 13 lithos. Unlike the set sold in Banbury, they are all coloured and in mint condition.

He estimated that there were about 50 prints of the originals created but that most have been lost to time. Through his dealings with antiques and his expertise in this field, Mr. Pettit believes there may still be 15 sets of Hallewell's work in Bermuda.

"These sets are very important as they show what the island looked like at that time," Mr. Pettit said. "Dockyard was at its military zenith during that time, before tourists came to Bermuda.

"There are very few paintings that show the landscape in 1848. There were one or two other military officers that did other paintings at other times, one that was closer to 1857 and another just beyond 1860 but nothing from 1848."

To view the complete set, visit www.anthonypettit.com and click on "Paintings, Engravings and Lithographs" on the left side of the web page.