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The antiqvities of Athens. / Measvred and delineated by James Stvart, F.R.S and F.S.A. and Nicholas Revett, painters and architects. ; Volvme the first-[fourth]..
Athenaeum of Philadelphia - British Imprints Oversize 1762 Stuart
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- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Stuart, James, 1713-1788.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Architecture--Greece--Athens--Early works to 1800.
- Architecture.
- Architecture--Greece--Early works to 1800.
- Athens (Greece)--Antiquities.
- Athens (Greece).
- Greece--Antiquities.
- Greece.
- Pula (Croatia)--Antiquities.
- Pula (Croatia).
- Physical Description:
- 4 v. ([10], x, 52 p., [72] leaves of plates (some folded); [2], iv, viii, 46, [74] leaves of plates (some folded); xviii, xxv, [1], 64 [i.e 58], [2] p., [88] leaves of plates (some folded); [2] xxxi, [1], 44 p., [86] leaves of plates) : ill. (engravings), maps (1 col.), plans, ports. ; 55 cm. (fol.)
- Other Title:
- Antiquities of Athens
- Place of Publication:
- London : Printed by John Haberkorn, MDCCLXII-[MDCCCXVI] [1762-1816].
- Notes:
- Frontispiece in v.2 is port. of James Stuart, drawn and engraved by C. Knight; frontispiece in v.4 is port. of Nicholas Revett, engraved by Isaac Taylor.
- V.2 edited by W. Newton; v.3 by W. Reveley, v.4 by J. Woods. Cf.Fowler.
- Imprint varies: v. 2-3 printed by J. Nichols; v. 4 printed by T. Bensley for J. Taylor.
- Published in 4 volumes from 1762-1816; v.1 published in 1762, [i.e. 1763]; v.2 in 1787 [i.e. 1789]; v.3 in 1795; v.4 in 1816.
- A supplementary volume composed of separate contributions by Cockerell, Kinnard, Donaldson, Jenkins an Railton is sometimes considered v.5 of set; it was issued in folio format in 1830 with title: Antiquities of Athens, and other places in Greece, Sicily, etc., : supplementary to the Antiquities of Athens by James Stuart ... and Nicholas Revett....
- Page numbers 31-34, 45-46 are omitted in pagination of v.3 with no loss of text.
- Plate XXIX, v. 2, chap. 1 was not issued. Cf. "Directions to binder" (v.4, p. 44)
- ESTC and Fowler record set as v. 1-3 only; Harris records set as 4 v.
- Thomas Jefferson did own a copy of v.1, but was not especially influenced by it; the book was later sold to Congress. Cf. O'Neal. Jefferson Fine Arts Library, p. 343.
- Not in Park; according to Charles Wood her omission of this title is unwarranted as copies reached America almost immediately upon publication and Benjamin Franklin was an original subscriber. Cf. Charles Wood Catalogue 57, #487.
- 4 v. set includes over 300 engraved plates, engraved vignettes and head-and tail pices; many plates are double-paged.
- Plates after drawings of Stuart and Revett, W. Reveley, W. Pars, C. King, and C. Knight, engraved by F.G. Aliamet; J. Basire; W. Blake; P. Fourdrinier; C. Grignion, J. Hall, J. Harding, C. Knight; J. Landseer; D. Lerpiniere, W. Lowry, T. Medland, J. Newton, W. Pars, J. Record, E. Rooker, W. Sharp, T. and W. Skelton, S. Smith, R. Strange, and J. Walker, J. Davis, T. Baxter: head and tail pieces by Basire, Couse, Green.
- First folio edition; 2nd edition issued 1825-30; also issued in octavo 1837? and as well in later French and German editions; some copies of the first edition were issued without subscriber's list in v.1. Cf. Harris
- Plates in v. 4 signed: Published by J. Taylor.
- Subscriber's list: v.1, p. [5]-[9]
- Biographical memoir of the authors in v. 4.
- Description of antiquities in Pula, Croatia, v. 4, chap. 1-3.
- "Errata and additional observations", p. [65], v. 3; "Observations with corrections" (by N. Revett), p. 37-42, and index, v. 4.
- Colvin notes that this monumental title was the first accurate survey of Athenian buildings and was signficant as a 'source-book' for the Greek Revival in England, although "its effect on the contemporary architecture was limited; for the Greek Revival was a phenomenon of the nineteenth rather than the eighteenth century, and the 'Gusto Greco' of the 1760's was decorative rather than structural in character."--Colvin, H. Biographical dictionary of British architects, p. 795.
- "Though Nicholas Revett's name appeared on the title pages of v. 1-3, he withdrew from the work shortly after the publication of vol. I in 1762. It was Revett, however, who was responsible for the measured drawings which made the 'Antiquities' unique as the first accurate survey of Athenian buildings. Stuart's contribution was limited to the general topographical views, but he was made famous by the publication of the work."--Fowler, p. 81.
- Stuart had died by the time v.2 was issued; his widow Elizabeth Stuart assisted with editing of the volume along with William Newton. Cf. Fowler, p. 80.
- Local Notes:
- Athenaeum has 2 incomplete sets, holding at least one copy of each of the 4 volumes of this first edition.
- Athenaeum copy: Copy 1 is bound in modern buckram binding; copy 2 is bound in full diced morocco with gilt borders and marbled end papers.
- Athenaeum copy: Gift of Haverford College Library, 1999 (c.1)
- Athenaeum copy: Copy 1: 4 p. "Catalogue of modern architecture" bound in at end.
- Athenaeum copy: Copy 1: Athenaeum has has v.2-4 only; this set is particularly noteworthy for having been in the library of the American neo-classical architect William Strickland (1787-1854). It was given by him to the Haverford College Library which transferred it to the Athenaeum of Philadelphia in 1999. According to Agnes Addison Gilchrist, William Strickland: Architect and Engineer, "Strickland is reported to have said repeatedly to the pupils in his office 'that the student of architecture need go no further than the Antiquities of Athens as a basis for design.' He practiced what he preached and his finest designs were inspired by the plates of James Stuart and Nicholas Revett, authors and illustrators of the book." (p. 31)
- Athenaeum copy: Gift of Robert L. Raley/Carpenters' Company Collection (c.2)
- Athenaeum copy: Copy 2: Raley Colllection copy has v. 1-3 only.
- Athenaeum copy: Copy 2: v.1 has front cover detached; tied.
- Athenaeum copy: Raley copy (c.2) lacking subscriber's list.
- Athenaeum copy: Library also has copy of 2nd edition published: London, Priestley and Weale, 1825-1830 (4 v.) and a French edition (5 v.) published 1808-1822
- Athenaeum copy: Binder's title: Stuart's Antiquities of Athens.
- Cited in:
- Harris and Savage, 857
- Fowler, 340
- Millard Collection. British books, 81
- ESTC (RLIN), T022194
- O'Neal. Jefferson's fine arts library, 119
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