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1.
  • Ranjit Singh

Creator:
Emily Eden (1797-1869)
Description:
Hand Colored Lithograph From Portraits of the Princes and Peoples of India J. Dickinson & Son, 1844
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

2.
  • Vue de Messine [View of Messina]

Creator:
Achille Etienne Gigault de La Salle (1772-1855)
Description:
Aquatint From Voyage Pittoresque en Sicile (Volume 2) Paris: Didot, 1822-1826
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

3.
  • Twelfth Group

Creator:
Mary Gartside (Before 1761-c.1809)
Description:
Hand-Colored Aquatint From Ornamental Groups descriptive of Flowers, Birds, Shells, also Fruits & Insects London: William Miller, 1808
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

5.
  • Verapadroog, in the Barramah'l [Fort in southern India]

Creator:
Thomas Daniell (1749-1840) and William Daniell (1769-1837), engravers
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From Oriental Scenery, Volumes 1-6 [Hindostan and India], Volume 1 London: T. Daniell, 1795-1808
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

7.
  • Culzean Castle

Creator:
John Parker Lawson (d.1852), author; James Duffield Harding (1798-1863), artist; L. Sabatier, lithographer
Description:
Colored lithograph From Scotland Delineated in a Series of Views with Historical, Antiquarian and Descriptive Letterpress, Volume II London: E. Gambart & Co., 1854
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

8.
  • Glen Falloch

Creator:
John Parker Lawson (d.1852), author; James Duffield Harding (1798-1863), artist; L. Sabatier, lithographer
Description:
Colored lithograph From Scotland Delineated in a Series of Views with Historical, Antiquarian and Descriptive Letterpress, Volume II London: E. Gambart & Co., 1854
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

9.
  • Stirling Castle

Creator:
John Parker Lawson (d.1852), author; James Duffield Harding (1798-1863), artist; L. Sabatier, lithographer
Description:
Colored lithograph From Scotland Delineated in a Series of Views with Historical, Antiquarian and Descriptive Letterpress, Volume II London: E. Gambart & Co., 1854
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

10.
  • Continuation of the View from the Summit of Monte Cavo

Creator:
John Izard Middleton (1785-1849)
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From Grecian Remains in Italy: A Description of Cyclopian Walls and of Roman Antiquities, with Topographical and Picturesque Views of Ancient Latium. London: Edward Orme, 1812-1823
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

12.
  • Section through the State Apartments

Creator:
John Nash (1752-1835)
Description:
Colored aquatint From Royal Pavilion at Brighton London: John Nash: 1826
Curatorial Notes:
John Nash, a fashionable London architect, made major contributions to the development of English domestic architecture, experimenting with asymmetrical plans and using his skills to extract the maximum picturesque effect. Nash’s most memorable commission was the rebuilding of the Royal Pavilion at Brighton (1815-1823) for the Prince Regent. His Indian-inspired domes and creative flair captured the extravagance of the age.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

13.
  • View of Ilfracombe, from Hilsborough [seaside, North Devon]

Creator:
Richard Ayton (1786-1823), author; William Daniell (1769-1837), drawings and engravings
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From A Voyage Round Great Britain, Undertaken in the Summer of 1813, and Commencing from the Land's-End, Cornwall, by Richard Ayton. With a series of views, illustrative of the Character and Prominent Features of the Coast, drawn and engraved by William Daniel , Volume 2 London: Longman and W. Daniell, 1814-1825
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

14.
  • The Lower Ward, St. George's Chapel, and the Round Tower

Creator:
Joseph Nash (1809-1878)
Description:
Colored chromolithograph From Views of the Interior and Exterior of Windsor Castle London: Thomas McLean, 1848
Curatorial Notes:
Joseph Nash, an English watercolor painter and lithographer, was well-known for his picturesque compositions of architecture and domestic interiors. According to Nash, this pleasing tableau of Windsor Castle and its grounds is “Illustrative of the state and ceremony which distinguish the Royal hospitality.” Such representations of the monarchy helped shape a sense of British identity and pride.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

15.
  • Son of the Nawaub of Banda

Creator:
Emily Eden (1797-1869)
Description:
Hand-colored lithograph From Portraits of the Princes and Peoples of India London: J. Dickinson & Son, 1844
Curatorial Notes:
A well-educated daughter of an English diplomat, Emily Eden was a poet and novelist who spent five years traveling in India with her sister and brother, the latter serving as the British Governor General of India. Her account of the journey documents her struggles with the humidity, the political and cultural landscape. The portraits here were composed during a trip through the north, where the group met with royalty in an attempt to gain favor for the British Empire.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

16.
  • Vue d'un tombeau antique, dit le tombeau d'Archimède, a Syracuse

Creator:
Achille Etienne Gigault de La Salle (1772-1855)
Description:
Aquatint From Voyage Pittoresque en Sicile (Volume 2) Paris: Didot, 1822-1826
Curatorial Notes:
Achille Etienne Gigault de La Salle, a government ocial, lived in Sicily during 1820 and studied Sicilian history and archaeology. The famous Parisian publisher, Didot, gathers here La Salle’s work with illustrations by more than a dozen artists, many British. This scene was engraved by the British engraver William Havell (here spelled ‘Hawell’) and was printed on English paper made by Charles Wise. In the distance is the Città Vecchia (Old City) of Syracuse, on the island of Ortigia. In the foreground is the tomb of Archimedes.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

17.
  • The Tower and Mint from Great Tower Hill

Creator:
Charles Ollier (1788-1859), text; Thomas Shotter Boys (1803-1874), lithographer
Description:
Lithograph From Original Views of London as it is London: Thomas Boys, 1842-1843
Curatorial Notes:
This tableau features the Tower of London in the center, the Grecian-style Royal Mint, and a busy street scene. Created when watercolor painter and printmaker Thomas Shotter Boys was at the height of his powers and popularity, London As It Is was not only a commercial success, but also a book of significant record. It captures life in London during the 1840s, a period from which few good pictorial documents exist due to high production costs and transitioning printing technologies.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

18.
  • Main Guard & Government House, Fort Hyderabad

Creator:
Lieutenant William Edwards (d.1890), drawings; Charles Haghe (d.1888), lithographer
Description:
Tinted lithograph From Sketches in Scinde from drawings by Lieut. Wm. Edwards, 86th. Regt. Lithographed by Charles Haghe, Esq. London: H. Graves, 1846
Curatorial Notes:
Military officers were well-placed to provide sketches of the remarkable scenery and impressive architecture of foreign lands. Lieutenant William Edwards drew this sketch in Sindh, after it was conquered in 1843 by General Charles Napier, British Army commander-in-chief in India. Drawings by British military officers served complicated dual purposes by both preserving historical and cultural details, but also showcasing British colonialism.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

19.
  • A view of the late Sir William Rumbold’s House

Creator:
Captain Richard Barron
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From Views in India, Chiefly among the Neelgherry Hills, taken during a short residence on them in 1835, with notes and descriptive illustrations London: Robert Havell, 1837
Curatorial Notes:
The house that British aristocrat Rumbold built was actually a hotel, located upon the shores of an artificial lake in the Tamil Nadu region of southern India. Though the location is now home to the Ootacamund Club, when this image was printed in 1837, the British had a strong hold over the area, after successfully quelling the Vellore mutiny in 1806. Neither the artificial nature of the lake, nor the history of political unrest, are obvious in Barron’s scenic and calm illustration.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

20.
  • Fall of the Tummel

Creator:
John Parker Lawson (d.1852), author; James Duffield Harding (1798-1863), artist; L. Sabatier, lithographer
Description:
Colored lithograph From Scotland Delineated in a Series of Views with Historical, Antiquarian and Descriptive Letterpress, Volume II London: E. Gambart & Co., 1854
Curatorial Notes:
Combining the beautiful and the sublime, this picturesque image captures both the majesty and power of nature. There is a tension here between the current calm and the lurking danger—the sun illuminates the hillside between threatening dark clouds; the serene lake tumbles over a small waterfall. The fisher on the lower right may catch their dinner, but they should do it quickly and carefully, before the rain begins to pour or the river sweeps them away.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

21.
  • Saint John's Antigua/From Otto's

Creator:
J. Johnson, drawings; T. Fielding, C. Bentley, G. Reeve and others, engravers
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From A Series of Views in the West Indies. Engraved from Drawings Taken Recently in the Islands, with Letter Press Explanations Made from Actual Observations London: Underwood, Smith, Elder & Co., 1827-1829
Curatorial Notes:
Johnson’s views of the West Indies is described as “made from actual observations,” and he certainly captures the warm glow of the sun, serene sea, and quiet city center. Like other views of the picturesque abroad, the tension between beauty and terror comes less from the image itself and more from what is and is not included in the painted pictures — pastoral sheep and delicate clouds versus the brutality of the Antigua sugar plantations.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

22.
  • Crescent &c.

Creator:
John Claude Nattes (ca.1765-1839), drawings; John Hill and Frederick Christian Lewis, engravers
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From Bath, Illustrated by a Series of Views, from the drawings of John Claude Nattes with Descriptions to each plate London: W. Miller and W. Sheppard, 1806
Curatorial Notes:
The Royal Crescent, seen here, is one of the best examples of Georgian architecture in Britain. Consisting of a row of 30 houses laid out in a sweeping crescent, the Royal Crescent’s iconic buildings were designed by John Wood, the Younger (1728-1782) and built between 1767 and 1775. As stated in the preface of the book: “Perhaps no city in the kingdom could be so proper for the purpose of picturesque illustration as that of Bath…”
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

23.
  • Panjab. Entry into Lahore from the parade ground

Creator:
Charles Stewart Hardinge (1822-1894), J.D. Harding, lithographer
Description:
Tinted lithograph From Recollections of India drawn in stone by J. D. Harding from the Original Drawings by the Honourable Charles Stewart Harding London: Thomas McLean, 1847
Curatorial Notes:
After graduating from Oxford, Charles Stewart Hardinge accompanied his father, the governor-general, on a trip to India which inspired this book of images. Drawn by hand and then transferred onto stone (a process called lithography), we can see here a parade entering the city of Lahore in modern day Pakistan. The immense wall, minarets and domes speak to the Indo-Gothic architecture introduced to the region by British imperialists during the 19th century.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

24.
  • Sandy Point, St. Kitts

Creator:
John Herbert Caddy (1801-1883), drawings; Charles Hunt, J. Harris, Newn Fielding, W. Westall, W., J. Harris, engravers
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From Scenery of the Windward and Leeward Islands London: R. Ackermann, 1837
Curatorial Notes:
Illustrator John Herbert Caddy was a Canadian soldier, engineer, teacher, and artist who traveled the globe while serving in the Royal Artillery. He specialized in landscape and rarely included people in his compositions. This view of St. Kitts, one of his many homes over the years, seems divided in two: the left sky bright and blue, the right darker and more cloudy as if Caddy sat down at either the beginning or the end of a rain storm to catch the disappearing or emerging sunshine.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

25.
  • The Colonnade, Alton Gardens

Creator:
Edward Adveno Brooke (1821-1910)
Description:
Colored lithograph From Gardens of England London: Mclean, 1857
Curatorial Notes:
Little is known about this artist beyond this masterful color plate book depicting the careful studies of 16 exemplary gardens, some of which (Trentham, for example) can still be visited today. Brooke strove to present the grandeur of the garden and for him, this scene at Alton Towers (the seat in Staffordshire of the Earls of Shewsbury), and its combination of sculptural walls, rhythmic plantings, the vibrant reds and yellows, produced what he deemed the picturesque. Today, the grounds represent a very different kind of vibrancy and have been transformed into a theme park.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

26.
  • Hobart Town

Creator:
Jean Eugène von Guérard (1811-1901)
Description:
Color lithograph From Australian Landscapes: a Series of 24 Tinted Lithographs Illustrative of the Most Striking and Picturesque Features of the Landscape Scenery of Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania, with Letter Press Description of Each View Melbourne: Hamel & Ferguson, 1867-1868
Curatorial Notes:
Born in Austria, Jean Eugène von Guérard arrived in Australia in 1852 to try his luck in the goldfields. However, with little success, he soon returned to his talent as an artist to make a living. By the early 1860s, he was known as the leading landscape painter in the colonies, touring the wilds of Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, South Australia and New Zealand in pursuit of the sublime and picturesque.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

27.
  • Scene in Sitsikamma

Creator:
Samuel Daniell (1775-1811)
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From African Scenery and Animals, with Descriptions London: S. Daniell, 1804-1805
Curatorial Notes:
Samuel Daniell was both a nephew of Thomas Daniell, the “artist-adventurer,” and the younger brother of William. At age 24, he began a 700-mile journey in South Africa from the Cape to Lataku, the seat of King Mooliahaben of the Booshuanas. Upon return to England in 1803, he issued this work based on drawings made during the journey. Still restless, he trekked to Sri Lanka, published A Picturesque Illustration of the Scenery, Animals and Native Inhabitants of the Island of Ceylon in 1808, and died there in 1811.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

28.
  • View of Choka

Creator:
Samuel Davis, drawings; William Daniell (1769-1837) engraver
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From Views in Bootan London: [W. Daniell], 1813
Curatorial Notes:
British officer Samuel Davis was the first Western artist to paint the Himalayas. Serving in 1783 as “Draftsman and Surveyor” to an exploratory mission sent to northern India by the British Governor, he depicts here a fort built to guard a trade route into India. His trip required local authorization, and his companion, a travel writer, states “We were in no respect abridged in the liberty of ranging where we chose; and the Raja appeared to rather encourage Mr. Davis, in taking views of different palaces, and of the various scenery exhibited by the wild and picturesque country.”
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

29.
  • The Hall and Stair Case, British Museum

Creator:
W.H. Pyne (1769-1843) and William Combe (1742-1823), text; Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827), drawings; Augustus Pugin (1762-1832), engraver
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From The Microcosm of London, or London in Miniature, Volume 1 London: R. Ackermann, 1808-1811
Curatorial Notes:
With its elaborate colored aquatints and dictionary-style entries, The Microcosm of London is not only beautiful, but also a practical guide to the city. This entry featuring the British Museum is a prime example of that. To create his first major color plate book, celebrated publisher Rudolph Ackermann (1764-1834) brought together the talents of major artists, including Auguste Charles Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson, to capture the architecture and characters of Regency London.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

30.
  • View of Carfax and Abingdon, from Whiteheads Oak

Creator:
William Combe (1742-1823), text; Joseph Farington (1747-1821), drawing; Joseph Constantin Stadler (fl.1780-1812), engraver
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From An History of the River Thames (Principal Rivers of Great Britain), Volume 1 London: John & Josiah Boydell, 1794-1796
Curatorial Notes:
Although better known for his satirical writing, William Combe wrote the text for this idyllic historical tour of the River Thames. In this illustration, a large oak tree and a white memorial urn are featured and dedicated to William Whitehead (1715-1785), a Poet Laureate of Britain. The picturesque landscape provides a place where the “rural philosopher might stretch his listless length, and muse and meditate.”
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

31.
  • Granada, Distant View of the Sierra Nevada

Creator:
John Frederick Lewis (1805-1876)
Description:
Lithograph From Lewis's Sketches of Spain & Spanish Character: Made During His Tour in That Country in the Years 1833-4 London: F.G. Moon and J.F. Lewis, 1836
Curatorial Notes:
John Frederick Lewis was the scion of a successful artistic family and sold his first painting at age 15. He was attracted to watercolors because their direct technique allowed his draftsmanship to be fully expressed. His first major artisticentrepreneurial trip was to Spain “to make a sort of picturesque tour … having orders for young ladies’ albums and from divers booksellers …” John Ruskin said of Lewis “Watercolour drawing can be carried no further; nothing has been left unfinished or untold.”
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

32.
  • The Taje Mahel, at Agra

Creator:
Thomas Daniell (1749-1840) and William Daniell (1769-1837), engravers
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From Oriental Scenery, Volumes 1-6 [Hindostan and India], Volume 1 London: T. Daniell, 1795-1808
Curatorial Notes:
In 1785, Thomas Daniell and his nephew William arrived in India by way of the permission of the East India Company. They stayed until 1794, making three major tours: from Calcutta to Srinagar (1788-91), a circular tour from Mysore to Madras (1792-3), and Bombay and its temple sites (1793). Back in England, uncle (known as an ‘artist-adventurer’) and nephew produced this, their most famous and influential work, Oriental Scenery with 144 prints paid for by subscribers not only throughout Britain, but also in Calcutta and Madras.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

33.
  • Seventeenth Group

Creator:
Mary Gartside, W.J. Bennett (1787-1844), Daniel Havell (d.1826?) and Robert Havell (d.1832), engravers
Description:
From Ornamental Groups, Descriptive of Flowers, Birds, Shells, Fruit, Insects, &c. and Illustrative of a New Theory of Colouring from Designs and Paintings London: William Miller, 1808-1811
Curatorial Notes:
Mary Gartside was an English watercolorist and color theorist, whose work Essays on Light and Shade remained the only work on color theory published by a woman for almost one hundred years. Ornamental Groups… features colorful still lifes that illustrate Gartside’s theory on color arrangement and placement. The red peony, for instance, is partially shaded as to not overwhelm or act harshly against the pinks and whites that surround it, obtaining perfect visual balance.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

34.
  • The Confluence of the Rivers Niger and Chadda

Creator:
Commander William Allen, R.N. (1792-1864), author; W.L Walton, lithographer
Description:
Tinted and colored lithograph From Picturesque views on the River Niger, sketched during Lander’s last visit in 1832-33 London: John Murray, Hodgson & Graves and Ackermann, 1840
Curatorial Notes:
English Navy officer William Allen created sketches of the Niger River during an expedition there from 1832-33 led by Richard Lander. One of the great rivers of Africa, the Niger runs about 2,600 miles in West Africa. It is seen here in this panoramic view on the left as it meets up with the Benue River visible over the trees. The Benue was previously known as the Chadda and is one of the major tributaries of the Niger.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

35.
  • Waterfall of Tijuca

Creator:
Lieutenant Chamberlain (1796-1843), drawing; Henry Thomas Alken (1784-1851), engraver.
Description:
Hand-colored aquatints From Views and Costumes of the City and Neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from Drawings taken by Lieutenant Chamberlain, Royal Artillery, during the Years 1819 and 1820, with descriptive explanations. London: Thomas McLean, 1822.
Curatorial Notes:
During 1819-1820, while visiting his father, the British envoy to Brazil, Lieutenant Henry Chamberlain drew the shorelines, landscapes, and city scenes of Rio de Janeiro and environs. The book’s publication in 1822 coincided with Brazilian independence from Portugal. The new sovereignty sparked fresh interest in the region from the British public. Chamberlain said, “This Fall and the surrounding picturesque Scenery are worthy the attention of all strangers … [and] will amply repay the fatigue of a day's excursion across the Mountain.”
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

36.
  • View of Quebec

Creator:
George Heriot (1759-1839), watercolors; F.C. Lewis, J.C. Stadler, engravers
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint, one line engraving From Travels through the Canadas, Containing a Description of the Picturesque Scenery on Some of the Rivers and Lakes; with an Account of the productions, Commerce, and Inhabitants of those Provinces London: Richard Phillips, 1807
Curatorial Notes:
At the time of publication in 1807, British Parliament had only 15 years earlier divided the dominion of Canada into “upper” (present-day, English-speaking Ontario) and “lower” (present-day, French-speaking Quebec) regions, each with its own government. The city of Quebec, the subject of this panorama, became the administrative capital of Lower Canada and despite the idyllic scene here, a center for unrest as French Canadians such as Pierre-Stanislas Bédard fought for their sovereignty within the British system, a struggle that continues to this day.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

37.
  • Battle of Roleia [Roliça]—Augt. 17th 1808

Creator:
William Heath (1795-1840), drawings; Thomas Sutherland (ca.1785-ca.1825), engraver
Description:
Colored aquatint From The Martial Achievements of Great Britain and Her Allies, from 1799 to 1815 London: L. Harrison & J.C. Leigh for J. Jenkins, 1815
Curatorial Notes:
Artist William Heath, known for his military scenes and later satires, captures this intense moment during the Battle of Roliça. It was the first engagement fought and won by the Anglo-Portuguese army during the Peninsular War (1807-1814), a military conflict for control of the Iberian Peninsula. The scene is one of many illustrations in this volume glorifying British martial achievements and that the “power of the once invincible Buonaparte is no more.”
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

38.
  • Emissary of the Lake of Nemi

Creator:
John Izard Middleton (1785-1849) and Filippo Giuntotardi (1768-1831), drawings; Matthew Dubourg (fl.1786-1838), Joseph Jeakes and John Swaine (1775-1860), engravers
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From Grecian Remains in Italy: A Description of Cyclopian Walls and of Roman Antiquities, with Topographical and Picturesque Views of Ancient Latium London: Edward Orme, 1812-1823
Curatorial Notes:
Beautiful, pastoral, or classical images are peaceful in part because although nature is abundant, it is controlled. The water in this image runs clearly and placidly, lapping at the lush shores thanks to the small stone structure nestled among the trees. This is a Roman emissary, a channel designed in antiquity to prevent a lake from flooding, eliminating potential disaster, cultivating a sense of order and conveying a harmony between man and environment. The beauty here is in the security.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

39.
  • The Hamilton Vase: Colour plate of youth in a temple, stele and eight youths

Creator:
Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803)
Description:
Etching with hand coloring and highlights in white lead From Collection Of Etruscan, Greek, And Roman Antiquities From The Cabinet Of The Honble. Wm. Hamilton His Britannick Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary At The Court Of Naples / Antiquités Etrusques, Grecques et Romaines, tirées du Cabinet du M. Hamilton. Naples: 1766-7 [1767-1776]
Curatorial Notes:
Sir William Hamilton, British Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, lived in Naples for 36 years. Excavations at nearby Pompeii provided opportunities for collecting prized red and black Greek vases. Before selling to the British Museum in 1772, Hamilton published a fourvolume, hand-colored illustrated catalog. Here on one page are scenes on the Hamilton Vase (ca. 320 BCE), depicting youths in a temple at left and votives gathered around a funerary stele at right.
Photography:
Princeton University Library Digital Imaging Studio

40.
  • General View of Bayham

Creator:
Humphry Repton (1752-1818)
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening: including Some Remarks on Grecian and Gothic Architecture London: T. Bensley for J. Taylor, 1803 Courtesy of Princeton University Library, Special Collections, Rare Book Division.
Curatorial Notes:
Repton presented his ideas theatrically: a transformative scene. First seen is the Earl’s land in current use; but under the flap (seen here), one sees the land as worthy of the Earl — the forest becoming a park; the estate: a domain; the house: a palace. Further, Repton joined and flooded streams to create a river valley. The approaching view is transformed from crops to parkland. Repton insisted the Earl’s dwelling be in character with its surroundings: Gothic rather than Classical. The palace was never built, but Repton’s plans for the Bayham lake and the forest woodlands were executed evidently.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

41.
  • General View of Bayham

Creator:
Humphry Repton (1752-1818)
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening: including Some Remarks on Grecian and Gothic Architecture London: T. Bensley for J. Taylor, 1803 Courtesy of Princeton University Library, Special Collections, Rare Book Division.
Curatorial Notes:
Repton presented his ideas theatrically: a transformative scene. First seen is the Earl’s land in current use (seen here); but under the flap, one sees the land as worthy of the Earl — the forest becoming a park; the estate: a domain; the house: a palace. Further, Repton joined and flooded streams to create a river valley. The approaching view is transformed from crops to parkland. Repton insisted the Earl’s dwelling be in character with its surroundings: Gothic rather than Classical. The palace was never built, but Repton’s plans for the Bayham lake and the forest woodlands were executed evidently.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

42.
  • The Sphinx

Creator:
Samuel Birch (1813-1885), descriptions; Jules Goury (1803-1834), drawing; George Moore, lithographer
Description:
Lithography, by George Moore; from Sketches taken in 1832-3, by Owen Jones and the late Jules Goury: with Historical Notices of the Monuments, by S. Birch, Esq., senior assistant in the department of antiquity, British Museum. London. From Views on the Nile: from Cairo to the Second Cataract London: Graves and Warmsley, 1843
Curatorial Notes:
The years 1832-1834 produced several concurrent artistic travels: David Roberts in Spain, William Allen in Africa, John Frederick Lewis in Spain as well as architects Owen Jones and Jules Goury in Egypt. The result of Jones’ and Goury’s effort in Egypt is an almost scientific work, providing commentary from the leading authority on Egypt at the British Museum. Contemporary opinion considered the renderings of “beauty and interest”; however, other writers considered views of Egypt “picturesque” in the sense of “characteristic, [and] attractive.”
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

43.
  • Dunksy Castle, near Port Patrick Wigtonshire

Creator:
Richard Ayton (1786-1823), author; William Daniell (1769-1837), drawings and engravings
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From A Voyage Round Great Britain, Undertaken in the Summer of 1813, and Commencing from the Land's-End, Cornwall, by Richard Ayton. With a series of views, illustrative of the Character and Prominent Features of the Coast, drawn and engraved by William Daniel, Volume 2 London: Longman and W. Daniell, 1814-1825
Curatorial Notes:
Dunsky Castle, pictured here, is a 12th century ruin on the coast of Scotland and one of the 308 aquatints from A Voyage Round Great Britain by William Daniell. A member of the prolific Daniell family, this 8-volume set is his most famous independent work and features the coastlines of England, Wales, and Scotland drawn and engraved by Daniell himself. Traveling with his friend Richard Ayton, they voyaged around England, often by sea, documenting and championing the wild beauty of coastal life.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

44.
  • Pyramids of Geezeh

Creator:
David Roberts (1796-1864), drawings; Louis Haghe (1806-1885), lithographer; William Brockedon, F.R.S. (1787-1854), text
Description:
Tinted lithograph (one or two tints), colored From Egypt and Nubia from drawings made on the spot by David Roberts, R.A. Volume II London: F.G. Moon, 1846-1849
Curatorial Notes:
A Scotsman who succeeded in the competitive London art scene, David Roberts began his career as a scenery painter for the theatre. In 1823, he sold pictures from his first exhibition and his career was under way. His embrace of the picturesque came with the 1837 publication, Picturesque Sketches In Spain Taken During the Years 1832 & 1833. On display here is a plate from his trip to “the East” starting in 1838. It was a self-funded trip, fulfilled a lifelong dream, and provided bounteous drawings for his massive publications on the Holy Land (1842-49: 3 vol.) and Egypt and Nubia (1846-49: 3 vol.).
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

45.
  • Capture of La Gloire, April 10th 1795

Creator:
Thomas Whitcombe (ca.1763-ca.1824), drawing; S. Rawle and Thomas Sutherland (ca.1785-ca.1825), engravers
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From The Naval Achievements of Great Britain from the Year 1793 to 1817 London: Printed for J. Jenkins by L. Harrsion, 1817
Curatorial Notes:
In this illustration, British maritime painter Thomas Whitcombe captures the intense battle preceding Britain’s victory in the “Action of 10 April 1795.” The French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802) and Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) saw many naval engagements between Britain and France. In this skirmish, a group of French Navy frigates were intercepted by a British battle squadron. The French ships split up, but after a pursuit and fierce battle by Britain’s HMS Astraea, La Gloire was seized.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

46.
  • View of the Eruption of Vesuvius from the mole of Naples in the night of the 20th of Octr. 1767

Creator:
Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803)
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From Campi Phlegraei: Observations on the Volcanoes of the Two Sicilies as They Have Been Communicated to the Royal Society of London Naples: sold by Pietro Fabris, 1776-1779
Curatorial Notes:
If the beautiful inspires the peace of a nature controlled, the sublime instills the terror of a nature unleashed. This brilliant image of an exploding volcano reminds humanity of its own everlasting fragility. Despite attempts to tame the earth, settle and harvest its lands, we are always at its mercy. The small, dark figure in a boat has escaped the terror today, but once the fire has been put out, what of this Naples town will remain? And how long until the volcano unleashes destruction on the unsuspecting once again?
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

47.
  • View of Water & Large Oaks Welbeck (with overslip)

Creator:
Humphry Repton (1752-1818)
Description:
Hand-colored aquatint From Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening: Collected from Designs and Observations Now in the Possession of the Different Noblemen and Gentlemen, for whose use they were originally Made, the whole Tending to Establish Fixed Principles in the Art of Laying London: printed by W. Bulmer and Co., 1794
Curatorial Notes:
This work led to a more developed publication in 1804, Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening, where Repton stated: “The perfection of landscape gardening [has four] requisites. First, it must display the natural beauties and hide the defects of every situation. Secondly, it should give the appearance of extent and freedom by carefully disguising or hiding the boundary. Thirdly, it must studiously conceal every interference of art, however expensive, by which the natural scenery is improved; making the whole appear the production of nature only; and fourthly, all objects of mere convenience or comfort, if incapable of being made ornamental, or of becoming proper parts of the general scenery, must be removed or concealed.”
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

48.
  • Horse Racing

Creator:
Samuel Howitt (1765?-1822) drawings; Edward Orme, engraver
Description:
From Orme's Collection of British Field Sports Illustrated in Twenty beautifully coloured Engravings, from Designs by S. Howitt London: Edward Orme, 1807
Curatorial Notes:
Alongside the taste for the picturesque, the British held a distinct interest in depictions of the domesticated natural world, such as scenes of anglers and horsemen. Both an active sportsman and an artist, Samuel Howitt met that taste. He closely observed nature and stated directly that he wished to convey visual distinctions as to the “the expression, the character and the passions” of each animal. He produced nearly a dozen books on wildlife and sporting.
Photography:
Princeton University Library Digital Imaging Studio

49.
  • San Augustin de las Cuevas

Creator:
Daniel Thomas Egerton
Description:
Hand-colored lithograph From Egerton's Views in Mexico: Being a Series of Twelve Coloured Plates London: D. T. Egerton, 1840
Curatorial Notes:
The scene mixes rustic terrain together with the community activity: two opposite poles that the picturesque aspired to put together. Against the backdrop (mountains, big sky, blue river) hundreds in indigenous dress are depicted attending the annual festival at San Agustín de las Cuevas (then south of Mexico City). The artist spent his latter years in Mexico where he died in April 1842.
Photography:
Princeton University Library Digital Imaging Studio

50.
  • Idol at Copan

Creator:
Frederick Catherwood (1799-1854)
Description:
Lithograph From Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan London; Catherwood, 1844
Curatorial Notes:
A trained architect, Frederick Catherwood teamed up with the American travel writer, John Lloyd Stephens, and journeyed twice to Central America during 1839-1842 intending to publish pictures and narrative of little known but fabled areas. This image is one of immense grandeur, but conventionally it could not be considered sublime, because such were intended to signal divine awesomeness. Maya ruins were outside the Christian register, thus termed “Idol” by Catherwood, making its context that of curiosity, not reverence.
Photography:
Princeton University Library Digital Imaging Studio