BUCK, Samuel (1696-1779) and Nathaniel BUCK (fl. 1724-1759). Buck's Antiquities or Venerable Remains of above four hundred Castles, Monasteries, Palaces, etc. etc., in England and Wales. London: Robert Sayer, 1774.
BUCK, Samuel (1696-1779) and Nathaniel BUCK (fl. 1724-1759). Buck's Antiquities or Venerable Remains of above four hundred Castles, Monasteries, Palaces, etc. etc., in England and Wales. London: Robert Sayer, 1774.
Rare, handsomely bound set of the 428 engravings of monasteries, castles, abbeys, stately homes and ancient ruins known as The Antiquities. Produced by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck between 1726-1753, their work is regarded as one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of topographical views to emerge from the 18th century. It was a monumental publishing project, with the Bucks travelling the country during the summer months, sketching en route, and then retreating to London in the winter to work up the engravings. Initially the brothers met with great commercial success, as reflected in the ostentatious mezzotint double portrait to the first volume. However, later they hit financial difficulties, and the copper plates were eventually sold to Robert Sayer, who reissued them as the present lot in 1774. 'Collectively their engravings constitute a national survey of ruins of the period, and provide us with an indispensable record of what English and Welsh towns looked like before the industrial revolution' (ODNB).
2 volumes (only, without the 83 double-page city prospects), folio (450 x 280mm). Mezzotint frontispiece double portrait, engraved title-page, 4 engraved head- and tailpieces in the text, double-page index map, 428 numbered plates of which 6 double-page folding: 67 Powderham Castle, Devon; 201, Melton Constable, Norfolk; 232, North Prospect of Worskop Manor; 233, South Prospect of Worskop Manor; 256, Bristol High Cross; and 297, Aston (this latter plate with minor tear along creasefold but without loss, portrait frontispiece with marginal staining, some occasional light scattered spotting to a few plates at beginning of vol. I, some light even browning to the Welsh plates at the end of vol. II). Late 19th-century red morocco gilt by Riviere, wide elaborately tooled borders, spines and turn ins, gilt edges (extremities faintly rubbed). Provenance: Sir Henry Hope Edwards (d.1901, of Wootton Hall, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, his collection of Old Master pictures was sold at Christie's in 1901; bookplates) – Sir John Stirling Maxwell (1866-1956 of Polock House, Glasgow; bookplates, with his Keir library category booklabel 'Arts of Design' on rear pastedowns).
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BUCK, Samuel (1696-1779) and Nathaniel BUCK (fl. 1724-1759). Buck's Antiquities or Venerable Remains of above four hundred Castles, Monasteries, Palaces, etc. etc., in England and Wales. London: Robert Sayer, 1774.
Rare, handsomely bound set of the 428 engravings of monasteries, castles, abbeys, stately homes and ancient ruins known as The Antiquities. Produced by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck between 1726-1753, their work is regarded as one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of topographical views to emerge from the 18th century. It was a monumental publishing project, with the Bucks travelling the country during the summer months, sketching en route, and then retreating to London in the winter to work up the engravings. Initially the brothers met with great commercial success, as reflected in the ostentatious mezzotint double portrait to the first volume. However, later they hit financial difficulties, and the copper plates were eventually sold to Robert Sayer, who reissued them as the present lot in 1774. 'Collectively their engravings constitute a national survey of ruins of the period, and provide us with an indispensable record of what English and Welsh towns looked like before the industrial revolution' (ODNB).
2 volumes (only, without the 83 double-page city prospects), folio (450 x 280mm). Mezzotint frontispiece double portrait, engraved title-page, 4 engraved head- and tailpieces in the text, double-page index map, 428 numbered plates of which 6 double-page folding: 67 Powderham Castle, Devon; 201, Melton Constable, Norfolk; 232, North Prospect of Worskop Manor; 233, South Prospect of Worskop Manor; 256, Bristol High Cross; and 297, Aston (this latter plate with minor tear along creasefold but without loss, portrait frontispiece with marginal staining, some occasional light scattered spotting to a few plates at beginning of vol. I, some light even browning to the Welsh plates at the end of vol. II). Late 19th-century red morocco gilt by Riviere, wide elaborately tooled borders, spines and turn ins, gilt edges (extremities faintly rubbed). Provenance: Sir Henry Hope Edwards (d.1901, of Wootton Hall, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, his collection of Old Master pictures was sold at Christie's in 1901; bookplates) – Sir John Stirling Maxwell (1866-1956 of Polock House, Glasgow; bookplates, with his Keir library category booklabel 'Arts of Design' on rear pastedowns).
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No VAT on hammer price or buyer's premium.
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