London.: Printed for S. Hooper, No. 25. Ludgate-hill:, MDCCLXXIII. (-MDCCLXXVI.)
Physical Description
4 vols.; 318 mm. (Folio). [Horizontal chain-lines.]
General Note
Vol. I: [ii], ii, 82, [106] p., frontis., [10] pl.; illus. (Some copies have 83 numbered pages.) - Vol. II: [174] p., frontis., [3] pl.; illus. - Vol. III: [218] p., frontis., [5] pl.; illus. (Some copies have a four-page address 'To The Public' after the title-page.) - Vol. IV: [201] p., frontis., [5] pl.; illus. (In some copies the Addenda of Vol. IV are paginated, [1]-10.)
Contents
Vol. I: [Frontis., t.p.] - Introduction - Preface; Errata - [Text, with illus.] - Vol. II: [Frontis., t.p.] - [Description of frontis.] - The Preface - [Plate] - [Text, with illus.]. - Vol. III: [Frontis., t.p.] - To The Public - [Plate] - [description of the frontis.] - [Text, with illus.]. - Vol. IV: [Frontis., t.p.] - The Frontispiece To Volume Fourth - The Preface To The Fourth Volume - Preface - [Plate] - [Text, with illus.] - Addenda - A General Index To The Four Volumes - County Index; Errata.
Responsibility Note
One plates is signed as drawn by Grimm. All other plates and illustrations carry names of engravers only - who include S. Sparrow, Van Drazowa (Drawaza, Drawezer), Dent, Innes, F. Jukes, Adam Smith, R.B. Godfrey, Pouncy, 'DL', I. Pye, P.C. Canot, I. Hall, In. Roberts, I. Ellis, J. Morris, Mason, I. Peake, Record, W. Watts, Mazel, V.M. Picot.
Many plates and illustrations carry the publisher's imprint of S. Hooper.
The 'County Index' in Volume IV, which lists the illustrations, gives the dates when the view was taken, and in many cases the names of those by whom the view was 'taken' and those by whom it was engraved. According to this list, the draughtsmen were The. Forrest, Tho. Sandby, P. Sandby, Hamilton, M. Griffiths, Richards, Bayley, Job Bullman, Forster, B. Green, Eyre, Hearne, Davidson, Ld. Nuenham, H. Rugge, Woollet, H. Rooke, Canaletti, J. Bailey, Val. Green, Dall, Marlow, Cozens, Newton. And to the names of the engravers mentioned above it adds that of 'G. Godfrey', and expands 'DL' to Lerpiniere.
References
Royal Institute Of British Architects, Early printed books, 2 (1995), no. 1385 (on Vol. I).
S. Bending, 'Every man is naturally an antiquarian: Francis Grose and polite antiquities', in Tracing architecture: the aesthetics of antiquarianism, ed. D. Arnold and S. Bending (2003) (= Art history, 25:4 (2002)); J.H. Hopkins, 'Francis Grose FSA and the "Antiquities Of England And Wales"', in Antiqua. J., LVI (1976), p. 253-5. R. Sweet, Antiquaries: the discovery of the past in eighteenth-century Britain (2004).
On the Gothic Revival see G. Worsley, 'The origins of the Gothic Revival: a reappraisal', in Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th ser. 3 (1993), p. 105-50; M. McCarthy, Origins of the Gothic Revival (1987); K. Clark, The Gothic Revival (1962).
ESTC, T147669
Summary Note
Volume I has its title-page dated 1773 but some plates dated 1774, 1775, 1776. Volume II has its title-page dated 1774, but some plates dated 1775, 1776. Volume III has its title page dated 1775, but some plates dated 1776. Volume IV has its title page dated 1776. Two supplementary volumes were issued in 1773 and 1787.
Grose had been exhibiting tinted drawings of architectural remains at the Royal Academy since 1769. His Antiquities is an important record, as several of the buildings shown in it no longer exist.
Some plates show plans, but most illustrations are picturesque views of castles, monasteries and other old buildings, with descriptive notes. The buildings are shown in alphabetic order of county, except in Vol. IV (v. I. Bedfordshire - Gloucestershire; v. II. Hampshire - Northamptonshire; v. III. Northumberlandshire - Sussex; v. IV. Warwickshire - Yorkshire, Wales, Isle of Man).
Most drawings for the work are held by the Society of Antiquaries, London.
Provenance
[Copy 1]: This set, bearing the royal arms of Britain and 'R.A.' on the upper cover (03/2588), was purchased and bound for the RA Library before 1781.
[Copy 2]: This second set was acquired by 1802.
Both sets are recorded in A catalogue of the library in the Royal Academy, London, 1802.
Binding Note
[Copy 1]: 18th-century mottled calf with royal arms of Great Britain and 'R.A.' gilt-stamped on upper covers; rebacked in March 1996 retaining original red and green morocco spine-labels lettered in gilt 'Grose's / Antiquities' and 'Vol. I (-IV)'.
[Copy 2]: Late 18th-century tree calf, rebacked in May 1996 retaining original red morocco spine labels lettered in gilt 'Grose's / Antiquities'.
Subject
Antiquities - Castles - Monasteries - Architecture - Ruins - Great Britain - History - Gothic
Views - Plans - Great Britain - 18th century
Pictorial works - Armorial bindings - Great Britain - 18th century