Lot 145B email save

STUART, James (1713-1788) and Nicholas REVETT (17

STUART, James (1713-1788) and Nicholas REVETT (1720-1804). The Antiquities of Athens. measured and delineated.

Volume II edited by William Newton (1735-1790), volume III by Willey Reveley (1760-1799), volume IV by Joseph Woods (1776-1864). London: 'printed by John Haberkorn' [vol. I], 'printed by John Nichols' [vols II-III], T. Bensley for J. Taylor [vol. IV], Priestley and Weale [vol. V], 1762-1830. 5 volumes (530 x 355 mm). Half-title to vol.V, 5pp. list of subscribers in vol.I, 3pp. list of subscribers in vol.V, small format "Errata" slip pasted to verso of final page of list of subscribers on vol.I, 'Errata and Additional Observations' leaf at the end of vol. III. Engraved portrait of Stuart by and after Charles Knight from vol. II bound as a frontispiece in vol. I, engraved portrait frontispiece of Revett by Isaac Taylor after Ramsay in vol. IV, and engraved portrait frontispieces of Stuart and Revett by W.C. Edwards after Proven and Ramsay in vol. V. 369 engraved plans, measured drawings, and plates by J. Basire, C. Grignion, J. Newton, W. Skelton, and others after Stuart, Revett, W. Pars, W. Reveley, and others (3 double-page, 6 folding), 1 folding engraved map of Greece, engraved title-vignettes, numerous engraved illustrations, and head- and tailpieces. Vols.I-IV: uniform diced Russia gilt, the covers blocked with the arms of the Earl of Clare; vol.V: half calf over contemporary marbled paper-covered boards. Condition: browning and spotting, occasionally heavy; all five volumes uniformly re-backed to style, with expert repairs to corners. Provenance: John FitzGibbon, 2nd Earl of Clare (1792-1851, binding) rare complete set of 'the first publication in english devoted to the athenian monuments' (Blackmer). Stuart and Revett's original intention was to issue a 3-volume work based around a series of accurate measured drawings of the antiquities of Athens and its environs - a work that was going to take no more than four years to complete. The two artists arrived in Athens on 18 March 1751 and did not return to England until 27 October 1754. Revett quickly lost interest, and it was not until January 1763 that the first volume was published. The second volume took even longer: when Stuart died in 1788, volume II was unfinished, even though a title-page dated 1787 had been printed. The subsequent enthusiasm of the Society of Dilettanti allowed the project to continue and volume III appeared in 1794, thus completing a project that had begun over 50 years earlier. Both volumes IV and V are essentially supplements: vol.IV was issued by Josiah Taylor who had acquired all of Stuart's papers, and was thus able to offer plates of the Parthenon sculptures (the "Elgin marbles") at a time when their sale to the nation had just been completed. The final volume was published in 1830. Blackmer 1617; Brunet V, 570; Cicognara 2713; Fowler 340; Harris 857; Millard British 81.