Born in Edinburgh, Daniel Wilson (1816 92) initially pursued an artistic career and spent time in Turner's studio. However, in 1846 he became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and devoted the rest of his life to archaeology, anthropology and university administration. He was active in the Society's attempts to save historic buildings in Edinburgh, and the city's built environment was the subject of this two-volume 1848 work, which is illustrated with engravings after his own drawings. In Volume 2, Wilson continues to cover local antiquities and traditions, with each chapter...

The foremost neoclassical sculptor of his age, Antonio Canova (1757 1822) is best known for his masterpiece The Three Graces, embodying in marble an ideal of feminine beauty. Descended from stonecutters, Canova was apprenticed to the sculptor Giuseppe Bernardi, quickly establishing his reputation for originality through works such as Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss. The idealism of his art, moving away from ornate baroque style, did much to increase the popularity of contemporary sculpture, and his skills were greatly acclaimed and in demand during his lifetime. The present work, first...

The architect Charles Robert Cockerell (1788 1863) was encouraged to travel at a young age, so that he might draw inspiration from the great works of European architecture. However, when the Napoleonic Wars made parts of the continent inaccessible to Englishmen, his eye was turned towards southern Europe and the Ottoman Empire. This version of the Grand Tour took up seven years, during which he recorded the events in his journals. There his observations would have remained had it not been for the editorial labours of his son, Samuel Pepys Cockerell (1844 1921), who published the present work...

This two-volume 1791 work discusses the picturesque qualities of trees and forest landscapes, and the Hampshire New Forest in particular.

This two-volume 1791 work discusses the picturesque qualities of trees and forest landscapes, and the Hampshire New Forest in particular.

Originally published in 1851, partly with the aim of correcting certain mistakes in painter George Jones's 1849 tribute (also reissued in this series), this work commemorates Norton-born sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey (1781 1841), whose illustrious career began in nearby Sheffield. His most celebrated works include The Sleeping Children in Lichfield Cathedral, his statue of James Watt, and his busts of Sir Walter Scott and John Horne Tooke. An enthusiast for his country's art, Chantrey left a generous bequest to the Royal Academy which allowed for the purchase of numerous works of British art,...

The architect and designer Augustus Welby Pugin (1812 52), whose early commissions included furniture for George IV at Windsor, assured his place in history through his work with Sir Charles Barry on the Palace of Westminster following the 1834 fire. A pivotal figure in Britain's Gothic Revival, he became a Roman Catholic in 1835, combining his religion with his devotion to the medieval in building projects such as Nottingham Cathedral, St George's Cathedral in Southwark, and Mount St Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire. Benjamin Ferrey (1810 80) studied architectural draughtsmanship under...

The novelist and mystic William Sharp (1855 1905) wrote or edited around fifty books, both in his own name and under the pseudonym of Fiona MacLeod. An introduction to Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1881 led to his publishing a study of the poet and artist in the following year. Appointed as London art critic of the Glasgow Herald in 1883, he went on to make many more distinguished acquaintances. Originally published in 1892, this work concerns another keeper of illustrious contacts: Joseph Severn (1793 1879), painter and British consul at Rome, who is best remembered for his close friendship with...

This two-volume life of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723 92) was begun by the Royal Academician Charles Leslie (1794 1859), who had previously published a life of John Constable, also reissued in this series. On Leslie's death, the journalist and dramatist Tom Taylor (1817 80) completed the work, published in 1865. Leslie's motive was that he felt that Reynolds had been unfairly treated by an earlier biography. He aimed to show that Reynolds was 'the genial centre of a most various and brilliant society, as well as the transmitter of its chief figures to our time by his potent art'. One of the...

This two-volume life of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723 92) was begun by the Royal Academician Charles Leslie (1794 1859), who had previously published a life of John Constable, also reissued in this series. On Leslie's death, the journalist and dramatist Tom Taylor (1817 80) completed the work, published in 1865. Leslie's motive was that he felt that Reynolds had been unfairly treated by an earlier biography. He aimed to show that Reynolds was 'the genial centre of a most various and brilliant society, as well as the transmitter of its chief figures to our time by his potent art'. One of the...