Frustrated by what he saw as the over-grooming prevalent in British landscape gardening and associated with the work of Capability Brown, Uvedale Price (1747 1829) published this essay in 1794. He emphasises here the importance of naturalism and harmony with the surrounding environment. Providing examples of how certain features in a garden may be improved through adherence to picturesque principles, Price seeks to apply the lessons of landscape painting to the practice of landscape gardening. He also stresses the importance of paying attention to changing light and the effect of shadow. The...

Clergyman, schoolmaster and writer on aesthetics, William Gilpin (1724 1804) is best known for his works on the picturesque. In his Essay on Prints, published in 1768 and reissued in this series, he defined picturesque as 'a term expressive of that peculiar kind of beauty, which is agreeable in a picture'. First published in 1789, this two-volume work forms part of a series which records his reflections on the picturesque across British landscapes. It traces the journey he made in 1776, equipped with notebook and sketching materials, exploring the landscape of the Scottish Highlands via...

Clergyman, schoolmaster and writer on aesthetics, William Gilpin (1724 1804) is best known for his works on the picturesque. In his Essay on Prints, published in 1768 and reissued in this series, he defined picturesque as 'a term expressive of that peculiar kind of beauty, which is agreeable in a picture'. First published in 1789, this two-volume work forms part of a series which records his reflections on the picturesque across British landscapes. It traces the journey he made in 1776, equipped with notebook and sketching materials, exploring the landscape of the Scottish Highlands via...

Clergyman, schoolmaster and writer on aesthetics, William Gilpin (1724 1804) is best known for his works on the picturesque. In his Essay on Prints, published in 1768 and reissued in this series, he defined picturesque as 'a term expressive of that peculiar kind of beauty, which is agreeable in a picture'. First published in 1809, the present work is one of a series which records his reflections on the picturesque across British landscapes. It traces two journeys he made equipped with notebook and sketching materials: the first in 1769 across East Anglia, and the second in 1773 from Anglesey...

In 1794, Uvedale Price (1747 1829) published his seminal essay on the application of techniques found in landscape painting to the art of landscape gardening. Considered by many to be the successor to Capability Brown, whose approach to landscape design was rejected in no uncertain terms by Price and his followers, Humphry Repton (1752 1818) wrote a letter to Price, with whom he had previously enjoyed good relations, in which he contested certain points in the essay - in particular the necessity of adhering so closely to the principles of landscape painting in the creation of a garden. This...

With a fondness for classical antiquities and neoclassical design, the connoisseur Thomas Hope (1769 1831) sought to influence Georgian taste by promoting informed interior decoration, displaying his own considerable art collection, and writing with insight on aesthetic topics. This two-volume work, originally published posthumously in 1835, traces the evolution of Western architecture since antiquity. Hope was a keen traveller, and the examples he cites are drawn from buildings that he studied on journeys through Europe and beyond, notably in those countries bordering the Mediterranean....

First published in 1909, this illustrated study considers the work of the artist and satirist William Hogarth (1697 1764), focusing on his depiction of London and its inhabitants. A devoted Londoner, Hogarth won great acclaim in his lifetime for the wit displayed in his many paintings and engravings. His work explored the many facets of London life, from the highest to the lowest social classes, from scenes of politics and business to churches, hospitals and prisons. Bibliographer, editor and prolific author, Henry Benjamin Wheatley (1838 1917) places Hogarth's work in the context of the...

After the success of his richly illustrated Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture (1833), which is also reissued in this series, the landscape gardener John Claudius Loudon (1783 1843) received a great deal of correspondence from interested readers. This prompted him and the Encyclopaedia's contributors to publish this supplement in 1842. Loudon and his colleagues had continued to study a range of rural buildings - from homes to farms and schools - in England and Scotland, while at the same time receiving architectural designs and detailed letters from North...

This two-volume posthumous edition of the writings on art of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723 92), one of the greatest of eighteenth-century artists and the first president of the Royal Academy, was published in 1797. It is prefaced by a short biography of Reynolds by his friend, the Shakespearean critic Edmond Malone (1741 1812), which includes a list of Reynolds' paintings with their sale prices, when known. Reynolds took his role as president and fellow of the Royal Academy very seriously, delivering fifteen 'discourses' to the fellows and students of the Academy, which are collected in Volume 1,...

This two-volume posthumous edition of the writings on art of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723 92), one of the greatest of eighteenth-century artists and the first president of the Royal Academy, was published in 1797. Volume 2 contains his previously unpublished Journey to Flanders and Holland, which describes and comments on the paintings Reynolds examined on a two-month tour in Europe in 1781. (He visited galleries in Dusseldorf, Cologne and Aachen as well as the Low Counties.) This is followed by a long Latin poem on the art of painting, by the French artist Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy (1611 68),...