Sir William Hamilton personified the age of the Enlightenment - a collector and connoisseur, amateur scientist and archaeologist, vulcanologist, anthropologist and above all a gentleman of taste and intellectual curiosity - and in Naples, one of the most fascinating stations on the Grand Tour, he had found his ideal setting.
As King George III's ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764-1800, Sir William was witness to some pivotal events in European history. The Hamilton Letters is the first collection of his complete correspondence with the English court between 1797 and 1799. It...