[CAMPBELL, Colen]. [and] WOOLFE, John.

Handsome copy of the first edition of ‘the most influential and original British architectural book ever published’ (BAL) – rarely found complete and in such good condition, and with vol.IV extra-illustrated.

Its complex printing history begins in 1717, when vols I-II were published, then reprinted for various publishers until the 1750s, with the engraved titles and plates in various states. These vols were intended as ‘a carefully constructed “parallel” of the best examples of recent British architecture, measured against the works of Inigo Jones, who was “the yardstick by which to judge and compare the productions of all those who had built after him”’ (Millard II, pp.45-63). The plates were mostly designed by the architect Colen Campbell (1676-1729), the ‘father’ of the Georgian style, then in the early stages of his career; they were cut by Henry Hulsbergh and numerous other draughtsmen employed to speed up the process. It remains unclear who oversaw the project, probably the publisher Joseph Smith, in collaboration with Campbell. The inspiration for the project came from sources as varied as Jean Marot’s early C17 survey of major French architecture, Kyp and Kniff’s ‘Britannia illustrata’ (1707) and suites of architectural prints issued by the de’ Rossi family in Rome.

‘The first volume was a great success, due to a combination of the noble and royal patronage it received […], the assistance of the architects themselves, the work’s status as an expression of nationalistic pride […], and the ultimate novelty and “purity” of the images presented’ (BAL). The second vol. was published shortly after. Among the dozens of buildings in the plates, prefaced by minimal letterpress explanation, were St Paul’s Church, the Banqueting House at Whitehall, Queen’s House and the Royal Hospital in Greenwich, Montague House, Wanstead, Powis House, Buckingham House, Blenheim, Castle Howard, Eaton Hall, the Royal Exchange, and Shawfield in Glasgow, as well as planned projects by Campbell, such as a new church at Lincoln’s Inn Fields. In 1725, Smith and Campbell published vol.III – here in its first issue – slightly different in character. ‘[It] contains a very different balance of material. In addition to a group of plates showing elevations and plans of recent British buildings (many designed by Campbell himself), following the pattern of vols I and II, there are also plans of the grounds and gardens of certain houses, as well as picturesque and aerial views’ (BAL). Illustrated buildings include Houghton, Mereworth Castle, Cholmondley, Leyton Grange, Wilton and Cavesham. At the time, Campbell’s ‘star was on the decline’, and he used this publication to ‘reassert his former position by using nearly a third of the plates to present all his executed works’ (Harris, p.144).

 In 1767, the English architects John Woolfe (d.1793) and John Gandon published a continuation or supplement of vols I-III, which they marketed as vol.IV, with the help of the skilled engraver Matthias Darly. Unlike the previous, this vol. was ‘calculated to launch the careers of two young architects’ (BAL), and built on the architect Thomas Milton’s failed attempt at publishing a continuation of ‘Vitruvius Britannicus’, many of Woolfe & Gandon’s engravings being signed by him, only two featuring their own designs. Buildings illustrated in the plates include Rowhampton, Kertlington Park, Mansion House, Kedleston, Fonthill, Cusworth, Woburn and Latham Hall. The additional pl.74 with an elevation of Lady Suffolk’s House at Twickenham, recorded only in one other copy, was ‘evidently prepared by Woolfe for vol.IV, but not used’, probably because ‘it was discovered after it had been engraved that it depicted the same building shown in pl.93 of vol.III’, the current pl.74 being a late addition to fill the gap (BAL, cf. Pagan 21:145).

This copy was in the library of Sir Henry St. John-Mildmay (1787-1848), 4^th Baronet, at Dogmersfield Park. Most of his books were bound by Charles Lewis in London. His namesake son (1810-1902), the 5^th Baronet, inherited the library, eventually sold after his death in 1906.