Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Series
  3. Cambridge Library Collection - Art and Architecture

From the middle of the eighteenth century, with the growth of travel at home and abroad and the increase in leisure for the wealthier classes, the arts became the subject of more widespread appreciation and discussion. The rapid expansion of book and periodical publishing in this area both reflected and encouraged interest in art and art history among the wider reading public. This series throws light on the development of visual culture and aesthetics. It covers topics from the Grand Tour to the great exhibitions of the nineteenth century, and includes art criticism and biography.

Refine search

Refine search

Content type:
Publication date:
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

131 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Art and Architecture

Page 5 of 7

Nollekens and his Times
  • Comprehending a Life of that Celebrated Sculptor, and Memoirs of Several Contemporary Artists
  • Volume 1
  • John Thomas Smith
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    13 February 2014
    First published in:
    1828
  • The sculptor Joseph Nollekens (1737–1823) was famed for his portrait busts of leading figures of his day. While working in Italy in the 1760s, he established contacts among a group of aristocratic British patrons, going on to become London's most fashionable sculptor upon his return to England in 1771. The draughtsman and antiquary John Thomas Smith (1766–1833) had been at one time a pupil of Nollekens. It is believed that this anecdotal two-volume biography, first published in 1828, was written as an act of revenge. Having been promised a considerable legacy in the sculptor's will, Smith was disappointed to receive only an executor's fee. The work contains little analysis concerning the sculptor's art, relating instead much gossip and anecdotes of a personal nature. Nonetheless, it presents a vivid picture of the London art world at that time. Volume 1 concentrates on aspects of Nollekens' character, habits and opinions.

Memoirs of the Life and Works of George Romney
  • Including Various Letters, and Testimonies to his Genius, etc., Also, Some Particulars of the Life of Peter Romney, his Brother
  • John Romney
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    05 September 2013
  • Written by his son John Romney (1757–1832) and published in 1830, nearly three decades after the artist's death, this collection of anecdotes and biographical episodes traces the extraordinary career of George Romney (1734–1802), highlighting his early training as a joiner in the family firm, his artistic education at the hands of the disreputable Christopher Steele, and his eventual fame as a portraitist of fashionable London. Recollections of personal and professional encounters with such influential figures as Laurence Sterne and Richard Payne Knight provide insights into the circumstances that inspired Romney's most famous works. Including an engraving of his self-portrait of c.1784, a section on his brother and fellow painter Peter Romney (1743–77), and a list of the designs and studies which were donated in 1817 to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, this work reveals much about the eighteenth-century art world, its patrons and its pitfalls.

The Life and Letters of Joseph Severn
  • William Sharp
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    04 July 2013
    First published in:
    1892
  • 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 John Keats. As biographer, Sharp utilises Severn's vast though occasionally inconsistent correspondence, tracing his life from his youth, through his years of intimacy with Keats, to his death and eventual burial at the great poet's side.

Vorschule der Aesthetik
  • Volume 2
  • Gustav Theodor Fechner
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    29 August 2013
  • Although Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801–87) had studied medicine at the University of Leipzig, he never practised as a doctor. In the 1820s he published satirical evaluations of the medical science of the day under the pseudonym 'Dr Mises' and supplemented his income by translating chemistry and physics texts. Increasingly he focused his studies on mathematics and physics, and the physical and physiological became recurrent themes in his work. With the publication of his Elemente der Psychophysik (1860), Fechner not only established the foundations of psychophysics as a field of research, but also pioneered much experimental psychology. This two-volume second edition of his 1876 work on the principles of aesthetics was published in 1897–8. In Volume 2, Fechner uses the principles that he established in Volume 1 and applies these in the analysis of different works of art.

Observations on Several Parts of the Counties of Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex
  • Also on Several Parts of North Wales, Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, in Two Tours, the Former Made in the Year 1769, the Latter in the Year 1773
  • William Gilpin
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    02 January 2014
  • 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 south-east to Shrewsbury. He describes his impression of notable sites such as Cambridge, Houghton Hall and its art collection, Beaumaris Castle and Snowdon, and includes reproductions of his pen-and-wash drawings. The companion volumes of Observations on other parts of Britain are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.

Correspondence and Table-Talk
  • With a Memoir by his Son
  • Volume 1
  • Benjamin Robert Haydon
  • Edited by Frederick Wordsworth Haydon
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
  • Artist, diarist, and devotee of the Elgin Marbles, Benjamin Robert Haydon (1786–1846) is best known for his large-scale paintings, such as Christ's Entry into Jerusalem and The Raising of Lazarus. After he entered the Royal Academy in 1805 as a student of Henry Fuseli, his forthright views and combative manner fuelled a feud with the institution and perceived enemies. His unshakeable belief in his own genius and his unwillingness to compromise his artistic standards drew him ever further into debt, which ultimately contributed to his suicide. As a writer, Haydon's acute eye for the humorous is demonstrated throughout his correspondence and diary. In this two-volume work, first published in 1876, his son Frederick Wordsworth Haydon (1827–86) brings together letters and extracts from his father's journals. Volume 1 opens with Frederick's biography of his father, followed by general correspondence to and from many eminent figures of the age.

An Essay on the Picturesque, as Compared with the Sublime and the Beautiful
  • And, on the Use of Studying Pictures, for the Purpose of Improving Real Landscape
  • Uvedale Price
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    02 January 2014
  • 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 essay appeared in the same year as 'The Landscape', a didactic poem by Richard Payne Knight (1751–1824), which was addressed to Price and is included at the end of this reissue. Price's Letter to H. Repton, Esq., a supplement to his essay, is reissued separately in this series in its 1798 edition.

A Letter to H. Repton, Esq., on the Application of the Practice as Well as the Principles of Landscape-Painting to Landscape-Gardening
  • Intended as a Supplement to the Essay on the Picturesque
  • Uvedale Price
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    23 January 2014
  • 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 reissue is of the 1798 second edition of Price's reply to Repton's criticisms, and forms a supplement to Price's essay of 1794 (also reissued in this series). Repton's original letter is included at the beginning of the text.

Vorschule der Aesthetik
  • Volume 1
  • Gustav Theodor Fechner
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    29 August 2013
  • Although Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801–87) had studied medicine at the University of Leipzig, he never practised as a doctor. In the 1820s he published satirical evaluations of the medical science of the day under the pseudonym 'Dr Mises' and supplemented his income by translating chemistry and physics texts. Increasingly he focused his studies on mathematics and physics, and the physical and physiological became recurrent themes in his work. With the publication of his Elemente der Psychophysik (1860), Fechner not only established the foundations of psychophysics as a field of research, but also pioneered much experimental psychology. This two-volume second edition of his 1876 work on the principles of aesthetics was published in 1897–8. In Volume 1, Fechner identifies new experimental methods while advocating the inductive study of 'aesthetics from below'.

The Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Ll.D., F.R.S., F.S.A., etc., Late President of the Royal Academy
  • Comprising Original Anecdotes of Many Distinguished Persons, his Contemporaries, and a Brief Analysis of his Discourses
  • Volume 1
  • James Northcote
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
    First published in:
    1818
  • A fellow Devonian, James Northcote (1746–1831) was an admirer and pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose two-volume biography he published in 1813–15. Reissued here is the 'revised and augmented' second edition of 1818. Northcote is self-deprecating as to his fitness for the task, but claims that a worthy biography of a great artist can be written only by another artist, and his close personal knowledge of his subject and the circle in which Reynolds moved gives him insights, as well as providing anecdotes, which would not be available to a more 'professional' author. Volume 1 covers the first fifty years of Reynolds' life, and includes accounts of Reynolds' development as an artist, his growing fame, the founding of the Royal Academy and the first six of his Discourses on Art (also reissued in this series), which Northcote defends against claims that they were not written by Reynolds himself.

Observations, Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, Made in the Year 1772, on Several Parts of England
  • Particularly the Mountains, and Lakes of Cumberland, and Westmoreland
  • Volume 2
  • William Gilpin
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    21 November 2013
  • 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 1786, this two-volume work formed part of a successful series which recorded his reflections on the picturesque across British landscapes. It traces the journey he made in 1772, equipped with notebook and sketching materials, in the Lake District. Continuing to describe his route and its highlights, Volume 2 includes discussion of parts of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire as well as the Lakes. The volume also features several reproductions of Gilpin's pen-and-wash drawings. Further exploring the concept of the picturesque, his volumes of Observations on other parts of Britain are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.

The True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture
  • Set Forth in Two Lectures Delivered at St Marie's, Oscott
  • Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    13 February 2014
  • Among the most influential figures of the Gothic Revival in nineteenth-century Britain, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812–52) distinguished himself as an architect, author and interior designer. His illustrated lectures on ecclesiastical design were first published in 1841 and are reissued here with An Apology for the Revival of Christian Architecture in England (1843). Reflecting the influence of the author's conversion to Catholicism, the works discuss a range of architectural features, their functions and where they should be implemented. Pugin also outlines, with some amusement, the dangers of executing designs that do not follow his principles. The highly detailed illustrations are drawn with an architect's precision, showing both realised and unrealised designs. Contrasts (revised second edition, 1841), Pugin's most famous work, is also reissued in this series. Together, these publications remain essential reading for those seeking to understand the growth of the Gothic Revival.

An Essay upon Prints
  • Containing Remarks upon the Principles of Picturesque Beauty
  • William Gilpin
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
  • Clergyman, schoolmaster and writer on aesthetics, William Gilpin (1724–1804) is best known for his works on the picturesque. His approach as a teacher was enlightened: during his time as headmaster of Cheam School, his aim was to prepare his pupils for life. Moving in 1777 to become vicar of Boldre, Hampshire, where he remained for the rest of his life, he was able to endow two schools there with income from his successful writings. This knowledgeable appraisal of the print as an art form, and of its foremost practitioners, was first published anonymously in 1768 to positive reviews. It defines picturesque as 'a term expressive of that peculiar kind of beauty, which is agreeable in a picture'. Gilpin further developed and explored the concept in his volumes of Observations on various parts of Britain, which are also reissued in this series.

Karamania
  • Or, A Brief Description of the South Coast of Asia-Minor and of the Remains of Antiquity
  • Francis Beaufort
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    02 January 2014
  • Remembered for devising the measure of wind speed that bears his name, the naval officer and hydrographer Sir Francis Beaufort (1774–1857) also had a hand in the production of more than a thousand nautical charts over the course of his career. In 1810 he had been appointed to command the frigate Frederikssteen by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. His mission was to explore 'Karamania', a contemporary European term for the shores of southern Turkey. For two years Beaufort charted the coastline and investigated its classical ruins before his work was brought to an end in 1812 by a Turkish attack which left him wounded. Returning to England, Beaufort set about drawing up the charts of his survey and documenting his findings, publishing this work in 1817, complete with engraved maps and plates. Experts and laypeople received the book favourably, as it shed much light on an underexplored region.

Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones
  • Volume 1, 1833–1867
  • Georgiana Burne-Jones
  • Published online:
    05 September 2014
    Print publication:
    11 October 2012
    First published in:
    1904
  • Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833–98) emerged from a solitary, motherless childhood to form close friendships with William Morris and such other luminaries of the Victorian art world as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Ruskin. A second generation Pre-Raphaelite and founder member of the Morris firm, he was influential in many areas, from painting, stained glass and tapestry design to book illustration. His later work, including such iconic paintings as The Wheel of Fortune, The Golden Stairs (which caused a sensation when exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery) and The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon, influenced and exemplified the Aesthetic Movement, and inspired the European Symbolists. His wife, Georgiana Burne-Jones (1840–1920), published this engaging two-volume biography in 1904. Volume 1 describes his formative years, important early relationships, projects such as the murals for the Oxford Union debating chamber, and his arrival at full maturity with the St George series of 1865–7.

Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones
  • Volume 2, 1868–1898
  • Georgiana Burne-Jones
  • Published online:
    05 September 2014
    Print publication:
    11 October 2012
    First published in:
    1904
  • Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833–98) emerged from a solitary, motherless childhood to form close friendships with William Morris and such other luminaries of the Victorian art world as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Ruskin. A second generation Pre-Raphaelite and founder member of the Morris firm, he was influential in many areas, from painting, stained glass and tapestry design to book illustration. His later work, including such iconic paintings as The Wheel of Fortune, The Golden Stairs (which caused a sensation when exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery) and The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon, influenced and exemplified the Aesthetic Movement, and inspired the European Symbolists. His wife, Georgiana Burne-Jones (1840–1920), published this engaging two-volume biography in 1904. Volume 2 hints at the emotional turmoil behind paintings like Love Among the Ruins, reveals the impact of his visits to Italy, and usefully contextualises the haunting masterpieces of his later years.

The Life of J. M. W. Turner
  • Founded on Letters and Papers Furnished by his Friends and Fellow Academicians
  • Volume 2
  • Walter Thornbury
  • Published online:
    05 August 2014
    Print publication:
    14 February 2013
    First published in:
    1862
  • This pioneering two-volume biography, first published in 1862, explores the genius of the groundbreaking Romantic landscape and historical painter J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851). As both journalist and historian, author Walter Thornbury (1828–76) has a light touch, yet he draws on a wide range of correspondence, sketchbooks, watercolours and etchings to give a detailed picture of Turner's artistic development and connections, and his increasingly eccentric character. Volume 2 fills out the record by detailing the artist's relationships with patrons such as Lord Egremont of Petworth House, and such fellow Royal Academicians as the sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey. Among the topics covered here are Turner's love of poetry, dealings with buyers, miserliness (or otherwise), the tailing off of his powers, and his final mysterious metamorphosis into 'Admiral Booth'. Advised by Ruskin not to try to 'mask the dark side' of his subject, Thornbury presents a rounded but still admiring picture of his hero.

Memoirs of the Life of John Constable, Esq., R.A.
  • Composed Chiefly of his Letters
  • Edited by Charles Robert Leslie
  • John Constable
  • Published online:
    05 August 2014
    Print publication:
    06 May 2013
    First published in:
    1845
  • First published in 1843 and reissued here in its expanded second edition of 1845, this biography represents an early and informed portrait of the prolific landscape artist and draughtsman John Constable (1776–1837). An upbringing in the East Anglian countryside and his first sighting of a painting by Claude Lorrain inspired his lifelong dedication to capturing scenes from nature, reflected in early works such as Dedham Vale (1802) and in his mature masterpieces, notably The Hay Wain (1821). Prepared by Charles Robert Leslie (1794–1859), a close friend and fellow member of the Royal Academy, this work is based principally on his collection of Constable's letters and papers, drawing also on friends' accounts of the artist. Illuminating his relationship with Maria Bicknell and the influence of early mentor Sir George Beaumont, the book details the development of Constable's career, revealing the nature of his opinions and anxieties.

The Life of J. M. W. Turner
  • Founded on Letters and Papers Furnished by his Friends and Fellow Academicians
  • Volume 1
  • Walter Thornbury
  • Published online:
    05 August 2014
    Print publication:
    14 February 2013
    First published in:
    1862
  • This pioneering two-volume biography, first published in 1862, explores the genius of the groundbreaking Romantic landscape and historical painter J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851). As both journalist and historian, author Walter Thornbury (1828–76) has a light touch, yet he draws on a wide range of correspondence, sketchbooks, watercolours and etchings to give a detailed picture of Turner's artistic development and connections, and his increasingly eccentric character. Volume 1 traces the artist's progress from humble cockney beginnings, through youthful friendship and rivalry with Thomas Girtin and a stint as a drawing-master, to his establishment as a Royal Academician at the heart of the nineteenth-century art world. Thornbury sees Turner from all angles, covering his travels at home and abroad, his watercolour and printmaking techniques, his love of sea and sky and colour gradations, and even his fraught monetary dealings. The author also fully contextualises great works like Ulysses Deriding Polythemus and The Fighting Temeraire.

The Bewick Collector
  • A Supplement to a Descriptive Catalogue of the Works of Thomas and John Bewick
  • Volume 2
  • Thomas Hugo
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    18 April 2013
    First published in:
    1868
  • The names of Thomas Bewick (1753–1828) and his brother John (1760–1795) are synonymous with beautiful, delicate and accurate woodcuts of the natural world. Their instantly recognisable style was to influence book illustration well into the nineteenth century. The antiquary and print collector Thomas Hugo (1820–76), best known as a collector of Bewick woodcuts, first published this two-volume catalogue of his extensive collection in 1866–8. It has since emerged that many of the items sourced from printers' offices and booksellers across the country - including Thomas Bewick's own publisher, Emerson Charnley - cannot be authenticated as the Bewicks' work. The collection was nonetheless a remarkable assemblage of valuable materials, including uncut first editions, woodblocks, handbills and broadsides (all regrettably dispersed after Hugo's death) which might otherwise have been lost. Lavishly illustrated throughout, this volume is the 1868 supplement to the catalogue.

Page 5 of 7