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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.

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131 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Art and Architecture

Page 1 of 7

Souvenirs of Madame Vigée Le Brun
  • Volume 2
  • Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    12 November 2015
    First published in:
    1879
  • The most accomplished female painter of her age, Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (1755–1842) is best remembered for her many portraits of Queen Marie Antoinette of France. Her two-volume autobiography was published in France in 1835–7, and this English version (of which the translator is unknown) in 1879. It begins with a series of letters to a Russian friend, Princess Kourakin, describing her family and early life, her artistic training, and her rise to the position of portraitist to the queen. The letters end with the Revolution and Vigée-Lebrun's flight abroad: the 'souvenirs' which follow describe her years of exile and her eventual return to France. Throughout her life, she supported herself and her family by her painting. Volume 2 recounts her extended stay in Russia, where she painted many of the aristocracy, a brief return to Paris, a visit to England, and her final return to France.

An Autobiography
  • Elizabeth Butler
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    27 April 2015
    First published in:
    1922
  • The young Elizabeth Butler (née Thompson, 1846–1933) and her sister, the poet Alice Meynell, were educated at home by their wealthy father, and much of their childhood was spent in Italy. Elizabeth began to train as an artist at the Female School of Art, South Kensington, in 1866. She became famous for her work in the genre (unusual for a woman) of military art, one of her best known paintings being The Roll Call, an imagined incident from the Crimea. She took great trouble to ensure the accuracy of the detail of regimental uniform, and her depiction of the bravery and stoicism of the 'ordinary British soldier' was much appreciated in the late nineteenth century. This brisk and amusing 1922 autobiography, illustrated with her own sketches, takes the reader from her childhood through her artistic success to her life as the wife of a soldier and the mother of five children.

Souvenirs of Madame Vigée Le Brun
  • Volume 1
  • Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    12 November 2015
    First published in:
    1879
  • The most accomplished female painter of her age, Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (1755–1842) is best remembered for her many portraits of Queen Marie Antoinette of France. Her two-volume autobiography was published in France in 1835–7, and this English version (of which the translator is unknown) in 1879. It begins with a series of ten letters to a Russian friend, Princess Kourakin, describing her family and early life, her artistic training, and her rise to the position of portraitist to the queen. The letters end with the Revolution and Vigée-Lebrun's flight abroad: the 'souvenirs' which follow describe her years of exile and her eventual return to France. Throughout her life, she supported herself and her family by her painting. Volume 1 ends with her staying in Austria, after a tour of the cities of Italy, during which she studied art as well as participating in the life of high society.

The Architecture of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
  • In Ten Books
  • Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
  • Translated by Joseph Gwilt
  • Published online:
    05 October 2015
    Print publication:
    02 July 2015
    First published in:
    1826
  • Active in the first century BCE, Marcus Vitruvius Pollio wrote his influential architectural treatise in ten books. It remained the standard manual for architects into the medieval period. The topics which Vitruvius considered essential are diverse, including aspects of design as well as geometry and engineering. In the nineteenth century, the English architect and author Joseph Gwilt (1784–1863) won greater acclaim for the books he published than for the buildings he designed. His most celebrated achievement, The Encyclopaedia of Architecture (1842), is also reissued in this series. Gwilt's one-volume translation of Vitruvius's Latin text was first published in 1826. Supplanting previous versions, this work was long regarded as the standard edition in English. It contains a brief life of Vitruvius as well as an annotated list of previous editions since the fifteenth century. A number of detailed illustrative plates accompany the text.

Treasures of Art in Great Britain
  • Being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss.
  • Volume 3
  • Gustav Friedrich Waagen
  • Edited and translated by Elizabeth Eastlake
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    02 April 2015
    First published in:
    1854
  • This four-volume work by Gustav Friedrich Waagen (1794–1868), edited and translated by Lady Eastlake (1809–93), was published between 1854 and 1857. As Waagen explains in his preface to the first volume, he had previously published an account of his experiences on his first visit to Britain in 1835, but this new and longer work was addressed primarily to a British audience. It also differs in that the earlier work was more of a general travelogue, whereas these volumes, after an introductory essay, provide a more detailed catalogue - albeit in epistolary form - of works of art in public and private collections. Waagen was crucial to the adoption in Britain of the new approach to art history pioneered by German scholars, and his work is still consulted on matters of provenance and quality. Volume 3 describes collections in stately homes, museums and public galleries outside London.

The Life of Sir David Wilkie
  • With his Journals, Tours, and Critical Remarks on Works of Art
  • Volume 3
  • Allan Cunningham
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    26 March 2015
    First published in:
    1843
  • Sir David Wilkie (1785–1841) is often called the first truly international British artist. This three-volume biography, published in 1843, two years after Wilkie's sudden death while on a tour of the Mediterranean, and containing extracts from his journals and letters, remains an indispensable source for his life and works. Born in Scotland, Wilkie became a student at the Royal Academy in 1805, and in the following years the uncompromising realism of his scenes from rural life made his name known and attracted royal patronage: he was appointed 'the King's Limner in Scotland' by George IV. This work was compiled by his friend, the poet and critic Allan Cunningham (1784–1842), who himself died shortly after correcting the proofs: it was seen through the press by his son. Volume 3 continues the narrative from 1828, through Wilkie's appointment as the King's Painter in Ordinary in 1830, to his early death.

Treasures of Art in Great Britain
  • Being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss.
  • Volume 4, Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain
  • Gustav Friedrich Waagen
  • Edited and translated by Elizabeth Eastlake
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    02 April 2015
    First published in:
    1857
  • This four-volume work by Gustav Friedrich Waagen (1794–1868), edited and translated by Lady Eastlake (1809–93), was published between 1854 and 1857. As Waagen explains in his preface, he had previously published an account of his experiences on his first visit to Britain in 1835, but this new and longer work was addressed primarily to a British audience. It also differs in that the earlier work was more of a general travelogue, whereas these volumes provide a more detailed catalogue - albeit in epistolary form - of works of art in public and private collections. Waagen was crucial to the adoption in Britain of the new approach to art history pioneered by German scholars, and his work is still consulted on matters of provenance. Volume 4 is a supplement describing more works in the British Museum and National Gallery, as well as private collections including that of the Prince Consort.

The Life of Sir David Wilkie
  • With his Journals, Tours, and Critical Remarks on Works of Art
  • Volume 1
  • Allan Cunningham
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    26 March 2015
    First published in:
    1843
  • Sir David Wilkie (1785–1841) is often called the first truly international British artist. This three-volume biography, published in 1843, two years after Wilkie's sudden death while on a tour of the Mediterranean, and containing extracts from his journals and letters, remains an indispensable source for his life and works. Born in Scotland, Wilkie became a student at the Royal Academy in 1805, and in the following years the uncompromising realism of his scenes from rural life made his name known and attracted royal patronage: he was appointed 'the King's Limner in Scotland' by George IV. This work was compiled by his friend, the poet and critic Allan Cunningham (1784–1842), who himself died shortly after correcting the proofs: it was seen through the press by his son. Volume 1 traces Wilkie's life from his childhood, through student days, to his visit to Sir Walter Scott at Abbotsford 1817.

Palissy the Potter
  • The Life of Bernard Palissy, of Saintes, his Labours and Discoveries in Art and Science
  • Volume 2
  • Henry Morley
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    02 April 2015
    First published in:
    1852
  • This two-volume biography of the sixteenth-century French potter and natural scientist Bernard Palissy (c.1510–c.1590) was published in 1852, the year after the Great Exhibition, in which Palissy's extraordinary art had been brought before the Victorian public by Minton's highly decorated 'Palissy wares'. Henry Morley (1822–94) trained in medicine but later became an author and editor, writing for Charles Dickens among others. Here he gathers together all the material then available about Palissy, including the potter's own writings and a contemporary biography. Palissy was among the many European ceramicists who attempted to reproduce Chinese porcelain; his lack of success drove his family into poverty, but his highly ornamented wares, encrusted with sea creatures, came to the attention of Catherine de' Medici, who gave him her patronage and protection (he was a convinced Protestant). After her death he was sent to the Bastille, and died there.

The Life of Sir David Wilkie
  • With his Journals, Tours, and Critical Remarks on Works of Art
  • Volume 2
  • Allan Cunningham
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    26 March 2015
    First published in:
    1843
  • Sir David Wilkie (1785–1841) is often called the first truly international British artist. This three-volume biography, published in 1843, two years after Wilkie's sudden death while on a tour of the Mediterranean, and containing extracts from his journals and letters, remains an indispensable source for his life and works. Born in Scotland, Wilkie became a student at the Royal Academy in 1805, and in the following years the uncompromising realism of his scenes from rural life made his name known and attracted royal patronage: he was appointed 'the King's Limner in Scotland' by George IV. This work was compiled by his friend, the poet and critic Allan Cunningham (1784–1842), who himself died shortly after correcting the proofs: it was seen through the press by his son. Volume 2 follows Wilkie's life from 1817 to his extended study tour of Europe in 1828.

Treasures of Art in Great Britain
  • Being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss.
  • Volume 1
  • Gustav Friedrich Waagen
  • Edited and translated by Elizabeth Eastlake
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    02 April 2015
    First published in:
    1854
  • This four-volume work by Gustav Friedrich Waagen (1794–1868), edited and translated by Lady Eastlake (1809–93), was published between 1854 and 1857. As Waagen explains in his preface, he had previously published an account of his experiences on his first visit to Britain in 1835, but this new and longer work was addressed primarily to a British audience. It also differs in that the earlier work was more of a general travelogue, whereas these volumes provide a more detailed catalogue - albeit in epistolary form - of works of art in public and private collections. Waagen was crucial to the adoption in Britain of the new approach to art history pioneered by German scholars, and his work is still consulted on matters of provenance. After an essay on the history of art collecting in Britain, Volume 1 describes the treasures of the British Museum, the National Gallery and the Royal Academy.

Treasures of Art in Great Britain
  • Being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss.
  • Volume 2
  • Gustav Friedrich Waagen
  • Edited and translated by Elizabeth Eastlake
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    02 April 2015
    First published in:
    1854
  • This four-volume work by Gustav Friedrich Waagen (1794–1868), edited and translated by Lady Eastlake (1809–93), was published between 1854 and 1857. As Waagen explains in his preface to the first volume, he had previously published an account of his experiences on his first visit to Britain in 1835, but this new and longer work was addressed primarily to a British audience. It also differs in that the earlier work was more of a general travelogue, whereas these volumes, after an introductory essay, provide a more detailed catalogue - albeit in epistolary form - of works of art in public and private collections. Waagen was crucial to the adoption in Britain of the new approach to art history pioneered by German scholars, and his work is still consulted on matters of provenance and quality. Volume 2 describes the artworks in Buckingham Palace, Apsley House and other private collections in London.

Goethe's Theory of Colours
  • Translated from the German, with Notes
  • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  • Translated by Charles Lock Eastlake
  • Published online:
    05 July 2015
    Print publication:
    02 October 2014
    First published in:
    1840
  • This work by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) was translated into English in 1840 by Sir Charles Eastlake (1793–1865), painter and later keeper of the National Gallery. Goethe's 1810 work was rejected by many contemporary scientists because it appeared to contradict the physical laws laid down by Newton. However, its focus on the human perception of the colour spectrum, as opposed to the observable optical phenomenon, was attractive to, and influential upon, artists and philosophers. As Eastlake says in his preface, the work's dismissal on scientific grounds had caused 'a well-arranged mass of observations and experiments, many of which are important and interesting', to be overlooked. Eastlake also puts Goethe's work into its aesthetic and scientific context and describes its original reception. His clear translation of Goethe's observations and experiments on colour and light will appeal to anyone interested in our responses to art.

Memoir of Gabriel Beranger, and his Labours in the Cause of Irish Art and Antiquities, from 1760 to 1780
  • William Robert Wilde
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 2015
    First published in:
    1880
  • Sir William Wilde (1815–76), surgeon and father of Oscar Wilde, was an Irish patriot and antiquarian with a keen interest in the history of his country. This life of Gabriel Beranger (1729–1817), published in 1880, describes the activities of an Irish antiquarian in the eighteenth century. Born in Rotterdam, the Huguenot Beranger moved to Dublin in 1750 and opened a print shop. Historical pursuits were becoming popular in Dublin society at the time, and Beranger's sketches of ruins and monuments found great popularity. He went on several tours of Ireland, keeping a journal of his observations and the people he encountered, while making plans and drawings of antiquities with a view to later publication. Wilde's work, drawn from Beranger's journal and from the memories of people who had known him in his old age, offers an engaging insight into early antiquarian practice in Ireland.

An Artist's Reminiscences
  • Walter Crane
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    11 December 2014
    First published in:
    1907
  • Walter Crane (1845–1915) is best remembered today as the illustrator of whimsical stories for children, but in fact he worked in many styles and genres throughout his life. The son of a painter, he was apprenticed to a wood engraver at the age of thirteen, and his father died shortly afterwards. By the time his apprenticeship was completed, Crane was painting as well as engraving, and joined the circle of the Pre-Raphaelites, being especially influenced by the politics of William Morris and the aesthetics of the Arts and Crafts movement. This highly illustrated 1907 autobiography traces his life from his childhood in Torquay through the difficult period following his father's death to his success as an illustrator and decorative artist, describing work, politics and travel. Crane may have felt that he was not given recognition as a serious painter, but this engaging account of a happy life does not show it.

Palissy the Potter
  • The Life of Bernard Palissy, of Saintes, his Labours and Discoveries in Art and Science
  • Volume 1
  • Henry Morley
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    02 April 2015
    First published in:
    1852
  • This two-volume biography of the sixteenth-century French potter and natural scientist Bernard Palissy (c.1510–c.1590) was published in 1852, the year after the Great Exhibition, in which Palissy's extraordinary art had been brought before the Victorian public by Minton's highly decorated 'Palissy wares'. Henry Morley (1822–94) trained in medicine but later became an author and editor, writing for Charles Dickens among others. Here he gathers together all the material then available about Palissy, including the potter's own writings and a contemporary biography. Palissy was among the many European ceramicists who attempted to reproduce Chinese porcelain; his lack of success drove his family into poverty, but his highly ornamented wares, encrusted with sea creatures, came to the attention of Catherine de' Medici, who gave him her patronage and protection (he was a convinced Protestant). After her death he was sent to the Bastille, and died there.

Memoirs of the Life and Works of Sir Christopher Wren
  • With a Brief View of the Progress of Architecture in England, from the Beginning of the Reign of Charles the First to the End of the Seventeenth Century
  • James Elmes
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    05 March 2015
    First published in:
    1823
  • James Elmes (1782–1862), the son of a builder, trained at the Royal Academy Schools as an architectural designer, but his career encompassed publishing and writing on architecture as well. A friend of Benjamin Robert Haydon and his circle, he was the first publisher (in his Annals of Fine Arts) of Keats' most famous odes. This work - the first biography of Wren - was published in 1823, and is dedicated to the President and Fellows of the Royal Society, of which Wren was a founder member in 1660. Elmes based his work on the so-called 'Parentalia', or notes on the Wren family compiled by his son (also Christopher), and privately printed by his grandson Stephen in 1750. Elmes puts Wren's life and works into the context of the intellectual ferment of Restoration England, and combines the narrative of Wren's life with an architectural commentary on his most important works.

Seven Discourses Delivered in the Royal Academy by the President
  • Joshua Reynolds
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    11 December 2014
    First published in:
    1778
  • As well as being the most distinguished painter of his generation, Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–92) was also the author of several works of art criticism and guides for artists, some of which originated as lectures delivered to the students of the Royal Academy by him as their founding president. This work, first published in 1778, collects six of the addresses given to the Academy on 'Prize Day', between 1769 and 1776, prefaced with the first address by Reynolds to his fellow artists of the newly founded institution in 1769. Each discourse was later printed and distributed to those present at Reynolds' expense. They present his views of the purpose of art, and in particular the necessity of intellectual dignity in what he calls the 'great style' of the Florentine Renaissance masters. The discourses also demonstrate his wide reading among the aesthetic theorists of his own and earlier ages.

The Woodcutters of the Netherlands in the Fifteenth Century
  • In Three Parts
  • William Martin Conway
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    12 March 2015
    First published in:
    1884
  • Sir William Martin Conway (1856–1937), well known as an alpinist (his The Alps from End to End is also reissued in this series), was by profession an art historian. Supported by Henry Bradshaw of the University of Cambridge, he pursued his interest in the woodcuts and early printed books of the Low Countries, publishing this work in 1884. The study considers both prints and books, noting instances of the reuse of the same blocks in different works by different printers. The first part surveys the craftsmen (many of whom are anonymous) by town, and the second is a comprehensive catalogue of the cuts, with short descriptions, ordered according to their makers. The final part is a catalogue of the books in which the cuts appeared. Particular attention is paid to the work of Gheraert Leeu, the most prolific Dutch printer of his time, who worked in Gouda and subsequently in Antwerp.

An Historical Inquiry into the True Principles of Beauty in Art
  • More Especially with Reference to Architecture
  • James Fergusson
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    05 March 2015
    First published in:
    1849
  • Born in Scotland, James Fergusson (1808–86) spent ten years as an indigo planter in India before embarking upon a second career as an architectural historian. Despite his lack of formal training, he became an expert in the field of Indian architecture, publishing Cave Temples of India and a History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, as well as The Holy Sepulchre and the Temple at Jerusalem, all reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. In this illustrated work of 1849, he considers beauty in art, expressed chiefly by the architectural styles of different civilisations, beginning with ancient Egypt, and finishing with ancient Rome. (This book is named 'Part the First', but no subsequent volumes were written.) The first section is theoretical, tracing the intellectual development of man and his aesthetic sense, while the second considers the surviving evidence of the ideas of beauty held in the ancient world.

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