The Complete Collection of Antiquities: From the Cabinet of Sir William Hamilton by Sebastian Schütze & Madeleine Gisler
folio. pp. 550. English, French & German text. profusely illustrated. hardcover with dw. in printed publisher's cardboard box. Koln: Taschen, 2004.
New (some wear to cardboard box & small abrasion to lower right corner of dust wrapper).
from the Taschen XXL series.
ISBN-10: 3822821942 / ISBN-13: 9783822821954
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This spectacular compilation of elevations, representing a superb collection of Etruscan, Greek, and Roman vases, is the fruit of a collaboration between Lord William Hamilton (1730-1803), British diplomat and collector, and Hugues d'Hancarville (1719-1805), an amateur art dealer. While working as an envoy to the British Embassy in Naples, Hamilton developed a keen interest in antiquity, visiting the excavations of Pompeii and Hercolano and publishing the first scientific essays on volcanology. His friend d'Hancarville Introduced him to the Porcinari family, whose collection of vases Hamilton purchased in its entirety, and helped Hamilton seek out additional Items to augment his collection. In 1772, Hamilton sold his collection to the British Museum; before the invaluable pieces were shipped off to England (and half lost in a shipwreck), d'Hancarville commissioned elevations depicting the vases in great detail. These drawings were published in four volumes known as Les Antiquities d'Hancarville.
Contemporary sets of these rare volumes fetch prices of up to 80,000 euros at auctions; we have borrowed a fine copy from the Weimar Library to reproduce in exacting detail so that modern readers can experience the same drawings that sparked Britain's Interest in classicism and inspired reproductions from pottery manufacturers such as Wedgeworth.