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Society of Dilettanti drawings, prints, and letters
840199
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Society of Dilettanti drawings, prints, and letters
Creator:
Gell, William, Sir, 1777-1836
Creator:
Howard, Henry, 1769-1847
Creator:
Fiessinger, Franz Gabriel, 1752-1807
Creator:
Freebairn, Alfred Robert, 1794-1846
Creator:
Finden, W. (William), 1787-1852
Creator:
Society of Dilettanti (London, England)
Creator:
Skelton, William, 1763-1848
Creator:
Penel, Jules
Creator:
Mackenzie, Frederick, 1787 or 1788-1854
Creator:
Scriven, Edward, 1775-1841
Creator:
Schiavonetti, Niccoló, 1771-1813
Creator:
Bromley, William, 1769-1842
Creator:
Agar, John Samuel, approximately 1770-approximately 1835
Creator:
Corbould, George James, 1786-1846
Creator:
Corbould, H. (Henry), 1787-1844
Creator:
Burney, Edward Francis, 1760-1848
Creator:
Cooke, William John, 1797-1865
Identifier/Call Number: 840199
Physical Description:
28.64 Linear Feet
(14 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1806-1880
Abstract: A collection reflecting the publishing work of the Society of Dilettanti, an English group that promoted the study of ancient
sculpture and architecture, primarily that of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean. Drawings and printed proofs relate to
three of the Society's major publications:
Specimens of Antient [sic] Sculpture, Aegyptian, Etruscan, Greek, and Roman;
Antiquities of Ionia; and
Unedited antiquities of Attica.
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Language of Material:
English
.
Scope and Content of the Collection
A collection of drawings and prints reflecting the Society's work in recording and publishing ancient sculpture and architecture,
primarily of Greece. The collection contains 277 drawings and printed proofs for three of the Society's major publications:
Specimens of Antient [sic] Sculpture,
Antiquities of Ionia, and
Unedited antiquities of Attica, of which 253 drawings and printed proofs are for the magnificent two volumes of
Specimens of Antient [sic] Sculpture. Twenty of the drawings for plates were not included in the final publication.
Forteen drawings and printed proofs are for plates in pts. III and IV of
Antiquities of Ionia. Nine architectural drawings are for plates in
Unedited antiquities of Attica.
Also present are two additional drawings for unknown publications: the ground plan of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and half
capital in full scale from the Ionic Temple on the Ilissos near Athens.
A separate series holds seven letters (1812, 1834) and five bank drafts (1806-1809) by the English archaeologist, traveler,
and member of the Society, William Gell. Six letters were written to Sir Henry Englefield, Secretary of the Society, from
the expedition to Greece and Asia Minor, 1812-1813.
Organized in 4 series: Series I. Drawings and printed proofs for
Specimens of Antient [sic] Sculpture, undated; Series II. Drawings and printed proofs for
Antiquities of Ionia, undated, 1880; Series III. Architectural drawings for
Unedited antiquities of Attica, undated; Series IV. Letters and drafts by William Gell, 1806-1834.
The Society of Dilettanti was founded by Sir Francis Dashwood and other collectors in 1734. Formally organized as a London
dining club, at least in terms of its bylaws, dues, etc., it consisted of young patricians recruited from acquaintances made
on the Grand Tour, among the members were aristocrats, diplomats, courtiers, and men of the church, arts, and letters. With
the mission of convival social exchange and cultivating the public interest in classical antiquity, the group aimed to correct
and purify the public taste of the country. From the 1740s it began to support Italian opera, and from the 1750s it was the
prime mover in establishing the Royal Academy. The most important role that the Society played in the cultural life of England
is the contribution it made to the neo-classical movement by fostering an interest in the remains of classical antiquity.
The society sponsored expeditions to Italy, Asia Minor, and Greece and published magnificent folio volumes such as the
Specimens of Antient [sic] Sculpture,
Antiquities of Ionia, and
Unedited antiquities of Attica.
The two volumes of
Specimens of Antient [sic] Sculpture were conceived by the collectors Richard Payne Knight (1751-1824) and Charles Townley (1737-1805). The first volume was published
in 1809 with a commentary by Knight. The second volume did not appear until 1835. The work was intended as a comprehensive
survey of the best specimens of Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek, and Roman marble and bronze sculpture and metalwork acquired by
members of the Society abroad and housed in their private collections. Works in the collections formed by Knight and Townley
account for most of the plates in the first volume. The remainder came from the galleries of Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of
Egremont, Thomas Hope, Earl of Yarborough and the Earl of Cork. By the time the second volume was published the Knight and
Townley's collections were in the British Museum. Thus the second volume marks the recognition by a national institution of
private and amateur collecting nurtured in the age of the Grand Tour. The work was intended to be an achievement in neo-classical
connoisseurship, with images of high quality and scholarly text. Knight's commentary to the first volume aimed to establish
a chronology and to affirm the superiority of Greek over Roman work. The symbolic attributes of the sculpture are discussed
in the commentary to the second volume, compiled from Knight's papers by John Sawrey Morritt, Thomas Hope, James Christie,
and Sir Richard Westmacott. The plates, most executed in stipple engraving, are among the finest representations of marble
and bronze works of art before the age of photography.
Antiquities of Ionia followed the 1764 expedition and exploration of Ionia. The results were published in four parts in 1769 (pt. I), 1821 (2nd
ed. of pt. I), 1797 (pt. II), 1820 (2nd ed. of pt. II), 1840 (pt. III), 1881 (pt. IV), and 1915 (pt. V). The results of another
expedition by William Gell, John Peter Gandy, and Francis Bedford to Greece and Asia Minor in 1812-1813 were to be issued
as the second vol. of pt. III, but the publication was put aside after the death of the architecture editor William Wilkins
in 1839. The unpublished printed proofs for the 2nd vol. of part III were later discovered in the Society's archives, the
metal plates were located in the custody of a copper-printer, and the fifth part of
Antiquities of Ionia was edited and issued by W.R. Lethaby in 1915.
The English archaeologist, topographer, and explorer William Gell (1777-1836) became a member of the Society of Dilettanti
in 1807. He participated in the 1812-1813 expedition to Greece and Asia Minor. The results of that expedition were issued
in 1817 in
Unedited antiquities of Attica, some were added to the 2nd editions of parts II and III of
Antiquities of Ionia, but most were planned to form the second volume of part III of
Antiquities of Ionia.
Acquired in 1984.
Society of Dilettanti drawings, prints, and letters, 1806-1880. The Getty Research Insititute, Los Angeles, Accession no.
840199
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa840199
Open for use by qualified researchers.
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Subjects and Indexing Terms
Sculpture, Classical -- Private collections -- England
Sculpture, Classical -- Collectors and collecting -- England
Bronze sculpture -- Private collections -- England
Marble sculpture -- Private collections -- England
Architecture, Ancient -- Turkey
Architecture, Ancient -- Greece
Propylaea (Acropolis, Athens, Greece)
Temples -- Greece -- Ramnous Site -- Designs and plans
Temples -- Turkey -- Patara (Extinct city)
Temple of Nemesis (Rhamnous Site, Greece)
Architectural drawings -- England -- 19th century
Temples -- Greece -- Eleusis -- Designs and plans
Engravings -- England -- 19th century
Prints -- England -- 19th century
Etchings -- England -- 19th century
Stipple engravings -- England -- 19th century
Drafts (negotiable instruments) -- England -- 19th century
Unedited antiquities of Attica
Specimens of antient sculpture, Aegyptian, Etruscan, Greek, and Roman
Antiquities of Ionia
Ink drawings -- England -- 19th century
Wash drawings -- England -- 19th century
Eleusis (Greece)
Priene (Extinct city)
Drawings -- England -- 19th century
Rhamnous Site (Greece)
Turkey -- Antiquities
Greece -- Antiquities
Patara (Extinct city)
Cnidus (Turkey : Extinct city)
Neoclassicism (Art) -- England
Collectors and collecting -- England
Decoration and ornament, Architectural -- Greece -- Ramnous Site
Decoration and ornament, Architectural -- Greece -- Eleusis
Knight, Richard Payne, 1751-1824
Englefield, Henry, Sir, 1752-1822 -- Correspondence
Townley, Charles, 1737-1805
Society of Dilettanti (London, England)
Blessington, Marguerite, Countess of, 1789-1849