The Antiquities of England and Wales Vol I (page 1/8)

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[picture: Front Cover, Grose's Antiquities of England and Wales, Vol I]

Francis Grose, Esq., FAS., The Antiquities of England and Wales, Being a Collection of Views of the Most remarkable Ruins and antient Buildings, Accurately drawn on the spot. To each view is added An Historical Accounf of its Situation, when and by whom built, with every interesting Circumstance relating thereto. Collected from the best authorities.
London, Printed by C. Clarke, for S. Hooper, No. 212 High Holborn, opposite Southampton Street, Bloomsbury Square, M.DCC.LXXXIII [1783]

My copy of Volume I is falling apart, but that at least means I don’t have to worry about damaging the binding when I scan the pictures. I took a photograph of this book open to the title page.

I wish I had more volumes of this series. I also obtained volume 3, but it came without the maps, unfortunately. The perils of eBay!

The maps in this series of books were originally engraved in about 1694 for John Seller’s Anglia Contracta. John Seller was a noted map maker and publisher of the second half of the 17th century, known especially for his sea charts. Years later Francis Grose got hold of the engraved plates for the maps and used them in this popular series of Antiquities, removing the John Seller cartouche. The colour in the maps would have been added by hand after printing.

There is a short biography of Francis Grose from 1814.

Captain Francis Grose is also known for compiling dictionaries. I have a copy of his Provincial Glossary. He also wrote a dictionary of slang; Project Gutenberg has made a text version of an 1811 version of this (I have a fac simile edition) and I have used this as a starting point, corrected many errors, and put it online as the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

There is also an entry in the Nuttall Encyclopædia for Captain Francis Grose.

Title: The Antiquities of England and Wales Vol I

Author: Grose, Francis

Published by: C. Clarke, for S. Hooper

City: London

Date: 1783

Total items: 53

Out of copyright (called public domain in the USA), hence royalty-free for all purposes usage credit requested, or as marked.

Some sample images

[picture: Penrith Castle, Cumberland, Wales]

Penrith Castle, Cumberland

Published 3rd April 1784 by S. Hooper; Signed T. Pye.

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[picture: Ornament]

Ornament

A printer’s ornament from the end of a chapter or section. This one shows a knight’s helmet with a sword and arrows.

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[picture: Reading Abbey (Background 4)]

Reading Abbey (Background 4)

Version of the Reading Abbey engraving stretched slightly to make it fit a computer desktop (background/wallpaper) and also made lighter and with reduced contrast, so it’s less distracting. [more...]

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[picture: Castle Diagram]

Castle Diagram

Diagram showing the various parts of the battlements of a castle. The text, under the heading References, lists 1. The Barbican, 2. The Ditch of Moat, 3. Wall of the outer Ballium [now called the outer bailey], 4. Outer Ballium [Outer Bailey], 5. Artificial Mount, 6. Wall of the Inner Ballium [inner bailey], [...] [more...]

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Places shown:

Anglesey ·Barfreston ·Bedford ·Bedfordshire ·Berkshire ·Bosiliack ·Buckinghamshire ·Cambridgeshire ·Carlisle ·Carn Brea ·Cheshire ·Chester ·Cornwall ·County Louth ·Cumberland ·Donnington ·Dundalk ·England ·Isles of Scilly ·Kent ·Keswick ·Lindisfarne ·Lostwithiel ·Northumberland ·Northwethel ·Penrith ·Plas Newydd ·Reading ·St Mary's ·Windsor ·none

Francis Grose, Esq., FAS., The Antiquities of England and Wales, Being a Collection of Views of the Most remarkable Ruins and antient Buildings, Accurately drawn on the spot. To each view is added An Historical Accounf of its Situation, when and by whom built, with every interesting Circumstance relating thereto. Collected from the best authorities.
London, Printed by C. Clarke, for S. Hooper, No. 212 High Holborn, opposite Southampton Street, Bloomsbury Square, M.DCC.LXXXIII [1783]

My copy of Volume I is falling apart, but that at least means I don’t have to worry about damaging the binding when I scan the pictures. I took a photograph of this book open to the title page.

I wish I had more volumes of this series. I also obtained volume 3, but it came without the maps, unfortunately. The perils of eBay!

The maps in this series of books were originally engraved in about 1694 for John Seller’s Anglia Contracta. John Seller was a noted map maker and publisher of the second half of the 17th century, known especially for his sea charts. Years later Francis Grose got hold of the engraved plates for the maps and used them in this popular series of Antiquities, removing the John Seller cartouche. The colour in the maps would have been added by hand after printing.

There is a short biography of Francis Grose from 1814.

Captain Francis Grose is also known for compiling dictionaries. I have a copy of his Provincial Glossary. He also wrote a dictionary of slang; Project Gutenberg has made a text version of an 1811 version of this (I have a fac simile edition) and I have used this as a starting point, corrected many errors, and put it online as the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

There is also an entry in the Nuttall Encyclopædia for Captain Francis Grose.


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