A guide through the royal academy.
London.
Printed by T. Cadell, [1781].
32pp. ESTC T228820. The scarcer of two issues, with press figure '3' on p.7.
[Bound after:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered at the opening of the royal academy, January 2, 1769, by the president. London. [s.n.], 1769. [4], 15pp, [1]. ESTC T31941.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 14, 1770, by the president. London. Sold by Thomas Davies, 1771. [2], 20pp. Without half-title. ESTC N590.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 10, 1771, by the president. London. Printed [by William Griffin] for Thomas Davies, 1772. [2], 29pp, [1]. ESTC T31952.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 10, 1772, by the president. London. Printed by William Griffin...Sold by T. Davies, 1763 [i.e. 1773]. [2], 27pp, [1]. Without half-title. ESTC T31953. Presentation copy, shaved inked inscription in the hand of the author to head of title page.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, Dec. the 10th, 1774. By the president. London. Printed [by William Griffin] for Thomas Davies, 1775. [2], 36pp. ESTC T31954.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 10, 1776. By the president. London. Printed by Thomas Davies, 1777. [2], 44pp. ESTC T31955.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 10, 1778. By the president. London. Printed by Thomas Cadell, 1779. [2], 38pp. Without half-title nor terminal advertisement leaf. ESTC T31956.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 16, 1780, by the president. London. Printed by Thomas Cadell, 1781. [2], 32pp. Without half-title. ESTC T31943.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 10, 1782, by the president. London. Printed by Thomas Cadell, 1783. [3], 6-28pp. Without half-title. ESTC T31957.
Quarto. Modern gilt-tooled brown half-morocco, brown cloth boards. Minor shelf- wear. Title page of second mentioned work browned and stained, scattered spotting.
[Bound after:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered at the opening of the royal academy, January 2, 1769, by the president. London. [s.n.], 1769. [4], 15pp, [1]. ESTC T31941.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 14, 1770, by the president. London. Sold by Thomas Davies, 1771. [2], 20pp. Without half-title. ESTC N590.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 10, 1771, by the president. London. Printed [by William Griffin] for Thomas Davies, 1772. [2], 29pp, [1]. ESTC T31952.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 10, 1772, by the president. London. Printed by William Griffin...Sold by T. Davies, 1763 [i.e. 1773]. [2], 27pp, [1]. Without half-title. ESTC T31953. Presentation copy, shaved inked inscription in the hand of the author to head of title page.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, Dec. the 10th, 1774. By the president. London. Printed [by William Griffin] for Thomas Davies, 1775. [2], 36pp. ESTC T31954.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 10, 1776. By the president. London. Printed by Thomas Davies, 1777. [2], 44pp. ESTC T31955.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 10, 1778. By the president. London. Printed by Thomas Cadell, 1779. [2], 38pp. Without half-title nor terminal advertisement leaf. ESTC T31956.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 16, 1780, by the president. London. Printed by Thomas Cadell, 1781. [2], 32pp. Without half-title. ESTC T31943.
[And:] [REYNOLDS, Joshua]. A discourse, delivered to the students of the royal academy, on the Distribution of the Prizes, December 10, 1782, by the president. London. Printed by Thomas Cadell, 1783. [3], 6-28pp. Without half-title. ESTC T31957.
Quarto. Modern gilt-tooled brown half-morocco, brown cloth boards. Minor shelf- wear. Title page of second mentioned work browned and stained, scattered spotting.
The first edition of Italian-born English literary critic Giuseppe (Joseph) Marc'Antonio Baretti's (1719-1789) descriptive guide to the architecture and permanent decoration of the seven state rooms at Somerset House lately granted to the Royal Academy rooms.
Baretti, secretary for foreign correspondence at the Academy, fostered a close literary relationship with author and lexicographer Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), whom he had met in 1751. Johnson contributed dedications or prefaces to several of Baretti's publications, and duly supplied the opening sentences for this guide:
'To those whom either vagrant curiosity, or desire of instruction, brings into the Apartments of the Royal Academy, not to know the design, the history, and the names of the various Models that stand before them, is a great abatement of pleasure, and hindrance of improvement. He who enters, not knowing what to expect, gazes a while about him, a strander among strangers, and goes out, not knowing what he has seen'.
The Royal Academy opened its doors on 2nd January, 1769. In recognition, art theorist Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), as first president, delivered an inaugural address, which was published the following month. In all Reynolds would write fifteen discourses between 1769 and 1790, each - with the exception of the first and the ninth - delivered on the occasion of the distribution of prizes to the academy's students. Each discourse was published shortly after its delivery, with a copy being presented to each academy member.
ESTC records copies at just four locations (NPG, NT, Oxford, and Yale).
£ 1,250.00
Antiquates Ref: 19128
Baretti, secretary for foreign correspondence at the Academy, fostered a close literary relationship with author and lexicographer Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), whom he had met in 1751. Johnson contributed dedications or prefaces to several of Baretti's publications, and duly supplied the opening sentences for this guide:
'To those whom either vagrant curiosity, or desire of instruction, brings into the Apartments of the Royal Academy, not to know the design, the history, and the names of the various Models that stand before them, is a great abatement of pleasure, and hindrance of improvement. He who enters, not knowing what to expect, gazes a while about him, a strander among strangers, and goes out, not knowing what he has seen'.
The Royal Academy opened its doors on 2nd January, 1769. In recognition, art theorist Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), as first president, delivered an inaugural address, which was published the following month. In all Reynolds would write fifteen discourses between 1769 and 1790, each - with the exception of the first and the ninth - delivered on the occasion of the distribution of prizes to the academy's students. Each discourse was published shortly after its delivery, with a copy being presented to each academy member.
ESTC records copies at just four locations (NPG, NT, Oxford, and Yale).
