SOANE, Sir John.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Description of the House and Museum on the North Side of Lincoln's Inn Fields, the Residence of Sir John Soane... with Graphic Illustrations and Incidental Details. Presentation copy of the greatly enlarged third edition, inscribed in a secretarial hand at the head of the title page, "To William Hilton, Esq. R.A. From the Author, with sentiments of regard," and with Soane's signature at the foot. As referenced on page 70, Soane owned Hilton's 1834 oil painting, Marc Anthony Reading Caesar's Will.Soane published the first edition of his Description in 1830 and an abridgement two years later, but for the third edition, he almost doubled the number of plates and text. All three were for private circulation only, Soane ordering 150 copies of this edition (compared to 250 and 106 for the earlier two). He began distributing copies to friends and colleagues in autumn 1836. Likely due to his advancing age, inscribed copies are usually encountered, as here, with the inscription in a secretarial hand (perhaps that of his clerk, Charles James Richardson).Of the 150 copies, 100 comprised the English-language text, while another 50 had both English and French letterpress. Among the additions were descriptions of the rooms by the writer Barbara Hofland (177-1844). This was the last edition published in Soane's lifetime, and the text was reprinted many times after his death.

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