- 50
Repton, Humphry
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 USD
bidding is closed
Description
- Designs for the Pavillon [sic.] at Brighton. Humbly inscribed to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. By H. Repton ... London: printed by Howlett & Brimmer for J. C. Stadler, sold by Boydell & Co., Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme, [et al.], [1822]
Folio (21 5/8 x 14 3/4 in.; 522 x 365 mm). Emblematic frontispiece hand-colored, 1 hand-colored plan, 7 aquatint plates (one tinted with a sepia wash, six hand-colored [one with an overpage, one double-page with two overslips, one folding with two overslips, one single-page with two overslips, one single-page with one overslip]), 11 aquatint illustrations (one with a sepia wash, three hand-colored [two of these with a single overslip]), all by J.C. Stadler after Repton. Text watermarked 1821-1822; plates 1822. Uncut; one closed tear along plate line repaired on verso. Contemporary half red morocco over marbled paper boards, original paper letterpress label affixed to upper cover.
Literature
Abbey Scenery 57 (1822 watermarks) and cf.55; Millard British 66 (2nd edition); cf. Tooley p.207; cf. Prideaux p.349.
Catalogue Note
A fine uncut copy of Repton's fascinating proposal for a royal palace at Brighton.
"Repton was first summoned to Brighton by the Prince of Wales in 1797. Payments were made to him over the next five years for works in the garden of the Prince's still modest marine villa... Then, in October 1805, Repton was requested to attend on the Prince in Brighton... The Prince and Repton met on 24 November. By 12 December Repton had returned to Brighton with a sheaf of drawings showing possible improvements... The prince was intrigued and asked for a design for an entirely new house. Repton presented his scheme in February 1806 in the form of [a]... Red book, now in the Royal Library at Windsor... By then the prince's initial enthusiasm had dulled; he was beset with financial difficulties and had laid aside all elaborate schemes for the enlargement of the pavilion" (Millard op.cit. pp.243-244). Repton's designs were inspired directly by the wonderful Indian architecture so ably pictured in Thomas and William Daniell's Oriental Scenery (1795-1808).
"Repton was first summoned to Brighton by the Prince of Wales in 1797. Payments were made to him over the next five years for works in the garden of the Prince's still modest marine villa... Then, in October 1805, Repton was requested to attend on the Prince in Brighton... The Prince and Repton met on 24 November. By 12 December Repton had returned to Brighton with a sheaf of drawings showing possible improvements... The prince was intrigued and asked for a design for an entirely new house. Repton presented his scheme in February 1806 in the form of [a]... Red book, now in the Royal Library at Windsor... By then the prince's initial enthusiasm had dulled; he was beset with financial difficulties and had laid aside all elaborate schemes for the enlargement of the pavilion" (Millard op.cit. pp.243-244). Repton's designs were inspired directly by the wonderful Indian architecture so ably pictured in Thomas and William Daniell's Oriental Scenery (1795-1808).
First published in 1808, the present issue dates from 1822 and may mark an attempt to take advantage of the interest generated when architect John Nash completed his work on the Pavilion for King George IV. Between 1815 and 1822 Nash redesigned and greatly extended the Pavilion, and it is the work of Nash which can be seen today. The pavilion as it was finally completed still owed a huge debt to Indian architecture but was in a form which re-interpreted the Indian ideal in a fashion more suitable to both English tastes and climate.