Chamberlaine, John
1745 – 1812

Original designs of the most celebrated masters of the Bolognese, Roman, Florentine, and Venetian schools; comprising some of the works of Leonardo da Vinci, the Caracci, Claude Lorraine, Raphael, Michael Angelo, the Poussins, and others, in His Majesty’s collection; engraved by Bartolozzi, P.W. Tomkins, Schiavonetti, Lewis, and other eminent engravers; with bio­graphical and historical sketches of L. da Vinci and the Caracci.

London, Printed by W. Bulmer and Co. Shakspeare-Press, and sold by G. and W. Nicol, [etc.], 1812

Two parts, folio (535 × 405 mm):

i: (9) ff. letterpress, unsigned: title-page (transcribed above); dedication, To the King; part-title, Imita­tions of Original Designs by Leonardo da Vinci…, dated 1796; 5 ff. text, Leonardo da Vinci, including an account of the provenance of the drawings (paginated 3–12); and list of plates, Contents (enumer­ating sixty-six subjects); plus seventeen engraved plates on fifteen leaves (reproductions in colour of drawings by Leonardo) numbered (i–v) vii–xvii (with x/xi, xv/xvi on single sheets).

ii: (4) ff. letterpress, unsigned: part-title, Engravings from the Original Designs of Annibale, Agostino, Ludovico Caracci…, dated 1797; and 3 ff. text, The Caraccis (paginated 1–5); plus engraved dedica­tion-plate (To her Serene Highness the Princess of Wurtemberg…, lettered by [Thomas] Merrifield and engraved by P.W. Tomkins) and forty-nine subjects engraved on forty-three leaves (reproductions in colour of drawings by the Carracci and others), imperfectly numbered xviii–lxvi (with xxxiii–xxxiv, xxxvi–xxxvii, xxxix–xl, xliv–xlv, liii–liv, lx–lxi on single sheets).

A few plates lightly foxed, generally in margins; otherwise in very good state of preservation.

bound in russia leather, decorated in gilt, gilt edges, by Franz Sebastian Voll, with his engraved ticket (printed in blue on a black ground) Relié par Voll à Mannheim.

A fine series of prints reproducing Italian drawings in the Royal Collection, selected by John Chamberlaine, the King’s Keeper of Drawings and Medals. The drawings are mostly reproduced in their actual size and a variety of techniques are employed to render them faithfully, including stipple, aquatint, roulette, and soft ground etching; to compound the effect, some drawings are printed on tinted papers.

Soon after his appointment in February 1791, Chamberlaine inaugurated three publications, each reproducing ‘in facsimile’ drawings in the Royal Collection. The first and best-known of these works is the suite of eighty-four prints after Holbein portraits of members of the court of Henry viii, issued seriatim between March 1792 and June 1800.¹ The present volume collects Chamberlaine’s next two series: one reproducing drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, issued between September 1795 and October 1806; the other reproducing drawings by the Carracci, and by Baccio Bandinelli, Canaletto, Claude Lorrain, Gaspard Dughet, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Nicolas Poussin, and Harman van Swanevelt, issued between April 1796 and April 1811. The same team of engravers was employed on all three pro­jects: Francesco Bartolozzi, his pupils, or artists associated with him; the same printer printed the letterpress in all three works: William Bulmer; and the same bookseller and publisher conducted the sales: George Nicol, holder of the Royal warrant.

In his Imitations of original drawings by Hans Holbein, Chamberlaine had credited George Nicol (together with Horace Walpole) with ‘concerting… the plan of this publication’. It is likely that Nicol was also the chief promoter of a reprint of the Holbein series in reduced format, which appeared shortly after Chamberlaine’s death (12 January 1812),² and of this reissue of the Leonardo and Carracci series published in the same year.

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Judging by the title, printed in 1796 and reissued in 1812, Chamberlaine’s original intention was to reproduce a wide variety of Leonardo’s drawings: Imitations of original designs by Leonardo da Vinci, consisting of various drawings of single figures, heads, compositions, horses and other animals; optics, perspective, gunnery, hydraulics, mechanics; and in par­ticular of very accurate delineations, with a most spirited pen, of a variety of anatomical subjects, in His Majesty’s collection. The first fascicule of the series, distributed in October 1796, contained six plates etched by Francesco Bartolozzi, of which two were reproduc­tions of Leonardo’s anatomical studies.³ Another seven plates were completed in 1796 (a head, a three-quarter length study of a man, and five anatomical subjects), after which Chamberlaine laid the project aside, until October 1806, when subscribers received nine plates (reproducing eleven drawings), and the publication was discontinued.

The reasons for the decade-long interval and termination of the work are not obvious; how­ever, distaste for the anatomical plates (one showed coition with a detail of the penis) may have been a factor.⁴ The Contents list printed for our 1812 reissue calls for seventeen prints after Leonardo, depicting human heads and figures, and the courtyard of a foundry, and eliminating all the anatomical plates:⁵

i: Portrait of Leonardo in profile (Clark & Pedretti 12726), by Bartolozzi (De Vesme & Calabi 2085), published 1 September 1795 ■ ii: Study of a woman’s head (C.-P. 12533), by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2086), published 1 October 1796 ■ iii: ‘Woman’s head in profile’ (C.-P. 12554, as Head of a young man in profile), by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2087), published 1 October 1796 ■ iv: Head of a man (C.-P. 12504), by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2088), published 1 March 1796 ■ v: ‘Mechanics’ (C.-P. 12647, as Courtyard of a foundry), by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2089), published 13 May 1796 ■ vi: Three-quarter length study of a man (C.-P. 12584), by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2090), published 11 April 1796 ■ vii: ‘Dante and other poets’ (C.-P. 12495, as Group of grotesque heads), by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2091), published 10 October 1806 ■ viii: ‘A Lawyer’ (C.-P. 12582, as Elderly man in profile), by Shipster, published 10 October 1806 ■ ix: Three-quarter length study of a man (C.-P. 12580), by Tomkins, published 10 October 1806 ■ x–xi (together on a single folio): Head and shoulders of a nude male (C.-P. 12494, as ‘Melzi’s replacement copy’) and Head of a woman with braided hair (detail from C.-P. 12516), by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2092–2093), published 10 October 1806 ■ xii: Head and shoulders of a girl (C.-P. 12505), by Tomkins, published 10 October 1803 ■ xiii: Prisoner with shackled feet (C.-P. 12573), by Shipster, published 10 October 1806 ■ xiv: Head of a girl (C.-P. 065, rejected), by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2094), published 10 October 1806 ■ xv–xvi (together on a single folio): ‘Caricatures’ (C.-P. 12493, as Grotesque female in profile and ‘Melzi’s replacement copy’) and (C.-P. 12492, as Head and shoulders of a hideous old woman), by Pastorini, published 10 October 1806 ■ xvii: Head and shoulders of an elderly man (C.-P. 12556), by Tomkins, published 10 October 1806.

The first group of six plates (unnumbered, and dated 1795 or 1796) are all signed as engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi (1727–1815); the final group (numbered, and dated October 1806) are signed as engraved by Bartolozzi, Robert Shipster (fl. 1794–1800), Peltro William Tomkins (1759–1840), or Benedetto Pastorini (circa 1746–1806/1810). Proof impressions before letters or aquatint are known.⁶

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Chamberlaine had meanwhile commenced work on a series of reproductions of drawings by other Italian artists in the Royal Collection: Engravings from the original designs of Annibale, Agostino, and Ludovico Caracci, in His Majesty’s Collection. Consisting of ele­gant compositions and studies for the various celebrated pictures in the different palaces and cabinets at Rome, Bologna, Parma, Milan, &c. Between April 1796 and April 1797, Bartolozzi reproduced seven drawings by the Carracci.⁷ Work was afterwards suspended, until May 1806, when Chamberlaine published a single print by Tomkins after a drawing by Lodovico Carracci. Six more plates after drawings by the Carracci were published in 1807, engraved by Bartolozzi, Tomkins, Luigi Schiavonetti (1765–1810), Georg Siegmund Facius (circa 1750–after 1815), and James Stephanoff (circa 1786–1874), raising to four­teen the number of their drawings reproduced (order of plates in 1812 rearrangement):

xviii: Portrait of a boy, by Annibale (Wittkower 360), engraved by Bartolozzi (De Vesme & Calabi 2102), published 13 May 1796 ■ xix: Abraham entertaining the Angels, by Lodovico (W. 18), engraved by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2103), pub­lished 18 January 1797 ■ xx: Head of an old, bearded man, by Annibale, engraved by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2104), published 11 April 1796 ■ xxi: Jacob’s Dream, by Lodovico (W. 19, as Agostino), engraved by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2105), published 18 January 1797 ■ xxii: Monk’s head, by Annibale (W. 574, as perhaps Sisto Badalocchio), engraved by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2106), published 11 April 1796⁸ ■ xxiii: ‘Birth of Pyrrhus’, by Agostino (W. 533, as ‘The Birth of St. John’ and School of the Carracci),⁹ engraved by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2107), published 17 April 1797 ■ xxiv: ‘David’, by Annibale (W. 407, as Allegory of the Virgin, as possibly Studio), engraved by Tomkins, published 20 March 1807 ■ xxv: Head of bearded man, by Annibale, engraved by Stephanoff, (undated) ■ xxvi: Virgin and Child and St. Anne, by Annibale (W. 65),¹⁰ engraved by Luigi Schiavonetti, pub­lished 15 April 1807 ■ xxvii: Man’s head, by Annibale (W. 368, as Studio), engraved by Facius, pub­lished 7 May 1807 ■ xxviii: Apotheosis of St. Francis, by Lodovico (W. 73, as ‘Apotheosis of a Saint’ and Manner of Lodovico), engraved by Tomkins, published 5 May 1806 ■ xxix: Young man in profile, by Annibale (W. 575, as perhaps Sisto Badalocchio), engraved by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2108), published 15 April 1807 ■ xxx: Pietà, by Annibale (W. 357),¹¹ engraved by Luigi Schiavonetti, published 15 April 1807 ■ xxxi: An old bearded man, by Annibale (W. 586, as School), engraved by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2109), published 7 May 1796.

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Engraving by Bartolozzi of a ‘Young Man in profile’, from a series of academic studies of heads in red chalk (Wittkower 575, as possibly by Sisto Badalocchio) (pl. xxix)

In 1807, a new artist was introduced in the series, as an ‘honorary Roman’: Claude Lorrain. Ten plates reproducing Claude’s drawings were engraved in that year by Frederick Christian Lewis (1779–1856), George Robert Lewis (1782–1871), and Tomkins; six more plates of Claude’s drawings were published in 1809, and three in 1811, for a total of nine­teen, all but one of the genuine drawings by him in the Royal Collection (order of plates in 1812 rearrangement):

xxxii: The marriage of Isaac and Rebecca (Blunt 41; Roethlisberger 902),¹² engraved by F.C. Lewis, published January 1807 ■ xxxiii–xxxiv (together on a single folio):View of the Colosseum(B. 53; R. 18) and S. Giorgio in Velabro (B. 56; R. 21), by F.C. and G.R. Lewis, pub­lished 1 January 1807 ■ xxxv: The landing of Aeneas in Italy (B. 48; R. 1086), by F.C. and G.R. Lewis, (date illegible) ■ xxxvi–xxxvii (together on a single folio):The wall of a Villa near Rome (B. 50; R. 15) and The Campo Vaccino with the Basilica of Constantine (B. 55; R. 20), by F.C. and G.R. Lewis, published 1 January 1807 ■ xxxviii: ‘Polyphemus’ (B. 42, as Acis and Galatea; R. 802), published 1 January 1807 ■ xxxix–xl (together on a single folio):The banks of the Tiber (B. 61; R. 1) and Landscape: a valley with trees(B. 60; R. 2), by Tomkins, published 27 March 1807 ■ xli: The Apulian shepherd changed into an olive tree (B. 43; R. 804), by G.R. Lewis, (undated) ■ xliv–xlv (together on a single folio): The Campo Vaccino with the entrance to the Villa Farnese (B. 51; R. 16) and A house in the Campagna (B. 57; R. 22), by G.R. Lewis, published 12 January 1809 ■ xlviii: The Crossing of the Red Sea (B. 46; R. 815), by F.C. Lewis, published January 1809 ■ l: The Temple of Apollo at Delphi (B. 47; R. 1057), by F.C. Lewis, published January 1809 ■ liii–liv (together on a single folio):Roman arches and tower (B. 54; R. 19) and View of the Colosseum (B. 52; R. 17), by G.R. Lewis, published 1 June 1809 ■ lix: St. John the Baptist preaching (B. 44; R. 774), by F.C. Lewis, published 17 April 1811 ■ lx–lxi (together on a single folio): An artist drawing (B. 59; R. 24) and SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Rome (B. 58; R. 23), by G.R. Lewis, published 1 June 1809.

In 1809, the ‘sixth’ fascicule was issued to subscribers.¹³ The series continued to expand, embracing represen­tative drawings by Baccio Bandinelli, Canaletto, Gaspard Dughet (called Gaspard Poussin), Leonardo, Michelangelo, Poussin, Raphael, and Harman van Swanevelt, engraved by F.C. Lewis, Bartolozzi, Tomkins, George Hawkins (active 1795–1820), and ‘Eddy’ (order of plates in 1812 rearrangement):

xlii: Dance in honour of Pan, by Poussin (Blunt 174), engraved by F.C. Lewis, (undated) ■ xliii: Study for the figure of Poetry (Stanza delle Segnatura), by Raphael (Popham & Wilde 792),¹⁴ engraved by F.C. Lewis (Höper F6.14), published 7 February 1809¹⁵ ■ xlvi: Leda and the Swan, by Raphael (P.-W. 789), engraved by F.C. Lewis (Höper A78), published 1 February 1809 ■ xlvii: Three Satyrs, by Poussin (Blunt 227, as Studio), engraved by F.C. Lewis, (undated)¹⁶ ■ xlix: The Virgin and Child with St. Elizabeth and the Infant St. John, by Raphael (P.-W. 790), engraved by F.C. Lewis (Höper D16.1), published 1 June 1809 ■ li: Landscape with river: a merchant crosses by stepping stones, by ‘G. Poussin’ (Gaspard Dughet), engraved by Bartolozzi (V.-C. 2110),¹⁷ pub­lished 1 July 1809 ■ lii: Hope, by Raphael (P.-W. 815), engraved by F.C. Lewis (Höper A109), published 1 June 1809 ■ lv: Medea killing her children, by Poussin (Blunt 264, as Studio), engraved by F.C. Lewis, pub­lished 1 June 1809 ■ lvi: Bearded head turned to the right, by Bandinelli (P.-W. 81, as School of Baccio Bandinelli), engraved by G.R. Lewis, pub­lished 1 June 1809 ■ lvii: Allegory of the wolf in the boat, by Leonardo (Clark & Pedretti 12496), engraved by Tomkins, published 17 April 1811 ■ lviii: Ruins on a shore with mountainous coastline, by Canaletto (Parker 132),¹⁸ engraved by Hawkins, published 17 April 1811 ■ lxii: ‘Cephalus and Procris’ by Poussin (Blunt 158, as The death of Chione), engraved by F.C. Lewis, published 17 April 1811 ■ lxiii: The Virgin and Child with St. John, by Michelangelo (P.-W. 426), engraved by F.C. Lewis, published 17 April 1811 ■ lxiv: Ruins of a Church on the shore of a lagoon, by Canaletto (P. 134), engraved by Hawkins, published 17 April 1811 ■ lxv: Travellers on a sunken road winding through a moun­tainous val­ley, by Swanevelt (White & Crawley 457),¹⁹ engraved by ‘Eddy’, published 17 April 1811 ■ lxvi: The Arco dei Pantani, by Canaletto (P. 112), engraved by F.C. Lewis, published 17 April 1811.

Most copies of the 1812 edition contain sixty-six engraved subjects printed on fifty-eight folios, as enumerated in the list of ‘Contents’, and have the text ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ printed on five leaves (pagi­nated 3–12).²⁰ These variations are known:

■ 73 engraved subjects printed on 65 folios: the usual 66 subjects on 58 folios, plus seven ‘supplementary’ anatomical plates; and an additional leaf of letterpress transcribing and translating Leonardo’s ‘mirror writing’ on the anatomical plates (paginated 13–14)²¹

■ 68 engraved subjects printed on 60 folios: the usual 66 subjects on 58 folios, plus two of the seven anatomical plates; and the additional leaf of letterpress (paginated 13–14)²²

■ 67 engraved sub­jects printed on 59 leaves: the usual 66 subjects on 58 folios, plus a print after Guido Reni (not included in the contents list);²³ without the letterpress title-pages Imitations of original designs by Leonardo da Vinci (1796) and Engravings from the original designs of Annibale, Agostino, and Ludovico Caracci, in His Majesty’s Collection (1797), without text Leonardo da Vinci (5 ff., pp.3–12)²⁴

Our copy is in a fine binding of russia leather decorated in gilt by a broad roll and signed with the ticket of the Mannheim bookbinder, Franz Sebastian Voll (1783–1846). Born in Würzburg, Voll was admitted to the guild of binders in Mannheim in 1807.²⁵ His clients included the princely house of Fürstenberg,²⁶ Grand-Duchess Stephanie von Baden,²⁷ and perhaps Ernst August i, King of Hannover.²⁸

references Rudolph Weigel, Die Werke der Maler in ihren Handzeichnungen: Beschreibendes Verzeichniss der in Kupfer gestochenen, lithographirten und photographirten Facsimiles von Originalzeichnungen grosser Meister (Leipzig 1865), pp.52–53 no. 40; Alexandre de Vesme, Francesco Bartolozzi; catalogue des estampes et notice bibliographique d’après les manuscrits de A. de Vesme, entièrement réformés et complétés d’une étude critique, by Augusto Calabi (Milan 1928), pp.525–530, nos. 2085–2094, 2102–2110; Ettore Verga, Bibliografia Vinciana (Bologna 1931), i, p.28 no. 52 (without anatomy plates); Joan M. Friedman, Color printing in England 1486–1870, catalogue of an exhibition, Yale Center for British Art (New Haven 1978), p.11 no.17

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