Monday, October 5, 2015

Society of Dilettanti








These prints are from a rare first edition elephant folio, stipple engravings are from Specimens of Antient Sculpture, Aegyptian, Etruscan, Greek, and Roman by the Society of Dilettanti. The work was printed in London by T. Bensley for T. Payne and J. White in 1809. The work was only one of 200 published. Only 60 of these were printed on large-paper and reserved for the society. This particular engraving is larger than those in the Royal Academy and is likely one of the 60 that were for the society members. Many of the illustrations for this work came from the collections of Richard Payne Knight and Charles Townley. Knight wrote the text for this work. The illustrations pay tribute to the best classical sculptures in England.