LOST TREASURES RESURFACE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES’ PRINTING PLATES

Abstract

The Society of Antiquaries of London’s collection of one hundred and seventy historical printing plates, dating from the early eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries, has long been a hidden gem. This paper presents the results of a research project initiated in 2022, focusing on the provenance, manufacture and bibliographical use of these plates. It explores the evolution of printing practices and the role of coppersmith stamps, shedding light on production methods and industry connections. The project involved digitising the plates for improved accessibility and preservation and cataloguing efforts to establish standardised guidelines for similar collections. Furthermore, the study uncovers the Society’s historical interest in maintaining and utilising these plates, providing valuable insights into past printing practices and collection management. This research enriches our understanding of the Antiquaries’ holdings through meticulous investigation and documentation and underscores the significance of exploring overlooked aspects of historical collections. It also calls for future research endeavours and collaborations to explore connections within the Society’s collections further and expand our knowledge of printing history. Overall, this study emphasises the importance of preserving and studying printing technology as valuable artefacts that contribute to our understanding of the past.

INTRODUCTION

The Society of Antiquaries of London has enshrined one hundred and seventy historical printing plates for more than two centuries. It could be argued that the plates, dated between the early eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, are one of their best-kept secrets. They remained unstudied and unknown to many of the Fellows and researchers until recently, despite being an integral part of the Society’s history. Therefore, in a time when interest in print technologies and history is growing, research into the Antiquaries’ plates is not only imperative but timely. This study, prompted by the author’s doctoral research, fits into the emerging scholarship on printing surfaces (blocks, plates and stones). ¹ The results produced by the project on the plates allow us to make comparisons with similar, contemporary objects, their manufacture, use and current relevance.

The printing plates project began in September 2022 and concluded a year later. It investigated the plates’ provenance, manufacture and bibliographical use and how they relate to other parts of the Society’s collections. This project improved the accessibility of the plates by digitising them. Additionally, the discussion on the digitisation and cataloguing process will provide a model for other institutions holding similar printing technology and hopefully spark new interest in creating shared cataloguing guidelines. The provenance research will be relevant to those studying the history of collections and the Antiquaries’ holdings in general. Last but not least, the findings regarding the manufacture and engraving of the plates provide new information that is crucial for material historians, art and print historians and bibliographers.

CATALOGUING AND DIGITISING THE SOCIETY’S PRINTING PLATES

The research discussed in this article builds on the significant but limited work carried out on the Society’s plates by some volunteers and Fellows over the past twenty years. Because of the scarcity of information on the plates and the lack of digital records, the immediate priority was to investigate, catalogue and digitise such a crucial yet overlooked part of the Antiquaries’ collections. The project was carried out in two phases, beginning with an initial survey, during which all the plates were examined and catalogued on the Society’s database. That preliminary investigation revealed that the plates can be organised into three groups: those commissioned by the Society to George Vertue in the early eighteenth century, William Fowler’s plates of stained glass and pavements (c 1800–32) and Thomas Streatfeild’s plates for an unpublished history of Kent (c 1800–48). The first phase allowed the exploration and gauging of the size of the collection, previously underestimated, and laid the foundations for a broader research project that linked the plates with other parts of the Society’s holdings and aimed to answer questions about the plates’ provenance, manufacture and use in publications.

The second stage of the project, which involved the digitisation and in-depth research of the objects, took place between August and September 2023. Both sides of the 176 plates were photographed, and close-up shots of coppersmiths’ stamps and alterations were taken. Additionally, the study of manuscript and published material was conducive to determining the history of many plates, as illustrated in the following sections. This article will highlight the discovery process and the primary research outcomes. However, as will be reiterated further on, this project was the first stepping stone towards future investigations and perhaps collaborations.

The collection of printing plates at Burlington House presented itself as an unspoiled treasure, ready to be discovered. However, the fact that the plates had been treated as working tools rather than artworks for two centuries posed some challenges. The printing plates had moved around a few times and, as a result, it was not clear how many of them there were and, in some cases, where in the building.

Another difficulty that needed to be overcome was the lack of shared national guidelines or cataloguing standards for printing equipment. Therefore, an entry template was created based on the current Spectrum standards for objects and prints. ² The Society utilises CollectionsIndex+ as their collections management system (CMS); therefore, the choice of fields for the template was determined by those available in the CMS. Many of the fields in the system are not relevant to the cataloguing of print matrices; hence, the author first compiled a list of necessary fields based on her experience as a print cataloguer and on a comparison with other museums’ online records for print matrices. The template was jointly created by the Museum’s Collections Manager and the author following the Society’s cataloguing procedure based on the Spectrum standards. In line with those standards, the records needed to be as accurate as possible and relevant to a wide range of scholars, and the data easily accessible and retrievable. The records thoroughly document all the features of the plates: their physical description, the artists involved in their production, the provenance whenever that information is available and any art historical information, as well as any catalogues or literature that mentions the plates (fig 1). As expected, not all fields in the CMS records are visible in the online catalogue available to the public. That is due to safety reasons – storage information cannot be shared – and to the cost of adding fields to online catalogues, a problem faced by most museums with an online presence. Additionally, although the current CMS allows cataloguers to document most of the relevant data for printing plates, it would be helpful to introduce new fields, such as ‘printing history’, to describe the use of a plate throughout time, and ‘alterations’ to describe any changes made either through the use of repoussage or polishing. Those fields would provide crucial information that can only be obtained from the plates and not from their impressions. Recording any alteration would complement the description of a print’s various states. Lastly, each plate was accessioned and numbered on the verso using brush, ink and varnish, as is standard practice for museum objects.

Fig 1. Screenshot of part of the CollectionsIndex+ record of LDSAL.2022.2.1.

Another challenge was finding a method to photograph the plates with relatively limited resources. Following the advice of the Bodleian Library’s senior photographer, John Barrett, it was decided to use a reflex camera mounted on a tripod with a horizontal arm and two external lights. Because of the plates’ size, it was impossible to photograph them in a dark room, where the digitisation of the Antiquaries’ books usually happens. Instead, they were laid on a table in the Fellows’ room against a white background and photographed with a ruler and colour chart next to them. Photographing metal objects is always arduous as there is a risk of capturing the reflection of the camera, the lights or the photographer. To overcome that difficulty, the author had to adjust the external lights for each plate and cover the tripod arm with tissue paper to minimise the reflection onto the plate’s surface. The photographs were shot with a focal length of f/13 and an exposure time between 0.8 and 3 seconds, depending on the plate’s oxidisation. Most plates were successfully photographed; however, those that had been cleaned show some reflection of the equipment.

THE PROVENANCE AND HISTORY OF THE PRINTING PLATES

The following pages will describe the main groups of plates according to their provenance. The most ancient plates in the Society’s collection are those engraved by Vertue. While the Antiquaries commissioned several dozen copper plates to Vertue, the only commissioned ones currently in their holdings are the eight plates for the so-called ‘Pewterplate map’. The Vertue plates arrived at the Society piecemeal. First, in June 1754, Vertue gave the Antiquaries ‘a Quantity of Prints, Books, and Four Plates, which remained in his hands belonging to this Society’. ³ Unfortunately, no list is provided and it is impossible to establish which plates he gave at that time. After Vertue’s death, the copper plates remained with his widow, who continued to publish them. ⁴ Then, in November 1756, Mrs Vertue offered three plates for purchase to the Society before the stock of her late husband was put on public sale. The plates depicted two views of St Thomas’s chapel and the ground plot of White Hall. ⁵ The Society considered buying them and designated one of their Fellows, Andrew Gifford (1700–84), to consult the widow regarding the plates’ price. However, at the meeting, she declared herself incapable of establishing their value and asked the Antiquaries to propose a price they deemed proper. ⁶ The Society ended up not purchasing those plates, but they received them as a gift in November 1775, together with another twenty:

The Society expressed their thankful Acknowledgements to Mrs Vertue for her valuable & kind Present, & directed her to be assured that they will ever retain a grateful Sense thereof; & also, that she shall be supplied with any Number of Impressions of the said Plates she may occasionally want. ⁷

Following the acquisition, it was immediately decided to assess the ‘Damage the Plates may have received from Rust, or otherwise, during the great Number of years they have lain by since Mr. Vertue’s Death’. ⁸ The committee established that the plates should be cleaned and repaired by the Society’s engraver, James Basire (c 1730–1802), so that some impressions could be taken for the Fellows and for sale. In January 1776, Mrs Vertue offered nine other copper plates for purchase to the Antiquaries, for which they paid £100. ⁹ Lastly, two months later, the Society bought the portrait plate of Charles i and Henrietta Maria for £10 (fig 2).

Fig 2. George Vertue, ‘Charles I and Henrietta Maria’, 1634, re-engraved 1742, engraving on copper plate, 422 × 576mm. Image: © The Society of Antiquaries of London.

It is not clear what happened to most of the plates from the 1775 list. Of those listed, only the ‘Stunsfield Pavement’ plate and the eight Agas map plates are in the Society holdings. The others may be found one day, but it is also likely that they remained with one of the printers that the Antiquaries employed in the eighteenth century and were later dispersed. The plates purchased in 1776 are all accounted for in the Antiquaries’ collections.

The second group of plates belonged to the topographer and antiquary Thomas Streatfeild (1777–1848). Streatfeild spent many years collecting material, making drawings and commissioning printing plates and blocks for a ten-volume history of Kent. He never saw his monumental work to the press; only a prospectus was published by 1836, ‘Excerpta Cantiana’. After his death, the fifty-two manuscript volumes were left to Streatfeild’s collaborator, Lambert Blackwell Larking (1797–1868), hoping he could complete the project. However, only one volume was published, ‘The Hundred of Blackheath’ (London, 1886), edited by H H Drake. Despite the ample collections made by Streatfeild, over half of the material published was that collected by Drake, and none of the printing plates commissioned by the former was used. ¹⁰ After Streatfeild’s death, the plates presumably remained with the family until Mrs H Streatfeild, his daughter-in-law, donated the copper plates and woodblocks to the Society in 1890. ¹¹

Streatfeild was celebrated for his patronage and interests in architecture and woodwork. In the obituary, we read that he spent nearly 3,000 l. on the illustration of his unpublished work, ‘having several artists in his constant employment, whilst the armorial drawings were made on the wood-blocks by himself. Many copper-plates of portraits and monumental sculpture were also prepared’. ¹²

Since 1890 the copper plates have lain undisturbed at the Society, and interest in them gradually diminished. In 2022, during the ongoing cataloguing of the Antiquaries’ woodblocks, a handwritten list of the Streatfeild blocks and plates was found in a drawer at Burlington House (fig 3). The list totals twenty-seven printing plates, all accounted for at the Society. Fifteen are stipple engraving bust portraits of notable people from Kent, ten depict architectural features of churches or views of houses and one reproduces ‘The Death of St Joseph’ from the original painting formerly at Calehill House in Kent (fig 4).

Fig 3. Anonymous, handwritten list of Thomas Streatfeild’s woodblocks and copper plates, nineteenth-century, pen and ink on paper. Image: © Reproduced with the permission of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Fig 4. Anonymous British, ‘Portrait of William Lambarde’, c 1800–48, etching and stipple on copper plate, 391 × 282mm. Image: © The Society of Antiquaries of London.

Various artists and engravers hired by Streatfeild are named on the plates; only nine are unsigned and unattributed. For example, the artist Herbert Luther Smith (1809–70) was employed to copy portraits of Kentish nobility and eight plates show his name, ‘HERBERT L. SMITH PINXT’ or ‘Drawn by Herbert L. Smith’. ¹³ Several engravers worked on the plates, but only twelve signed them. James Posselwhite (1798–1884) was responsible for four portraits; John Samuel Agar (1773–1858) illustrated in stipple the sepulchral monument of George Hart and Elizabeth Bowes and the portrait of Sir Roger Twysden. The famous mezzotint engraver Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835) engraved two plates with the portrait of Reverend Pennicott, one of which is cancelled. The remainder of the signed plates were engraved by landscape engraver John Roffe (1769–1850), Edward Scriven (1775–1841), John Henry Le Keux (1812–96) and A Rutley, about whom no information could be found.

The third large group of plates was engraved by William Fowler (1761–1832), comprising ninety-six large copper plates. Fowler was a successful builder and architect. Over the years he developed an interest in antiquities, especially Roman pavements and stained glass. The first plate that Fowler published depicts the Roman mosaic pavement found in Horkstow on the estate of Thomas Shirley (fig 5). ¹⁴ It was engraved by Fowler’s brother-in-law John Hill (1770–1850) after a sketch by the former in 1799. Following the publication of the first plate, Fowler taught himself to engrave to publish prints from the vast quantity of drawings he made. The prints were initially issued individually, but in 1804 and 1809 they were assembled into three sets. These sets consisted of one primary volume and two supplementary appendices, all dedicated to Joseph Banks (1743–1820), president of the Royal Society. Like the Streatfeild plates, Fowler’s remained with his heirs after his death. Then the grandson, Joseph Thomas Fowler, bequeathed them to the Antiquaries in 1891:

From the family of the late Joseph Fowler, Esq., of Winterton, through the Rev. J. T. Fowler, F. S. A.– The whole of the copperplates, many of them unpublished, engraved by the late William Fowler, of Winterton, for his great work on Roman Pavements, stained glass, etc. ¹⁵

Fig 5. William Fowler, ‘Roman Mosaic Pavement (Horkstow, Lincolnshire)’, 1799, etching on copper plate, 649 × 471mm. Image: © The Society of Antiquaries of London.

The provenance of the remaining thirty-one plates is varied. Nine were commissioned to illustrate articles in the Antiquaries’ journal Archaeologia, two are from Vetusta Monumenta, one is a form for the election of a Fellow and another one depicts a meeting of the Society at Somerset House. Those plates date between 1839 and 1870, except for the engraved form, which is probably eighteenth-century. Three of the largest copper plates ever produced are also at Burlington House. They were commissioned to Basire between 1781 and 1788 to reproduce the paintings The Field of the Cloth of Gold, The Procession for the Coronation of Edward VI from the Tower of London to Westminster and The Embarkation of King Henry VIII at Dover. While the first of those three plates was catalogued and digitised some years ago, the other two were rediscovered recently.

Two further plates need mentioning: the portrait of Sir John Hawkwood (c 1327–94) and that for a menu card. The first shows the half-length equestrian portrait of Hawkwood, an English soldier who served as a mercenary in France during the Hundred Years’ War and in Italy during the Pisan–Florentine War. The portrait was engraved by Thomas Patch (1725–82) after the full-length painting by Paolo Uccello (1397–1475) in the Duomo in Florence (fig 6). The plate was donated to the Society by the Scottish antiquary David Dalrymple (1726–92) in 1771, but was not printed until 1780. On 29 January of that year, the Council decided to alter the lettering at the bottom of the plate to the current version, ‘SOCIETATI ANTIQ. LONDINI DS. DAVID DALRYMPLE DE HAILES D.D.D. TPatch 1771’. It was also established to print off 500 impressions for the Fellows and for sale at 1s and 6d. ¹⁶

Fig 6. Thomas Patch after Paolo Uccello, ‘Portrait of Sir John Hawkwood’, 1771, etching and engraving on copper plate, 335 × 233mm. Image: © The Society of Antiquaries of London.

The second and last plate of this brief survey is a template for a dinner menu card. It shows the coat of arms of Joseph Mayer Montefiore (1816–80), who lived in London at 4 Great Stanhope Street, as confirmed by the lettering on the plate (fig 7). The arms are a cedar tree between mounts of flowers proper and a dagger erect proper, between two mullets of six points gold. The castle might represent the East Cliff Villa, purchased by Moses Montefiore, Joseph’s ancestor, in 1831. However, it was the reverse of the copper plate that revealed a fascinating discovery. Though much damaged, it still shows the lettering of an old etching, Planche tirée à 40 Epreuves/dont 6 avec les initials/R. Gueraut, Impr. Decbre 1882 (‘Plate printed in 40 proofs/including 6 with the initials/R. Gueraut, Impr. December 1882’). The research revealed that the copper plate originally belonged to the French artist Alphonse Legros (1837–1911). It depicted his The Herb Burner, which was cancelled, presumably after the artist’s death. An impression of the whole cancelled copper plate is at the British Museum (fig 8). How the plate was engraved for a menu card and then entered the Antiquaries’ collections is unknown; however, it is hoped that new information will come forward thanks to the digitisation of the collection.

Fig 7. Anonymous, ‘Menu Card’, 1880s, etching on copper plate, 127 × 178mm. The image was flipped for ease of reading. Image: © The Society of Antiquaries of London.

Fig 8. Alphonse Legros, The Herb Burner, 1882, drypoint on paper, 127 × 175mm. Image: © The Trustees of the British Museum, London.

PRESERVING AND STORING THE PLATES

The storage history of the plates is somewhat foggy; however, the Society’s minutes show that the Vertue plates were stored in bespoke presses. ¹⁷ It is unknown where the plates were kept after the eighteenth century and after the move to Somerset House and later to Burlington House; however, a list of the plates in the Society’s possession was compiled. Before this research project, the Society’s plates were stored using various methods. The larger Fowler and Vertue plates were wrapped in corrugated cardboard and archival paper, which, in several instances, left marks on the metal. The Vertue plates reprinted in the late eighteenth century were cleaned and coated with a transparent resin layer in the 2000s. Then, they were packed in padded white envelopes. The Agas map plates were, and still are, stored in two cardboard boxes. Following their digitisation, they were additionally wrapped in acid-free tissue paper. The smaller plates were partly organised in plastic storage boxes with foam padding for each plate. The boxes had provisional, incomplete handwritten labels. The majority of the printing plates were stored in separate storage rooms, and some were on shelves.

The project highlighted the need for better, more efficient and conservation-safe storage. It must be said, however, that storing printing plates is an issue shared by many institutions that often struggle to find a suitable space for those heavy objects and have limited resources for their packing. In collaboration with Kate Bagnall, the Museum Collections Manager, it was decided to put as many plates as possible in plastic boxes with foam padding. Therefore, the plates were reorganised in those boxes according to their provenance, and the boxes were given new object labels. The plates that did not fit in the boxes were wrapped in new tissue paper and more suitable, long-term corrugated boxes were created for each.

Although the plates are in reasonably good condition, more than half would require some degree of conservation to remove residual ink, dust and corrosion. However, it may be argued that removing the ink without preserving a sample to analyse would destroy historical evidence. Furthermore, a clean metal plate is much more reflective, making it challenging to be photographed and studied, as discussed above. Nevertheless, conserving printing plates would ensure their survival for many more years and future generations of scholars. ¹⁸

RESEARCH RESULTS: MANUFACTURING AND ENGRAVING THE PLATES

The research of the Society’s plates brought to light much important information about their production and previous uses. The Vertue plates demonstrate the refined craftmanship of their engraver, as minimal corrections by repoussage were made. ¹⁹ Only two copper plates show the typical punch marks on the reverse, the ‘Cenotaph of Lord Darnley’ and ‘The Marriage Portrait of Charles I and Henrietta Maria’. The latter is the earliest copper plate in the Antiquaries’ collection. It was originally engraved by Robert van Voerst (1597–1636), royal engraver to Charles i, and it was also the largest plate he ever produced. It is unclear how Vertue obtained the plate, but he reworked it and removed van Voerst’s name, explaining the punch marks on the back. It is interesting to observe that the production of the eight plates for the Agas map proved much more challenging for Vertue. One of the plates is etched on both sides (fig 9). The reverse, however, is much more deeply etched, indicating that Vertue had left it too long in the acid bath and then decided to re-etch it on the other side. In general, the eight map plates are quite deeply etched, perhaps a sign that Vertue had not completely mastered the art of etching on pewter. Many of the plates have cracks where the acid biting has gone too deep. It is essential to note that the survival of a complete set of pewter plates is a rare occurrence, primarily since they were generally used for music printing and not for maps, which are more suited to harder metals that can endure longer print runs. ²⁰

Fig 9. George Vertue, ‘Civitas Londinum’ (Agas map), etching on pewter plate, 358 × 491mm, recto and verso. Image: © The Society of Antiquaries of London.

Compared to the almost perfect craftmanship of the Vertue matrices, Fowler’s plates clearly show that he was self-taught and learning to use engraving techniques like dust-grain aquatint. Eleven copper plates have signs of repoussage or burnishing on their back and four plates are either etched on both sides or have etching trials on the reverse. For example, the plate illustrating a stained glass from Lincoln Cathedral with two angels supporting the cross has three aquatint trials on the reverse. Two show foliage or decorative patterns and the third includes Fowler’s initials and a date (fig 10). It is fascinating to observe the obverse of the plates engraved on both sides and notice that the discarded side was usually too deeply bitten, like the Agas map plates. Lastly, the Streatfeild plates do not show any signs of alterations, apart from Roffe’s ‘Holwood House’ and its separate border.

Fig 10. William Fowler, ‘William Fowler’s Initials’, dust-grain aquatint on copper plate, 328 × 241mm (whole plate), detail of verso. Shelfmark LDSAL2022.2.57. Image: © The Society of Antiquaries of London.

Another aspect of the Society’s plates that was studied closely is the presence of coppersmith stamps. Vertue’s plates do not bear any coppersmith mark, confirming that the practice of stamping the plates began later in the eighteenth century. Twenty-four Streatfeild plates are stamped on their back, most marks belonging to well-known London coppersmiths. Nine came from the Hughes workshop, with the Peterborough Court address, where the firm operated between 1826 and 1838. ²¹ Six carry the stamp of William Eastwood (Harp Alley), George Harris’s partner, active 1832–49. Four plates came from Jane Large’s workshop, which she inherited from her late husband, Thomas Large’s son, founder of the firm. The famous and prolific Pontifex workshop provided two plates to Streatfeild (W. Pontifex, Sons & Wood). Another was manufactured by Harris, one by Benjamin Whittow, who apprenticed Harris, and a last one is stamped with the rather obscure name ‘Shafe’ or ‘Shade’ in Littlemoorfield. ²² Lastly, thirty-five Fowler plates are stamped ‘G. HARRIS’, thirteen ‘WHITTOW & HARRIS’ and eight ‘B. WHITTOW & SON’. ²³

THE SOCIETY AND THE PLATES

During their first 150 years, the Society took great care and interest in their copper plates, promoting their upkeep and printing. In particular, several impressions of Vertue’s plates were taken towards the end of the eighteenth century. Following the purchase of the plate of Charles i and Henrietta Maria in 1776, the Antiquaries ordered

That 100 Impressions of the said Plate, with a like Number of the four following Plates, viz.

1 Henry VII & his Queen, Hen. VIII & Jane Seymour.

2 Procession of Q. Elizabeth to Hunsdon House.

3 The Cenotaph of Lord Darnley, James I […]

4 Battle of Carberry Hill

be rolled off, ready for Delivery to the Members […] with a like Number of the Map of London in Queen Elizabeth’s time. ²⁴

Concurrently, it was also decided to print four hundred impressions to be grouped in sets for the Fellows. The Council minutes also provide a detailed account of the expenses to print the above five plates and the Agas map, as well as the price for the sale of each print or set. Such plans, however, were halted by a shortage of paper in London, which only allowed for a limited number of impressions of the Vertue plates for the use of the Fellows. ²⁵ The issue protracted until April 1778, when Mr Hixon, the Society’s plate printer, delivered all the requested impressions of the five historical prints to the Antiquaries. ²⁶

Since 1777 the Society had begun advertising the sale of ‘Plates engraved by the late Mr George Vertue now the property of the Society of Antiquaries’ alongside the volumes of Vetusta Monumenta, which prints could also be bought individually. Initially, only one engraving was promoted: ‘Print of Le Champ de Drap d’Or, or the Royal interview of Henry VIII and Francis I between Guines and Ardres, in the Year 1520; with an Historical Description thereof in Letter Press. Price 2 l. 2 s.’. ²⁷

The print, also known as ‘The Field of the Cloth of Gold’, depicts the festivities that followed the meeting between Henry viii and François i, King of France (fig 11). Basire engraved the copper plate after a drawing by Edward Edwards (1738–1806), who had copied the original painting at Hampton Court. Two years later, in 1779, the Society added a second engraving to their prints on sale, the ‘Battle of the Solent’, again engraved by Basire. By 1782, the number of prints advertised in Archaeologia had increased exponentially, with twenty prints listed. ²⁸ Evidently, the Society decided to re-print more of the Vertue plates received in 1775. ²⁹

Fig 11. James Basire after Edward Edwards, The Field of the Cloth of Gold, 1771–73, etching on paper, 657 × 1,238mm. Image: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

From 1777 until 1980 the sale of ‘Historical Prints’ was regularly advertised in the Antiquaries’ journal. However, with the years passing, it would appear that the Society did not continue printing from the plates, as the list of prints on sale shortened progressively, as explained by the note ‘Missing Numbers are out of print’. The last mention of prints for purchase is found in the sixtieth volume of the journal, where the following paragraph replaced the list: ‘Thirty historical prints were published by the Society in the mid-nineteenth century and a number of these are still available at prices ranging from £1.50 to £2.50. For details, apply to the General Secretary as above.’ ³⁰

Curiously, the price of the individual engravings remained unchanged for over a century despite their increase in value and inflation. Although the prints from the Vertue plates were altered by adding lettering and plate numbers and were taken twenty years after the engraver’s death, they still are relatively early impressions and, hence, quite valuable. The knowledge of the prints’ history was lost and eventually they were stored off-site. ³¹ In 1990 the Society decided to re-issue prints from the copper plates of ‘The Field of the Cloth of Gold’ and ‘The Embarkation of Henry VIII from Dover’, with the assistance of printer Charles Newington.

By arrangement with a publisher, prints of The Field of the Cloth of Gold and The Embarkation of Henry VIII from Dover, taken directly from the original eighteenth-century copper-plates belonging to the Society were made available for purchase in a limited edition with notes written by the librarian. ³²

Finally, in the early 2000s, the Vertue plates were cleaned and packed in padded envelopes, where they remained until the digitisation project. It would appear that no other plate was ever printed for the Society, although future research might tell us otherwise.

The issue of reprinting from historical matrices is complex and long debated, and this is not the place to fully explore the matter. ³³ However, one last consideration regarding the restrikes of the Antiquaries’ plate should be briefly made. The provenance and, above all, storage and subsequent state of conservation of printing plates have always greatly influenced the value of a print. Impressions of plates from renowned collectors or by famous engravers, such as Vertue or Rembrandt, have maintained a high commercial value throughout the centuries. Nevertheless, the state of conservation and wear of a plate can significantly impact the quality of a print. For example, the case of Rembrandt’s plates is notorious as publishers continued to print and rework them until the twentieth century, transforming the etchings into mere shadows of their original beauty and introducing into the market impressions that may no longer be considered originals. ³⁴

Although some institutions have continued printing their plates for centuries for commercial purposes, such as the Calcografia Nazionale in Rome (now Istituto Centrale per la Grafica) and the Louvre Chalcographie, the eighteenth-century reprints from the Antiquaries’ plates are very different since the Antiquaries only reprinted those copper plates for a minimal period of time and number of impressions. ³⁵ Those prints represent valuable historical evidence of the Society’s attitude towards their plates, and the impressions are interesting objects because comparisons between states and papers can be made.

THE ANTIQUARIES’ PLATES IN THE CONTEXT OF SCIENTIFIC AND ANTIQUARIAN ILLUSTRATIONS

The potential of printed images has been known and exploited by humanists and the Protestant and Catholic Churches since the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century. With the spreading of printing presses throughout Europe and the increase in the number of engravers, illustrated books became progressively widespread as authors realised that images were an unmatched asset to their texts. In the seventeenth century, illustrations using engravings instead of woodcuts became crucial for antiquarian and scientific studies, as explained by William Stukeley (1687–1765):

It is evident how proper engravings are to preserve the memory of things, and how much better an idea they convey to the mind than written descriptions, which often not at all, oftener not sufficiently, explain them: beside, they present us with the pleasure of observing the various changes in the face of nature, of countries, and the like, through the current of time and vicissitude of things. ³⁶

It can be stated that, since its re-foundation, one of the Society of Antiquaries’ primary purposes was the production of engravings illustrating the Fellows’ finds and reproducing paintings. The collection of printing plates at Burlington House can be broadly categorised into four subject groups: monuments, small finds, portraits and reproductive engravings. Those four categories reflect the typical subjects of antiquarian illustrations between the second half of the seventeenth and early nineteenth centuries. Stukeley’s works played a pivotal role in the development of a new type of antiquarian illustration (fig 12). The engravings for Stukeley’s works, made after his own sketches, set the standard for all subsequent antiquarian illustrations, departing from the Renaissance style, where the artefacts were captured in minute detail. From the seventeenth century onwards, antiquarian and scientific illustrations adopted ‘scientific realism’, a more abstract way of depicting objects that captured only the essential details, enough to identify a plant species or a small find. ³⁷ The Archaeologia plates are a fitting example, as they illustrate sets of objects with similar features or from the same archaeological dig (fig 13). The same style can be seen in the illustrations for Philosophical Transactions, the Royal Society journal (fig 14), and for instance in the book by the British physician Matthew Baillie (1761–1823), A Series of Engravings Accompanied with Explanations which are Intended to Illustrate the Morbid Anatomy of Some of the Most Important Parts of the Human Body (1799), whose plates illustrate from one up to thirteen specimens (fig 15). ³⁸ In the Advertisement, Baillie explained what type of illustrations the reader will find in the book:

It does not seem useful to represent by engravings, every diseased change of structure to which the internal and more important parts of the body are subject. Some are of so little consequence as not to be worth representing; others can be so clearly understood from description, as not to require being illustrated by engravings; and other still may be of such a nature as not to be capable of being adequately represented by this kind of art. ³⁹

Fig 12. After William Stukeley, Prospect of Martinsal Hill, a Roman Camp 6 July 1723 & A prospect in Somersetshire 19 Aug. 1723, 1723, etching on paper, 175 × 275mm. Image: © The Trustees of the British Museum, London.

Fig 13. James Basire, Anglo-Saxon Umbo, Spearheads and Buckle, (left) etching and aquatint on copper 281 × 229mm; (right) pen and ink and sepia wash 335 × 235mm. Image: © The Society of Antiquaries of London.

Fig 14. James Basire, ‘Plate X: A Tusk and Fore Tooth of the Hippopotamus’, 1813, hand-coloured etching on paper. Image: from Phil Trans of the Roy Soc of Lond 103.

Fig 15. William Skelton after William Clift, ‘Plate 2: Alterations of the Heart Valve Structures’, etching on paper. Image: from M Baillie, A Series of Engravings: Accompanied with Explanations, Which Are Intended to Illustrate the Morbid Anatomy of Some of the Most Important Parts of the Human Body (1799).

Baillie’s decision not to illustrate the entirety of the specimens further exemplifies the progression from detailed Renaissance engravings to the more selective ‘scientific realism’ of the seventeenth century, reflecting a shift in knowledge representation, emphasising clarity and essential features over exhaustive detail.

Over time, not only did the way of capturing the specimens’ features change, but so did the techniques used to make prints. Although Vertue advocated for the exclusive use of line engraving (despite him using etching for backgrounds and landscapes) for its close association with sculpture, later printmakers began to use etching and other faster techniques such as aquatint and then lithography, which allowed them to create more lifelike textures (see fig 10). ⁴⁰

The Society of Antiquaries’ prints documented critical historical sites or objects and functioned as a ‘surrogate for, and means thereby of preserving, the physical artefact’. ⁴¹ That attitude, aimed at creating records of historical artefacts and buildings deemed at risk of destruction, was shared by many antiquaries of the eighteenth century. One of the keenest was perhaps Richard Rawlinson (1690–1755), a Fellow of the Society, nonjuror, editor of various county histories and avid book and art collector, who

considered printing to be one of the most effective ways of preserving the contents of manuscripts. […] His use of the printing press as a preservation medium can be seen in his private printing of non-juring consecration instruments and in the facsimile reprint of Laud’s Star Chamber speech of 1637 with Archbishop Williams’ notes inserted in the margin. Rawlinson considered copperplate engraving, using the rolling press, an excellent device to preserve and publicise. He wrote about one curiosity ‘I shall be glad to be a purchaser, and that only in order to multiply it by the Engraver’s Tool’. ⁴²

Thanks to the contributions of the Fellows, the Society was able to commission some of the largest plates ever made reproducing important historical paintings, like the three engraved by Basire. Two of those paintings are currently at Hampton Court, while the third, The Coronation of Edward VI from the Tower of London to Westminster on February 19 ^th , 1547, was destroyed in a fire at Cowdray Park in 1793. Therefore, Basire’s engraving is the only record of that work, fulfilling the purpose of preserving the artwork from demolition, as Richard Gough (1735–1809) underlined in a letter to The Gentleman’s Magazine in 1788. ⁴³ The relevance of the Antiquaries’ prints is highlighted by the Society’s decision to sell their prints from the 1770s onwards, indicating that they were valued and sought after by collectors. Today, impressions of Vetusta Monumenta can be found in many collections and museums, like those bequeathed by Francis Douce (1757–1834) to the Bodleian Library in 1834 or those donated by various individuals to the Victoria and Albert Museum or the National Portrait Gallery.

Other learned societies regularly commissioned prints to illustrate their journals and publications. The Royal Society was particularly active in that aspect, and many members of the early Royal Society, such as John Evelyn (1620–1706), were proficient in drawing or engraving. ⁴⁴ The journal Philosophical Transactions was richly illustrated, and several engravings were made by Basire, the Antiquaries’ official engraver. It should be noted in passing that societies and learned men also commissioned woodcuts; ⁴⁵ however, despite the higher cost, engraving was usually the chosen medium due to the possibility of creating more accurate figures.

As discussed, most of the Antiquaries’ plates reproduce antiquities of various kinds. However, a considerable number of the plates are portraits, especially from the Streatfeild and Vertue collections. Although at first portraiture may not seem to be a typical antiquarian genre, portraits ‘were a form of “antiquity” that could both illustrate the past and reveal something of the character, or personal history, of the illustrious’, as Rosemary Sweet emphasised. ⁴⁶ The Royal Society also commissioned and received portraits, both painted and engraved. ⁴⁷ Wealthy collectors or authors often commissioned engraved portrait plates depicting either the commissioner or other personalities such as historians, scientists, philosophers, etc. Most commonly, those portraits were used as frontispieces or book illustrations, like the Streatfeild plates, but they could also be used as celebratory or self-celebratory artworks to distribute among intellectual circles, like Rawlinson’s mezzotint plate portraying his late father, Sir Thomas Rawlinson (1647–1708) (fig 16). ⁴⁸

Fig 16. George Vertue after Godfrey Kneller, Portrait of Sir Thomas Rawlinson, 1719, engraving on paper, 470 × 289mm. Image: © National Portrait Gallery, London.

Many antiquaries and scientists commissioned illustrations for their publications. For example, Rawlinson commissioned about two hundred copper plates for his many antiquarian books and editions of other people’s work or to reproduce objects from his collections, such as coins, marbles or manuscripts (fig 17). The quality of engraved illustrations varied significantly based on the cost each commissioner was prepared to meet, which depended on the size of the copper plate and the engraver’s skills. Rawlinson regularly employed Robert Sheppard (active 1712–40), who was paid between seven and fifteen shillings per plate, a much cheaper engraver compared to Michael Burghers (1647/8–1727), who usually received over £1 for each plate when employed by the Oxford University Press. ⁴⁹ The illustrations for highly illustrated publications were almost always funded through subscription, like the Posthumous works of the learned Sir Thomas Browne (1712), as stated in the Preface, ‘Thanks to those worthy Persons who have been pleas’d to adorn this Work by the Plates they have generously contributed’, and further reiterated by the inscriptions on each plate. Likewise, the monumental editorial project of Vetusta Monumenta became possible only thanks to the Fellows’ contributions and membership.

Fig 17. Anonymous, seal inscribed ‘Edmundi Ducis Somersetie’, engraving on copper plate (left), engraving on paper (right), 79 × 78mm (Bodleian Library). Image (left): © Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford. Image: Printed in The English Topographer (1720), 161.

Because of their cost, engraved illustrations were an investment for those who commissioned them. Therefore, their production was usually closely monitored. The Antiquaries verified the engraver’s work at each meeting, during which the artist would discuss his progress and bring proofs. For instance, on 20 February 1752 Vertue showed

again the proof Print from the Plate of the ancient Wooden Church near Greensted in Essex with the Directors Corrections and Additions. thereto. Resolved that it now be printed off: And That three Prints be Delivered to Each Member [fig 18]. ⁵⁰

Fig 18. George Vertue, ‘An antient wooden church at Greensted in Essex’, 1751, engraving and etching on paper, 310 × 443 mm. Image: © The Trustees of the British Museum, London.

And again, at the meeting of 18 May 1752, he brought the proofs of the Roman pavements found at Winterton and Roxby. ⁵¹ Individual patrons followed a very similar procedure to ensure that the illustrations for their books were as desired. Like Streatfeild, who employed various artists, the Leeds antiquary Ralph Thoresby (1658–1725) regularly visited the engravers and printers employed for his Ducatus Leodiensis (1715) to give directions and correct proofs. ⁵² In some exceptional instances, the author was directly responsible for the illustrations, as in the case of Martin Lister (1639–1712), who made the sketches from his specimens and, remarkably, trained his two daughters to draw and engrave so that the illustrations for his Historiae Conchyliorum (1685–92) would be as accurate as possible. ⁵³

Overall, the collection at Burlington House offers an overview of the practice of engraved illustrations throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Society of Antiquaries, through its commissioning of engravings, played a crucial role in preserving and documenting historical artefacts and monuments. This practice was not only about capturing and sharing visual information but also about safeguarding cultural heritage against potential loss. By studying the Antiquaries’ plates, one can observe how the styles and techniques evolved over time: from line engraving to faster methods such as aquatint, which enabled more realistic representations, further enhancing the archival quality of these images, and from the highly detailed reproductive engravings created by Vertue to the almost minimalist portraits in the Streatfeild collection. Moreover, the Antiquaries’ printing plates are an excellent comparison for those interested in studying antiquarian and scientific illustrations, as they reflect the practices of antiquaries and scientists between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

CONCLUSION

The research and digitisation of the Antiquaries’ plates yielded valuable insights into the provenance, manufacture and bibliographical use of these artefacts. The project addressed a significant gap in knowledge regarding a collection that had remained unstudied for more than two centuries. The investigation revealed that the plates could be categorised into three distinct provenance groups associated with the notable figures of Vertue, Fowler and Streatfeild. The meticulous cataloguing and digitisation efforts shed light on the previously underestimated size of the collection and its historical significance within the broader context of the Society’s holdings.

The Vertue plates, dating back to the eighteenth century, showcased the refined skills of their engraver. On the other hand, Fowler’s plates demonstrated a self-taught artist’s journey, with evidence of experimentation in engraving techniques, including the adoption of methods such as dust-grain aquatint. While the unpublished Streatfeild plates do not tell us much about their engravers, they are precious evidence of a large, aborted county history publication.

The research highlighted the care and interest shown by the Society in the upkeep and printing of the plates during the first one hundred and fifty years of their possession. The printing of impressions, the plans for selling those and the challenges faced provided a historical perspective on the practical aspects of managing a collection of plates. The presence of coppersmith stamps on the plates added another layer of detail to the study. The chronological evolution of this practice, starting later in the eighteenth century, was documented, and the stamps were traced back to well-known London coppersmiths, contributing to our understanding of the production process.

Last but not least, the project may be seen as a model for similar endevours. In particular, it is anticipated that the cataloguing and digitisation methods will serve as provisional guidelines for institutions holding printing plates. It is hoped that future research will include further exploration of the plates’ connections with other parts of the Society’s collections and potential collaborations with scholars specialising in print history and, in particular, in the history of antiquarian illustration. Additionally, ongoing efforts to digitise the Society’s archival documentation and works on paper will ensure the longevity of the knowledge gained through this project and open up new research avenues. In essence, this research stands as a testament to the importance of delving into the hidden corners of historical collections, bringing to light treasures that contribute significantly to our understanding of the past and give new value to collection objects. To conclude, as new research on printing plates emerges, it is paramount that we find better ways to describe and catalogue them so that they can be compared to their prints and publications.