Gilpin, William

OBSERVATIONS RELATIVE CHIEFLY TO PICTURESQUE BEAUTY, MADE IN THE YEAR 1776, ON SEVERAL PARTS OF GREAT BRITAIN; PARTICULARLY THE HIGH-LANDS OF SCOTLAND [TWO VOLUMES BOUND IN ONE]

London: R. Blamire, 1792. Second Edition. Octavo, iii-vii, xi, 221 pp with plates (Vol. 1); 195, xvi with plates (Vol. 2). Good; bound in contemporary green leather with marbled endpapers, Greek key design gilt tooling to covers and gilt title to spine, wear, cracks and rubbing to spine and edges, bumping and tears to corners; binding tight; gilt text block clean; pages clean; 24 plates present and intact (Vol. 1); 16 plates present and intact (Vol. 2), with some offsetting to previous and subsequent pages; inscription on ffep "Harriet Montagu Jan'y the 19th 1800 the gift of Lord Montagu Dalkeith House" and on title facing page "Herbert [illeg.] Jan 19 - 1902 From Mother."

1360417

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NOTES

William Gilpin (1724 – 1804) was an English artist, Church of England cleric, schoolmaster and author. He is best known as a travel writer who originated the idea of the picturesque. Gilpin's writings influenced many novelists of the late 18th century, who employed his theories in describing craggy landscapes, majestically crumbling ruins, and other such emotionally stirring scenery.

Jane Austen makes use of affectedly exaggerated language and dramatic settings in Northanger Abbey to play up the perils of navigating Georgian society, and refers to the pastime of drawing and how it relates to the picturesque in Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma to gently poke fun at her characters.