Engraved dedication leaf to Lord Scarsdale.

First issued in 1774 with title: Book of ceilings in the stile of the antique grotesque.

French imprint: A Londres; : et publies au depens de l'auteur.

Includes engraved plates numbered I-XLVIII on [49] leaves representing Richardson's ceiling designs; plate XLVIII is a double leaf.

Richardson's designs were inspired by fragments of painted and stucco ceilings in Rome and Naples which we had studied with James Adam on the Grand Tour from 1760-1763. Cf. Bernard Quaritch Catalogue 1254, p. 70-71.

Richardson was employed as a draughtsman by the Adam brothers and, according to Charles Wood, "... more than his other works, this is in the mainstream of the Adam style."--Charles Wood Architectural Catalogue 57, #426.

The subscriber's list includes members of the royal family, the nobility and gentry, architects in Britain and abroad, and by some significant furniture makers of the period including Chippendale, Linnell, Ince, and Mayhew. Cf. Harris.

Millard states that Richardson's 'Ceilings' has the distinction of being one of the very first to be subscribed for by the Royal Academy as an institution. Cf. Millard Architectural Collection, British books, p. 256.

Plates are uncolored; apparently copies "could be had with the figures painted, the ornaments and mouldings shaded and touched up like finished drawings" for 48 guineas (1 guinea a plate). Cf. Harris.

Physical description: [4], ii, ii, 11, [1] p., [49] leaves of plates : chiefly ill. ; 57 cm.

Citations/References: Harris, E. Brit. architectural books and writers, 735

Citations/References: ESTC (RLIN), T090834

Citations/References: Archer, J. Literature of Brit. domestic architecture, 428.2

Citations/References: Berlin. Ornamentstichsammlung, 3995