| Method | Copper engraved with etching |
| Artist | Basire, James |
| Published | J. Basire Sculp. [London, c.1735-1745] |
| Dimensions | 385 x 480 mm |
| Notes |
A plan of the Flemish city of Douai, now in northern France, and the fortifications surrounding it during the War of the Spanish Succession. The map is highly detailed, showing topography, key sites, and place names. The title is enclosed in an ornate baroque cartouche, and is also titled below the image 'Plan of the City of Doway, For Mr. Tindal's Continuation of Mr. Rapin's History of England.' The map was made by James Basire for the Histoire d'Angleterre, ten elaborate volumes written by Paul Rapin de Thoyras (1661-1725) and published between 1724-27. The work was translated and added to by Reverend Nicholas Tindal (1687-1774) in the early eighteenth century. This particular map is from this English edition. James Basire was apprenticed to the engraver Richard William Seale and afterwards travelled to Italy with the artist and engraver Roger Dalton. By the 1760s he had established a successful engraving practice. In 1755 Basire was appointed engraver to the Society of Antiquaries and after that time documentary or pictorial antiquarian engraving formed the majority of his work. Basire is best remembered for his 1770 engraving of the historical painting The Field of the Cloth of Gold (c.1550-80) that depicts the festivities following the meeting of Henry VIII with the French King Francis I in 1520. This was the largest engraving ever made and took Basire over two years to complete. Paul de Rapin de Thoyras (1661-1725) was a French author, and one of the foremost proponents of Whig history of the early eighteenth century. His Histoire d'Angleterre, though written in French, featured as its dedication an address to George I of England. The ten volume work covered British history from the time of the Ancient Britons to the reign of William and Mary. The Reverend Nicolas Tindal (1687-1774) was an English clergyman and fellow of Trinity College Oxford, and the nephew of the influential deist Matthew Tindal. He is best remembered as the translator of de Rapin's Histoire d'Angleterre, to which he added a continuation covering the history of the Kingdom from the reign of James II to that of George II. Condition: Tear into plate edge at base, not affecting map. Pressed centre fold as issued |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £150.00 |
| Stock ID | 15155 |