Strawberry Hill, The Renowned Seat Of Horace Walpole. Mr. George Robins Is Honoured By Having Been Selected By The Earl Of Waldegrave, To Sell By Public Competition, The Valuable Contents Of Strawberry Hill, And It May Fearlessly Be Proclaimed As The Most Distinguished Gem That Has Ever Adorned The Annals Of Auctions. It Is Definitely Fixed For Monday, The 25th Day Of April, 1842, And Twenty-Three Following Days (Sundays Excepted), And within will be found a repast for the Lovers of Literature and the Fine Arts, of which bygone days furnish no previous example, and it would be in vain to contemplate it in times to come. - The Catalogue (at 7s. each) will admit Four Persons to the Public View, and be a passport to the Purchaser throughout the Sale; they may be had at "Galignani's Journal," in Paris; of Mr. I.A.G. Weigel, of Leipsic; at Strawberry Hill; at the Auction Mart; and at Mr. George Robins' Offices, Covent Garden. A few copies are printed upon large paper, at 12s. each. The Private view will commence on the 28th Day of March, and the Public will be admitted on Monday, April 4th.

George Henry Robins

RA Collection: Book

Record number

06/3062

Author

Variant Title

Catalogue Of The Classic Contents Of Strawberry Hill

Imprint

(London:: G. Robins,, 1842.)

Physical Description

xxiv, 250 p., add. engr. t.pl., frontis. (port.); illus.; 266 mm. (Quarto.)

Contents

[Blank leaf, frontis., add. engr. t.pl., t.p.] - Conditions Of Sale - Prefatory Remarks [with illus.] - Arrangement Of The Auction - [Text]; [colophon].

Responsibility Note

The frontispiece is signed as 'Lithographed by G. Madeley, 3, Wellington St, Strand From a Painting at Strawberry Hill, by Eckhardt, in 1754.' The added engraved titleplate is signed as drawn by W. Alfred Delamotte and engraved by Landells; and carries the printers' imprint of Smith And Robins. Some in-text illustrations are signed by WAD and/or E. Landells.

The text printer is named in the colophon: 'Smith And Robins, Printers, King Street, Long Acre.'

References

A.T. Hazen, A bibliography of Horace Walpole (1948; repr. 1973); P. Sabor, Horace Walpole: a reference guide (1984). On Walpole as collector see M. Brownell, The Prime Minister of taste: a portrait of Horace Walpole (2001).

Summary Note

The added engraved title reads 'Catalogue Of The Classic Contents Of Strawberry Hill Collected By Horace Walpole'.

The frontispiece shows the portrait of Horace Walpole by Eccardt. The in-text illustrations of the 'Prefatory Remarks' show works of art.

Walpole had bought Strawberry Hill in 1749, enlarged it in Gothic Revival style and filled it with his collections of prints of portraits, ancient coins, French porcelain and contemporary paintings. After his death the house and its contents went to the Waldegrave family, and it was the seventh earl who decided to auction off its treasures.The present work is the catalogue of Robins's most celebrated auction, when prices greatly exceeded the highest estimates. The sale was reported in detail in the newspapers, and prompted Crofton Coker to bring out a spoof catalogue of 'Mr Triptolemus Scattergood's sale of Gooseberry Hall ... the first of April and the 365 days following'.

Provenance

Inside the upper cover is pasted the amorial book-plate of Bryan W.I. Hall.

Binding Note

19th-century quarter green cloth, white papered boards, upper cover lettered 'A Catalogue Of The Contents Of Strawberry Hill Signed George Robins'.

Name as Subject

Subject

Works of art - Paintings - Villas - Country houses - Great Britain - Richmond-upon-Thames - Strawberry Hill - History - 18th century
Collections - Great Britain - 18th century
Auctions - Great Britain - London - 19th century
Catalogues - Auction catalogues - Sales catalogues - Great Britain - 19th century

Contributors

George Henry Robins, publisher
George Edward Madeley, lithographer
John Giles Eccardt, source artist
Alfred William Delamotte, draughtsman
Ebenezer Landells, engraver
Bryan W. I. Hall, previous owner
Smith and Robins (London), printer