WORSLEY (Sir Richard). Museum Worsleyanum; or a Collection of Antique Basso-Relievos, Bustos, Statues, and Gems; with Views of Places in the Levant. Taken on the Spot in the Year MDCCLXXXV. VI. and VII.1824

London: Published by Septimus Prowett, Second edition, 2 vols., folio (375 x 270 mm), 6, [2], 160, [2]; [4], 65, [1]pp., text in English and Italian, titles with engraved vignettes, 2 engraved frontispieces and 149 engraved plates (several double-page or folding), illustrations in the text, some occasional spotting or offsetting but overall a nice clean copy, expertly bound to style in half green crushed morocco, marbled boards, spines tooled in gilt, a handsome set. Magnificent catalogue of antique sculpture and gems, including views of the Parthenon and other Greek temples, the Pyramids and Haghia Sophia in Constantinople. Sir Richard Worsley (1751-1805) was a politician and art collector who travelled widely in Greece and Asia Minor in 1785-87 and was later British Resident at Venice 1794-97. He was the first British traveller to transport works of art from Greece back to England, where he displayed his collection of antiquities at his house Appuldurcombe in the Isle of Wight. According to Blackmer, this work ranks alongside those of Stuart and Revett and Cockerell in terms of importance and scholarship. Only 250 copies of this second edition were printed by William Nicol at the Shakspeare Press. Provenance: From the Library of the Late William St Clair with his signature in pencil on endpapers. Blackmer, 1842.