FROM BOSWELL'S ANTIQUITIES: 'READING ABBEY in BERKSHIRE', COPPER PLATE, MATTED

In 1785, Henry Boswell wrote The Antiquities of England and Wales Displayed: Being A Grand Repository of Elegance, Taste And Entertainment: Containing Descriptions Of All The Most Remarkable Elegant And Magnificent Ruins And Ancient Buildings. The collection came to be known as Boswell's Antiquities and, in 1786, the publisher Alexander Hogg (best known for his publication of the journals of Captain Cook) published a series of copper-plate engravings of the images. He published each one in lots of 100 and originally published them uncolored. As they sold well, they were later reproduced with the application of watercolor.

This one is 'Reading Abbey, in Berkshire - Plate 2'. The image here is a scan.

It is a fine copper-plate engraved view of Reading Abbey, which was built by Henry I in 1121 and remains a preserved ruin in the centre of Reading. It was purchased at an antique shop in London in 1975. I don't know what its exact date is. It has been stored flat in a drawer since; it is still in the original wrapper.

It is 6 ½" x 4 ¼". It is printed on good quality hand-laid paper.

Double-matted in a dark moss-green over-mat and ready to frame. The finished size is 10 ½" x 8 1/8".