A Critical Review of the Publick Buildings, Statues and Ornaments in and about London and Westminster. To which is Prefix'd the Dimensions of St. Peter's Church at Rome, and St. Paul's Cathedral at London.
Place and Imprint: London: Printed by C. Ackers for J. Wilford and J. Clarke, 1734.
Edition: First edition.
Bibliographical References: ESTC T56391; NCBEL II, 798: "Doubtfully attributed to Ralph."
Condition: Text a little foxed; fine copy.
Book ID: 29117
Physical Description
8vo, recent panelled calf period style by Phil Dusel, red morocco spine label, gilt lettering. [viii], viii, 119, [1] pp. Folding table. With half-title.Comments
A detailed travel guide to London's architecture, monuments, fashionable squares, and statues from "mere Gothic heaps of stone, without form or order" to the stately works of Inigo Jones, Christopher Wren and the influence of Venetian Andrea Palladio. The entertaining narrative begins in the center of London and meanders out to Westminster Abbey and further still to the recently built Grosvenor Square. In the Poet's Corner at Westminster, the narrator comments on the absence of John Milton and William Shakespeare, and of Grosvenor Square he writes that "there is no harmony or agreement in the parts which compose it." The Critical Survey has traditionally and convincingly been attributed to American James Ralph, who was born in Philadelphia around 1700, and in 1725 moved to London with his friend Benjamin Franklin. Ralph was an erudite and prolific Grub Street author, pamphleteer, playwright, and poet who had a wide range of interests that is reflected in the variety of subjects he wrote about. According to Franklin he “was ingenious and shrewd, genteel in his manners and extremely eloquent . . .” His guide to the architecture of London went through several subsequent revised editions. One could easily read it on a walking tour through London today.Price: $850.00
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