Explore Collections Explore The Collections
You are here: CollectionsOnline  /  Description of the house and museum on the north side of Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, the residence of Sir John Soane, ...
  • Image Not Yet Available
Soane, Sir John (1753--1837). Designs for Public and Private Buildings - Criticism
[Description of the house and museum. 1832]
Description of the house and museum on the north side of Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, the residence of Sir John Soane, ...
London (Place), printed by James Moyes,, 1832.
xviii, [2], 27, [1] p., [18] pl. (4 etch., 12 litho.; numbered I-XVI, bis pl. XIV*, XV*), [1] hand-col. aquat. pl., [1] frontis. port. : [3] wd-engr. illus. ; 29.2 cm. (royal 4°)

Not published. 106 copies were printed by James Moyes on 22 March 1832 (6 at one time, 100 at another) for private distribution. (Archive 7/17/6). This 'edition' of the Description is essentially an abridged and updated version of the 1830 text (q.v.) with all but the two asterisked plates reprinted from that edition, pl. XVII ('Designs for the State Paper Office') omitted, and the letterpress being basically a reimpression of signatures B--C of the earlier 'edition' with new preliminaries, signatures D--E reset and the text shortened. The dedication to the Duke of Sussex is dated March 1832. The engraved plates are numbered in roman numerals and the lithographic plates in arabic numbers, and pl. 13 is misnumbered '14'. The wood-engravings appeared earlier in Britton's Union of architecture, sculpture, and painting, 1827 (q.v.), the first published description of the Museum, and are here pasted-down on pages [vii] and 27 as vignettes. Presumably, these were the only plates and wood-blocks Soane had managed to obtain from Britton by April/May 1832 when a number of copies were bound by Edwin Hutchinson (Archive 7/16/5; see also A.T. Bolton (ed.) Portrait, pp. 414-416, 499 and BAL 429). However, Soane did have several sets of printed plates of sections of the house from the Union and five of these, unnumbered, were pasted together by Hutchinson in November 1832 and bound in a limited number of copies in boards: i.e copies 2 and 3 (Archive 7/17/19). These grangerized copies have the misnumbered plate 14 corrected to 13 in manuscript, and may be regarded as a step towards the much larger 1835/36 Description (q.v.). These copies lack a frontispiece but have the hand-coloured aquatint of the Monk's Parlour from Britton's Union bound to face the title-page (copy 1) or the 'Introduction' (all except copies 4 and 14). Another step towards the expanded 1835/36 edition may be represented by the addition of Charles Turner's engraving of Francis Chantrey's bust of Soane as a frontispiece to the English text in copies of the 1832 Description bound with the French translation (q.v.), 58 copies of which were printed by Moyes at the end of October 1832 (Archive 7/17/4), and bound with copies of the description of Pitzhanger in French (q.v.) and English (q.v.) (copies 5--12). These eight copies of the Description retain the coloured aquatint facing p. [vii] but have the other plates bound with the French text. At least 50 copies of the 1832 Description were bound by Edwin Hutchinson on various dates in 1832 and 1833. (Archives 7/16/5; 7/17/9). Preparatory drawings and other material related to the Description of 1830, 1832 and 1835/36 can be found in SM Vol. 82; Vol. 85A; Drawer 60 Set 2; the Hobhouse Portfolio; and the British Library volume which is the subject of an article by Bianca De Divitiis, 'A newly discovered volume from the office of Sir John Soane', Burlington Magazine, CXIV, March 2003, pp. 180--197.

Copy Notes Copy 1: This copy lacks the portrait and has the coloured aquatint bound to face the title-page; pl. XV* is printed on India-paper.
Copies 2: 31.5 cm. Grangerized copy in boards having unnumbered states of five plates from Britton's Union bound or pasted in; lacking the portrait and with the coloured aquatint bound to face the Introduction (p. [vii]).
Copy 3: 31.5 cm. As copy 2.
Copy 4: 32.4 cm. Imperfect; wanting the half-title and all but plates 1, V, 6, 10, and without the wood-engraved vignettes. With one of the unnumbered plates from Britton's Union. Textual emendations in pencil in Soane's hand on pp. [1], 18--19; some words marked in ink on pp. 2, 5, 13. Further marginalia in pencil in the hand of A.T. Bolton, seventh curator of the Museum on pp. 24 and 26. The printed-paper label pasted down on the front cover is inscribed by Soane in ink House / 10 Nov. / 1832.
Copy 5: 30.2 cm. Bound (4) after copies of the description of Pitzhanger in French (q.v.) and English (q.v.) and the French translation (q.v.); see general note above. With the portrait plate and with the coloured aquatint bound to face p. [vii]; the other plates are bound with the French text.
Copy 6: 29.9 cm. As copy 5.
Copy 7: 29.9 cm. As copy 5.
Copy 8: 29.8 cm. As copy 5.
Copy 9: 29.8 cm. As copy 5.
Copy 10: 29.8 cm. As copy 5.
Copy 11: 29.7 cm. As copy 5.
Copy 12: 30.1 cm. As copy 5.
Copy 13: 29.5 cm. Bound (1) with the French translation. In this copy all the plates are bound with the English text.
Copy 14: A presentation copy from Soane to John Knight of the Bank of England with an inscription by him dated Nov. 1832 on the half-title and Knight's bookplate on green paper was presented to the Museum by Mrs E.E. Barnes whose undated letter to the Curator (probably Sir John Summerson) is loosely enclosed. This copy lacks the hand-coloured aquatint and the pasted-in wood-engravings, but has the engraved portrait bust of Soane.

Binding Copy 1: C19th red straight-grained morocco, blind-tooled and gilt-ruled outer borders, gilt corner ornaments, upper cover with red morocco central overlay-panel with blind-tooled borders, gilt-lettered 'Description / Of The / House & Museum / Of / Sir John Soane.'; gilt and blind-tooled and ruled spine, gilt-lettered 'Residence / Of / Sir John Soane'; gilt edges. A payment of 2s. for '1 Piece of Morrocco on side Lettering', 1 April 1832 to the binder Edwin Hutchinson may relate to this copy. (Archive 7/16/5).
Copies 2 and 3: Original C19th grey paper boards with printed-paper labels reading 'Description / Of The / House and Museum / Of John Soane, / Architect. / No. 13, Lincoln's Inn Fields.' pasted down on the front covers.
Copy 4: Original C19th paper boards, printed-paper label pasted down on front cover as on copies 2 and 3. At some point this copy was covered in blue paper.
Copies 5--9: Original C19th polished calf, blind roll-tooled within gilt double-ruled borders, upper cover gilt-lettered 'Description / Du / Domaine de Pitzhanger / Et De / La Maison / Et Du Musée / Lincoln's Inn Fields'; gilt double-ruled spine, maroon morocco spine-labels gilt-lettered 'Domaine / De / Pitzhanger' and 'La Maison Et Du / Musée / Lincoln's Inn / Fields'.
Copy 10: As copies 5--9 with additional blind-tooled panel and ornamental corners on the covers.
Copies 11--12: Original C19th red straight-grained morocco, gilt and blind-tooled borders, upper cover gilt-lettered 'Description / Du / Domaine de Pitzhanger / Et De / La Maison / De / Sir John Soane / Architecte / Lincoln's Inn Fields';gilt and blind-tooled spine, gilt-lettered 'Domaine / De / Pitzhanger' and 'La Maison Et Du / Musée / Lincoln's Inn / Fields'; gilt-tooled doublures with pale yellow paper centre panel and facing end-paper; gilt edges. Two copies of 'Residence and Pitzhanger fr & english' were bound by Edwin Hutchinson in 'morrocco elegant joints' for £3 0s. 0d., 22 April 1833. (Archives 7/17/19).
Copy 13: C19th diced russia, gilt and blind-tooled borders, upper cover gilt-lettered 'Description / Of The / House & Museum / Of / Sir John Soane'; gilt-tooled spine, gilt-lettered 'Residence Of / Sir John Soane'; gilt edges. This may be the copy of 'Residence royl 4to french & eng Russia gilt leaves' bound by Edwin Hutchinson for 19s., 8 November 1832. (Archives 7/17/19).
Copy 14: C19th calf, gilt and blind-tooled borders, blind-panelled, upper cover with black morocco central overlay-panel with blind-tooled borders, gilt-lettered 'Description / Of The / House & Museum/ Of / Sir John Soane.'.

Reference Number 6603

Additional Names Hutchinson, Edwin; Soane, Sir John (1753--1837). Designs for Public and Private Buildings - Criticism; Knight, John


If you have any further information about this book,
please contact us:

books@soane.org.uk