FIRST VOLUME OF BUCK'S ANTIQUITIES 1774.

BUCK, SAMUEL & BUCK, NATHANIEL. Buck's Antiquities; or Venerable Remains of above Four Hundred Castles, Monasteries, Palces, &c. &c. in England and Wales. With near One Hundred Views of Cities and Chief Towns. By Messrs. Samuel and Nathaniel Buck, who were employed upwards of thirt-two years in the undertaking. In three volumes. London, D. Bond, 1774.
Folio. 445 x 280 mm. VIII, 9-24, (1) pp. 1 engraved portrait, 1 engraved extra title, 1 folding engraved map, 224 engraved plates, of which 2 folding. Worn contemporary calf with gilt spine, red and black labels and gilt-framed boards. A few minor stains or smudges in plate margins, otherwise clean and crisp. Armorial bookplates of Sir Osald Mosley Bart., Rolleston House; Marquis of Donegall and Geoffrey Ingold.

Volume I only. First collected edition, compiled by Robert Sayer. Samuel Buck (1696-1779) and his brother Nathaniel Buck (dead between 1759 and 1774) were British engravers and printmakers. They began their "Antiquities" project in 1724 and travelled through England and Wales for many years, and published their prints under different titles. A number of artists were emplyed to augment the final plates, e. g. Thomas Rosse, Hubert-François Gravelot, Jean-Baptiste Claude Chatelain, Peter Monamy, probably Samuel Scott, John Harris, and Gerard Vandergucht. Sometime before 1774 the plates were acquired by Robert Sayer, who reissued them in the three-volume edition, of vwhich this is vol. I.

See description.