Colen Campbell

Blenheim

22 x 11 inches

The 'Vitruvius' was a large collection of plates, mostly of English country houses, begun by Colen Campbell to celebrate the English Baroque of Vanbrugh, Hawksmoor and Archer, and, more significantly, to promote the Palladian revival and his own designs. Most of the plates were engraved by Hulsbergh after Campbell, Inigo Jones et al. The plates were published in London in 1715, 1717 and 1725. Many of the famous houses and buildings that were included survive to this today, including all of the above, but there are also plans for houses which never left the drawing board. Further series were issued by John Woolfe and James Gandon in 1767 and 1771.