The Life and Works of Robert Wood: Classicist and Traveller (1717-1771) 9781803271767, 9781803271774, 1803271760

Table of contents :
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
List of Figures
Figure 1: Engraved portrait of Revd Joseph Spence, by George Vertue, after Isaac Whood, published 1746; 23.5 x 18.4cm (image courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. NPG D7818)
Figure 2: Portrait of Sir Horace Walpole, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1756-1757; oil on canvas, 127.2 x 101.8cm (image courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. NPG 6520)
Figure 3: George Victor Du Noyer, ‘Riverstown Castle. Parish of Tara in Meath. Sheet 31/4. Looking WNW. 13 Aug 1865’; pencil on paper (image courtesy Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland)
Figure 4: Photograph of Riverstown Castle, Co. Meath, looking WNW (photo David F. Kane, with permission of the owners)
Figure 5: View of the original Presbyterian manse, Summerhill, Co. Meath, where Robert Wood grew up (photo David F. Kane)
Figure 6: Six-inch Ordnance Survey Map from the 1840s showing the location of the Presbyterian manse, Summerhill, Co. Meath (image courtesy www.AskaboutIreland.ie)
Figure 7: Photograph of Revd Alexander Wood’s Grave, Agher Church, Co. Meath (photo David F. Kane)
Figure 8: Portrait of Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown, by Anthony Lee, c. 1730; oil on canvas; 52 x 33.5cm (formerly in the collection of Sir Roy Strong, image courtesy of The Weiss Gallery, London)
Figure 10: Engraved portrait of James Dawkins, by James McArdall, 1760s, after James Stuart; 32.5 x 22.3cm (image courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. D34830)
Figure 9: Engraved portrait of Frances Egerton, 3rd Duke and 6th Earl of Bridgewater, after unknown artist, published 1766; 23.3 x 12.8cm (image courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. NPG D1100)
Figure 11: Tomb of Robert Wood, St Mary’s Burial Ground, Putney, London (photo Nick Blackburn, http://greented.co.uk/pages/london_25may18.php)
Figure 12: View of Robert Wood’s tomb, by Frederick, 3rd Earl of Bessborough, Stansted Park Library, Hampshire; watercolour (image courtesy the Trustees of the Stansted Park Foundation)
Figure 13: View of the Ruined City of Palmyra Taken from the North-East, Plate I, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)
Figure 14a: Upright of the Portico within the Court of the Temple, Plate XIV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) ( image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)
Figure 14b: Capital and Entablatures of the Order in the Foregoing Place, with the Plan of the Capital, Plate I, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)
Figure 15: Two Soffits, of One Piece of Marble Each, Plate XIX, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)
Figure 16a: Plan and Upright of the Arch Marked H, Plate XXII, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)
Figure 16b: View of the Arch from the West, Plate XXXV Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)
Figure 17a: Plan of the Great Temple, and of the Portico and Courts Leading to It, Plate III, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)
Figure 17b: Upright of the North Side of the Quadrangular Court, Similar to the South Side, Plate XIV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)
Figure 18: Upright of the Front of the Entire, in Its Present State, Plate XXV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)
Figure 19a: Upright of the North Side of the Quadrangular Court, Similar to the South Side, Plate XIV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy of Marsh’s Library, Dublin)
Figure 19b: View of the Inside of the Temple from the Door in Its Present State, Plate XXXV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)
Figure 20: Back of the Same (Temple of Venus) in Its Present State, Plate XLIV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)
Figure 21: Decorative headpiece, Thomas Blackwell, Enquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer (second edition, 1736) (photo David F. Kane, private collection)
Figure 22: Frontispiece, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)
Figure 23: Title page vignette depicting the death of Patroclus, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)
Figure 24: Map of Troy, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)
Figure 25: View of Ruined Bridge, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)
Figure 26: View of Ancient Bridge, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)
Figure 27: View of Ancient Ruins near Troy upon the Aegean Sea, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)
Figure 28: Tailpiece Depicting Trojans Mourning over the Body of Hector, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)
Figure 29: Entry for Robert Wood in the Index to Le Chevalier’s Description of the Plain of Troy (1791) (courtesy Google Books)
Figure 30: Portrait of Robert Wood, by Anthony Raphael Mengs, 1755; oil on canvas (courtesy private collection)
Figure 31: Engraving of Robert Wood, after Anthony Raphael Mengs; published 1818 (courtesy The Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved)
Figure 32: Portrait of Robert Wood, by Allan Ramsay, 1755; oil on canvas, 1755; 99.1 x 74.9cm (courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. 4868)
Figure 33: ‘James Dawkins and Robert Wood Esq. RS First Discovering Sight of Palmyra’. Engraved by John Hall, after Gavin Hamilton; published 12 May 1775, by J. Robson, London; 49.2 x 53.4cm (courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. D14542)
Figure 34: Engraving of the Monument of Philopappos, 1762, with Robert Wood in the background, facing the ruin (extreme right), by James Stuart and Nicholas Revett, Antiquities of Athens (1794 edition) (courtesy Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation Library)
Figure 35a: Engraving of Palmyra Temple of Bel, by J.A. Defehrt, Denis Diderot, L’Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné (1767) (private collection)
Figure 35b: Engraving of Palmyra Temple of Bel Compared with Plate XXXVI, Plan of the Sepulchre Marked I in Plate I, Plate, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (courtesy of Marsh’s Library, Dublin)
Figure 36: Photo of the ceiling of the entrance to the mansion at Osterley Park in the London Borough of Hounslow (photo Ethan Doyle White: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ceiling_detail_at_Osterley_Park.jpg)
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Introduction
Note on the Spelling, Terminology and Authorship
Eighteenth-Century British Travellers in the East
A British Extension of the Grand Tour
Motives for Undertaking the Eastern Voyage
Eighteenth-Century Interest in the East
The Popularity of Eastern Travel Literature
The Role of Learned Societies and Academies
The Western View of the East
The Sources
Part 1: Primary Sources as Evidence for Wood’s Eastern Travels
Summary of Relevant Items in the Wood Collection
Dawkins’s Diaries
Bouverie’s Diary
Wood’s Diary (1750-1751)
Wood’s Notebooks of Inscriptions
Borra’s Sketchbooks
Wood’s Notebooks
Brief Bibliography Relating to the Collection
Part 2: Literary Sources Available to Robert Wood Prior to His First Eastern Voyage (1742-1743)
Private Libraries as Evidence for the Use of Literary Sources
Ancient Geographers and Other Classical Authors
Modern Literature and Travel Books on the East
The Availability of Other Published Sources Not Mentioned in Wood’s Manuscripts
Works in Preparation
Part 3: Literary Sources Available to Robert Wood for His Second Eastern Voyage (1750-1751)
Internal Evidence
Letter to Joseph Spence
Unpublished Manuscript Sources in Circulation
Biographical Account of Robert Wood
Early Life
Date, Place of Birth, Family and Home
Education
Schooling
Undergraduate Degree, University of Glasgow
Middle Temple, London
Doctorate, University of Padua
First Grand Tour and Eastern Voyage (1738-1743)
Summary of First Grand Tour and Eastern Voyage
Secretary to Joseph Leeson
Return Home from First Grand Tour (1746)
Third Grand Tour and Eastern Voyage (1749-1751)
Back in Rome with Leeson
Bouverie, Dawkins and Borra: Invitation and Preparations for the Eastern Voyage
Bouverie
Dawkins
Borra
Preparations for the Eastern Voyage
Summary of the Eastern Voyage
The Troad
Palmyra
Baalbek
Return to England
Publication of Ruins of Palmyra
Third Grand Tour as Tutor to the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (1754-1755)
France
Italy
Wood Settles in London
Marriage and Family
Political Life: Under Secretary to Lord Chatham (1756-1759)
Publication of Ruins of Balbec
Political Life: Under Secretary to Lord Egremont (1761-1763) and MP for Brackley
Political Life: Under Secretary to Viscount Weymouth (1768-1770) and Shipping Venture
Dilettanti Society, 1763
Death and Posthumous Matters
Death, Will and Chancery Court Case
Tomb and Inscription
Posthumous Publication of The Original Genius of Homer (1775)
Ruins of Palmyra (1753)
Physical Description, Structure, Publication and Price of the Book
Preface
Immediate Reception of the Book
Narrative
An Enquiry into the Antient State of Palmyra
The Inscriptions
A Journey through the Desart
Explanation of the Plates
Historic Monuments of Palmyra in Context
Selection of Plates
Conclusion
Ruins of Balbec (1757)
Physical Description, Structure, Publication and Price of the Book
Preface
Immediate Reception of the Book
Narrative
Journey from Palmyra to Balbec
Antient State of Balbec
Explanation of the Plates
Historic Monuments of Baalbek in Context
Selection of Plates
Conclusion
The Original Genius of Homer (1775)
Development of the Book
Physical Description and Structure of the Book
Publication and Price of the Book
Preface
Immediate Reception of the Book
Narrative
The Essay
Order and Distribution of the Subject
Homer’s Country
Homer’s Travels. And First His Navigation
Homer’s Winds
Homer’s Geography and Pope’s Translation
Description of Pharos and Alexandria
Homer’s Religion and Mythology
Homer’s Manners
Homer an Historian
Homer’s Chronology
Homer’s Language and Learning
Conclusion
Brief Analysis of the Essay
A Comparative View of the Ancient and Present State of the Troade
Introduction
The Description of the Troade
Illustrations and Map
Frontispiece
Title Page Vignette
View of Ancient Troas together with the Scamander and Mount Ida
View of the Ruined Bridge below the Junction of the Two Rivers
View of the Ancient Bridge below Bornabaschi
Ancient Ruins near Troy upon the Aegean Sea
Tailpiece
Brief Analysis of the Comparative View
Conclusion: The Legacy of Robert Wood
Translations and Further Editions of Robert Wood’s Books
Ruins of Palmyra: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Editions
Ruins of Palmyra: Modern Editions
Ruins of Balbec: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Editions
Ruins of Balbec: Modern Editions
The Original Genius of Homer: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Editions
The Original Genius of Homer: Modern Editions
Portraits of Wood
Wood’s Contribution to the Study of Classical Literature
Wood’s Contribution to Architectural Drawing in Late Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Europe
The Cultural Significance of Wood’s Work on Building Design
Epilogue

Citation preview

The Life and Works of Robert Wood Classicist and Traveller (1717-1771) Rachel Finnegan and Lynda Mulvin

The Life and Works of Robert Wood Classicist and Traveller (1717-1771)

Rachel Finnegan and Lynda Mulvin

Archaeological Lives

Archaeopress Publishing Ltd Summertown Pavilion 18-24 Middle Way Summertown Oxford OX2 7LG www.archaeopress.com

ISBN 978-1-80327-176-7 ISBN 978-1-80327-177-4 (e-Pdf)

© Rachel Finnegan, Lynda Mulvin and Archaeopress 2022

Cover image: Portrait of Robert Wood, by Allan Ramsay, 1755; oil on canvas, 1755; 99.1 x 74.9cm (courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. 4868)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners. This book is available direct from Archaeopress or from our website www.archaeopress.com

Contents List of Figures������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������iv Foreword������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������vii Acknowledgements�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������viii Dedication�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ix Introduction���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������x Note on the Spelling, Terminology and Authorship�������������������������������������������������������������� xii

Eighteenth-Century British Travellers in the East����������������������������������������������������������1 A British Extension of the Grand Tour�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������1 Motives for Undertaking the Eastern Voyage����������������������������������������������������������������������������2 Eighteenth-Century Interest in the East�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������3 The Popularity of Eastern Travel Literature������������������������������������������������������������������������3 The Role of Learned Societies and Academies���������������������������������������������������������������������������4 The Western View of the East������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������5

The Sources����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������6 Part 1: Primary Sources as Evidence for Wood’s Eastern Travels�������������������������������������������6 Summary of Relevant Items in the Wood Collection����������������������������������������������������������6 Dawkins’s Diaries ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������7 Bouverie’s Diary�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 10 Wood’s Diary (1750-1751)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 11 Wood’s Notebooks of Inscriptions������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 13 Borra’s Sketchbooks������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 15 Wood’s Notebooks���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 16 Brief Bibliography Relating to the Collection������������������������������������������������������������������� 19 Part 2: Literary Sources Available to Robert Wood Prior to His First Eastern Voyage (1742-1743)������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 22 Private Libraries as Evidence for the Use of Literary Sources��������������������������������������� 22 Ancient Geographers, Historians and Other Classical Authors������������������������������������� 22 Modern Literature, Books of Antiquities and Travels on the East�������������������������������� 23 The Availability of Other Published Sources Not Mentioned in Wood’s Manuscripts25 Works in Preparation������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 25 Part 3: Literary Sources Available to Robert Wood for His Second Eastern Voyage (1750-1751)������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 28 Internal Evidence������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 28 Letter to Joseph Spence�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 28 Unpublished Manuscript Sources in Circulation������������������������������������������������������������� 29 Biographical Account of Robert Wood��������������������������������������������������������������������������31 Early Life���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 31 Date, Place of Birth, Family and Home������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 31 Education��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 37 Schooling�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 37 Undergraduate Degree, University of Glasgow���������������������������������������������������������������� 37 Middle Temple, London�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 39 Doctorate, University of Padua������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 40 First Grand Tour and Eastern Voyage (1738-1743)����������������������������������������������������������������� 40 Summary of First Grand Tour and Eastern Voyage��������������������������������������������������������� 40

ii Secretary to Joseph Leeson ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 43 Return Home from First Grand Tour (1746)���������������������������������������������������������������������� 46 Second Grand Tour and Eastern Voyage (1749-1751)������������������������������������������������������������ 47 Back in Rome with Leeson��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 47 Bouverie, Dawkins and Borra: Invitation and Preparations for the Eastern Voyage� 48 Bouverie��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 48 Dawkins���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 51 Borra��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 53 Preparations for the Eastern Voyage��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 54 Summary of the Eastern Voyage����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 55 The Troad������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 55 Palmyra���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 56 Baalbek����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 56 Return to England ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 57 Publication of Ruins of Palmyra�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 58 Third Grand Tour as Tutor to the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (1754-1755)���������������������������� 59 France�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 60 Italy������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 63 Wood Settles in London�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 67 Marriage and Family������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 67 Political Life: Under Secretary to Lord Chatham (1756-1759)���������������������������������������� 69 Publication of Ruins of Balbec����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 69 Political Life: Under Secretary to Lord Egremont (1761-1763) and MP for Brackley  70 Political Life: Under Secretary to Viscount Weymouth (1768-1770) and Shipping Venture������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 70 Dilettanti Society, 1763��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 71 Death and Posthumous Matters������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 72 Death, Will and Chancery Court Case�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 72 Tomb and Inscription����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 74 Posthumous Publication of The Original Genius of Homer (1775)������������������������������������� 80

Ruins of Palmyra (1753)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������82 Physical Description, Structure, Publication and Price of the Book������������������������������������ 82 Preface������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 85 Immediate Reception of the Book��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 87 Narrative���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 89 An Enquiry into the Antient State of Palmyra����������������������������������������������������������������� 89 The Inscriptions�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 90 A Journey through the Desart��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 91 Explanation of the Plates������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 91 Historic Monuments of Palmyra in Context��������������������������������������������������������������������� 91 Selection of Plates����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 92 Conclusion������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 98

Ruins of Balbec (1757)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 100 Physical Description, Structure, Publication and Price of the Book���������������������������������� 100 Preface����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 102 Immediate Reception of the Book������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 103 Narrative�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 104 Journey from Palmyra to Balbec �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 104 Antient State of Balbec ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 104 Explanation of the Plates���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 105 Historic Monuments of Baalbek in Context�������������������������������������������������������������������� 105 Selection of Plates��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 107

iii Conclusion���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 111

The Original Genius of Homer (1775)������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 112 Development of the Book���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 112 Physical Description and Structure of the Book������������������������������������������������������������������� 118 Publication and Price of the Book������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 119 Preface����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 120 Immediate Reception of the Book������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 122 Narrative�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 125 The Essay ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 125 Order and Distribution of the Subject����������������������������������������������������������������������� 127 Homer’s Country���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 127 Homer’s Travels. And First His Navigation�������������������������������������������������������������� 128 Homer’s Winds�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 129 Homer’s Geography and Pope’s Translation������������������������������������������������������������ 130 Description of Pharos and Alexandria���������������������������������������������������������������������� 131 Homer’s Religion and Mythology������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 132 Homer’s Manners��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 134 Homer an Historian����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 134 Homer’s Chronology���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 135 Homer’s Language and Learning������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 136 Conclusion���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 138 Brief Analysis of the Essay������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 139 A Comparative View of the Ancient and Present State of the Troade ����������������������� 140 Introduction������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 140 The Description of the Troade����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 140 Illustrations and Map��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 143 Frontispiece������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 143 Title Page Vignette������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 144 View of Ancient Troas together with the Scamander and Mount Ida����������������� 145 View of the Ruined Bridge below the Junction of the Two Rivers����������������������� 145 View of the Ancient Bridge below Bornabaschi������������������������������������������������������ 146 Ancient Ruins near Troy upon the Aegean Sea������������������������������������������������������� 147 Tailpiece������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 147 Brief Analysis of the Comparative View�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 148

Conclusion: The Legacy of Robert Wood���������������������������������������������������������������������� 151 Translations and Further Editions of Robert Wood’s Books����������������������������������������������� 151 Ruins of Palmyra: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Editions������������������������������ 151 Ruins of Palmyra: Modern Editions���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 152 Ruins of Balbec: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Editions��������������������������������� 152 Ruins of Balbec: Modern Editions������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 152 The Original Genius of Homer: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Editions������� 152 The Original Genius of Homer: Modern Editions����������������������������������������������������������� 153 Portraits of Wood����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 153 Wood’s Contribution to the Study of Classical Literature �������������������������������������������������� 160 Wood’s Contribution to Architectural Drawing in Late Eighteenth- and NineteenthCentury Europe��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 160 The Cultural Significance of Wood’s Work on Building Design������������������������������������������ 162 Epilogue��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 165

Bibliography���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 167 Index���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 183

iv

List of Figures Figure 1: Figure 2: Figure 3: Figure 4: Figure 5: Figure 6: Figure 7: Figure 8: Figure 9: Figure 10: Figure 11: Figure 12: Figure 13: Figure 14a: Figure 14b: Figure 15: Figure 16a:

Engraved portrait of Revd Joseph Spence, by George Vertue, after Isaac Whood, published 1746; 23.5 x 18.4cm (image courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. NPG D7818)���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 29 Portrait of Sir Horace Walpole, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1756-1757; oil on canvas, 127.2 x 101.8cm (image courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. NPG 6520) ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 32 George Victor Du Noyer, ‘Riverstown Castle. Parish of Tara in Meath. Sheet 31/4. Looking WNW. 13 Aug 1865’; pencil on paper (image courtesy Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland)���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 33 Photograph of Riverstown Castle, Co. Meath, looking WNW (photo David F. Kane, with permission of the owners) ������������������������������������������������������������������� 33 View of the original Presbyterian manse, Summerhill, Co. Meath, where Robert Wood grew up (photo David F. Kane)��������������������������������������������������������� 36 Six-inch Ordnance Survey Map from the 1840s showing the location of the Presbyterian manse, Summerhill, Co. Meath (image courtesy www.AskaboutIreland.ie)������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 36 Photograph of Revd Alexander Wood’s Grave, Agher Church, Co. Meath (photo David F. Kane) ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 38 Portrait of Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown, by Anthony Lee, c. 1730; oil on canvas; 52 x 33.5cm (formerly in the collection of Sir Roy Strong, image courtesy of The Weiss Gallery, London) ����������������������������������������������������������������� 44 Engraved portrait of James Dawkins, by James McArdall, 1760s, after James Stuart; 32.5 x 22.3cm (image courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. D34830) ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 52 Engraved portrait of Frances Egerton, 3rd Duke and 6th Earl of Bridgewater, after unknown artist, published 1766; 23.3 x 12.8cm (image courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. NPG D1100) �������������������������������������������� 62 Tomb of Robert Wood, St Mary’s Burial Ground, Putney, London (photo Nick Blackburn, http://greented.co.uk/pages/london_25may18.php)��������������������� 78 View of Robert Wood’s tomb, by Frederick, 3rd Earl of Bessborough, Stansted Park Library, Hampshire; watercolour (image courtesy the Trustees of the Stansted Park Foundation) �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 79 View of the Ruined City of Palmyra Taken from the North-East, Plate I, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin) ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 93 Upright of the Portico within the Court of the Temple, Plate XIV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) ( image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)��������� 95 Capital and Entablatures of the Order in the Foregoing Place, with the Plan of the Capital, Plate I, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 95 Two Soffits, of One Piece of Marble Each, Plate XIX, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)������������������������������������ 96 Plan and Upright of the Arch Marked H, Plate XXII, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)������������������������������������ 97

v Figure 16b: View of the Arch from the West, Plate XXXV Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)�������������������������������������������������� 97 Figure 17a: Plan of the Great Temple, and of the Portico and Courts Leading to It, Plate III, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 108 Figure 17b: Upright of the North Side of the Quadrangular Court, Similar to the South Side, Plate XIV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 108 Figure 18: Upright of the Front of the Entire, in Its Present State, Plate XXV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)����������� 109 Figure 19a: Upright of the North Side of the Quadrangular Court, Similar to the South Side, Plate XIV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy of Marsh’s Library, Dublin)������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 109 Figure 19b: View of the Inside of the Temple from the Door in Its Present State, Plate XXXV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 109 Figure 20: Back of the Same (Temple of Venus) in Its Present State, Plate XLIV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)����������� 110 Figure 21: Decorative headpiece, Thomas Blackwell, Enquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer (second edition, 1736) (photo David F. Kane, private collection)��������� 118 Figure 22: Frontispiece, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)���������������������������������������������� 143 Figure 23: Title page vignette depicting the death of Patroclus, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 144 Figure 24: Map of Troy, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)����������������������������������������������������������� 145 Figure 25: View of Ruined Bridge, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)���������������������������������������������� 146 Figure 26: View of Ancient Bridge, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)���������������������������������������������� 146 Figure 27: View of Ancient Ruins near Troy upon the Aegean Sea, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 147 Figure 28: Tailpiece Depicting Trojans Mourning over the Body of Hector, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 148 Figure 29: Entry for Robert Wood in the Index to Le Chevalier’s Description of the Plain of Troy (1791) (courtesy Google Books)����������������������������������������������������������������� 149 Figure 30: Portrait of Robert Wood, by Anthony Raphael Mengs, 1755; oil on canvas (courtesy private collection)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 154 Figure 31: Engraving of Robert Wood, after Anthony Raphael Mengs; published 1818 (courtesy The Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved)��������������� 155 Figure 32: Portrait of Robert Wood, by Allan Ramsay, 1755; oil on canvas, 1755; 99.1 x 74.9cm (courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. 4868)����������������������� 156 Figure 33: ‘James Dawkins and Robert Wood Esq. RS First Discovering Sight of Palmyra’. Engraved by John Hall, after Gavin Hamilton; published 12 May 1775, by J. Robson, London; 49.2 x 53.4cm (courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. D14542)��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 158

vi Figure 34:

Engraving of the Monument of Philopappos, 1762, with Robert Wood in the background, facing the ruin (extreme right), by James Stuart and Nicholas Revett, Antiquities of Athens (1794 edition) (courtesy Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation Library)������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 159 Figure 35a: Engraving of Palmyra Temple of Bel, by J.A. Defehrt, Denis Diderot, L’Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné (1767) (private collection)��������������������� 161 Figure 35b: Engraving of Palmyra Temple of Bel Compared with Plate XXXVI, Plan of the Sepulchre Marked I in Plate I, Plate, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (courtesy of Marsh’s Library, Dublin)�������������������������������������������������������������������� 161 Figure 36: Photo of the ceiling of the entrance to the mansion at Osterley Park in the London Borough of Hounslow (photo Ethan Doyle White: https://commons. wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ceiling_detail_at_Osterley_Park.jpg)������������������������ 163

vii

Foreword To have been invited to place a few thoughts at the beginning of this book is an honour. Dr Finnegan’s scholarly life has been watched by me with admiration for almost four decades. Her firm grounding in Greek and Roman studies in Trinity College Dublin and at Maynooth was supplemented with a sojourn in Greece. Over the years she has acquired a diverse knowledge of members of the AngloIrish Ascendancy of the eighteenth century and in consequence has written about those of them who travelled to Greece, the Levant, and Egypt. The Mulvin family has also been devoted to antiquarian and architectural scholarship: Dr Lynda Mulvin is well known in Ireland and beyond for her studies in Graeco-Roman archaeology and she has exercised exemplary skill in cataloguing objects, large and small. The present book has thus become a happy combination of their special abilities. The greatest merit of the book is to be seen in the presentation and discussion of hitherto unpublished primary testimonies. The manuscripts of Wood and his friends have not been neglected by architectural historians concerned with Baalbek and Palmyra, but Hellenists may have been less diligent in contemplating the significance of Wood in the chronicles of Homeric studies. His determination to link parts of the Iliad and the Odyssey to landscapes (notably in the Troad and Ionia) and to the coastland of Egypt deserve respectful attention. Furthermore, his reflections upon the powers of memory in illiterate reciters of poems indicate that some epics may well have been fixed – for social or other reasons – in speech for some time before they were fixed in writing. It remains true, as Wood perceived, that ‘… in a rude and unlettered state of society the memory is loaded with nothing that is useless or unintelligible ….’ Let us bear in mind that the Muses are daughters of Mnemosyne. I hope that this enlightening work will prompt the making of an annotated facsimile reprint of The Original Genius of Homer. G.L. Huxley 17. x. 2021.

viii

Acknowledgements We are grateful to Professor G.L. Huxley for reading an early draft of the manuscript and for writing the Foreword to the book; and we are indebted to the late Professor Michael McCarthy for providing inspiration and archival material. We are also extremely grateful to the Hellenic and Roman Library, London, for kind permission to quote extracts from the Wood diaries and other manuscripts in the collection; and to Marsh’s Library, Dublin, for their support and generosity in providing access to the engraved plates of Wood’s books on Palmyra and Baalbek. We also thank the following individuals and organisations for their kind assistance: Paul L. Jackson, Deputy Librarian, Sue Willetts, Senior Library Assistant, and Aaran Fordwoh, A.G. Leventis Scanner Operator, the Hellenic and Roman Library, London; Amy Boylan, Librarian, and Sue Hemmens, Deputy Director, Marsh’s Library, Dublin; Tom French, Local Studies Librarian, Meath County Council; Valerie Adams, Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland; Jeff Kattenhorn, Manuscripts and Maps, the British Library; Aimee Burnett, Rare Books & Music Reference Team, the British Library; Maurits van den Boogert, Brill, Leiden; Graeme Siddall, Archive and Heritage Assistant, Sheffield Archives; Alexandra Mitchell, Archivist, University of Salford; Colin Thom and Adriano Aymonino, Enfilade, Digital Project | Adam Grand Tour, Letters and Other Writings; Georgiana Green; Celia Hodges, House Steward Coordinator, Stansted Park, West Sussex; the Trustees of the Stansted Park Foundation; staff at the Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies Library; Professor Robert C. Palmer, Administrator, AALT/WAALT Project, University of Houston; Dr Frances Sands, Curator of Drawings and Books, Sir John Soane’s Museum, London; Colm O’Riordan, CEO of the Irish Architectural Archive, Dublin; Dr Patricia Allerston, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Scottish National Gallery; Sarah Connaghan, Librarian, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland; Meadhbh Haicéid, Senior Library Assistant, Local Government Management Agency; Ask about Ireland; Nick Blackburn; Konstantinos Thanasakis, Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation Library; Roger Middleton and Dr Margarita Reeve, Roger Middleton Books, Oxford; Charles Mackay, Gallery Director, The Weiss Gallery, London; Martin Kearns, Madrid; Jim Reynolds; Professor James Ryan; Liam Gaffney, Summerhill, County Meath; and Cora and Val O’Brien, County Meath. Finally, we are indebted to Muiris Moynihan for photography; and to David F. Kane for photography and for providing other assistance in the final stages of the book.

ix

Dedication This book is dedicated to: Terence (Terry) Edward Beechey (1939-2016), architect, father of Rachel Finnegan Dr Frances (Frankie) Finnegan (1949-2022), historian, mother of Rachel Finnegan Niall McCullough (1958-2021), architect and author, brother-in-law of Lynda Mulvin

x

Introduction On the 250th anniversary of his death in 1771, this volume reviews the life and writings of an extraordinary Irishman Robert Wood (1716/17-1771), occasionally mistaken for an Englishman,1 whose travels in the Middle East and subsequent pioneering books on the classical sites of Palmyra and Baalbek, together with his inspirational study on the poetry and geography of Homer, were celebrated during his lifetime and recorded on his sumptuous epitaph, and whose influence has continued to survive into the twenty-first century. There are numerous minor biographical accounts that appear either in dictionaries or encyclopaedias, or as introductory elements to various aspects of Wood’s extensive achievements. However, he shares the fate of many eighteenth-century travellers and scholars of this type, in that he has never been the primary subject of a book, thus leaving him a somewhat obscure figure in literary history. In particular, the sources for his travels and writings have been given relatively little attention. The present volume attempts to address this lacuna and to provide the general reader with a study that can be regarded as a source book for the fascinating life and career of a much-neglected figure in the realm of Irish eighteenth-century travels and antiquarianism. Chapter 1 briefly sets the context of eighteenth-century travels to the east. It outlines some of the motives for British travellers undertaking the eastern voyage and considers the interest in the east, in terms of the popularity of eastern travel literature, the role of learned societies and academies, and the western view of the east. Chapter 2 considers the sources. Part 1 examines the primary (manuscript) sources emanating from Wood’s own eastern voyages (1742-1743 and 1750-1751), in the form of the surviving diaries, notebooks and journals kept by him and the other members of his travelling party. These were James Dawkins (1722-1757), John Bouverie (1722-1750), and Giovanni Battista Borra (1713-1770). They are further discussed in Chapter 3, in relation to the particular part they played in the production of Wood’s three books. Part 2 examines the relevant literary sources that may have been available to Robert Wood before he undertook his first eastern voyage, as well those with which he was definitely familiar, as they are mentioned in his memoirs, published accounts and sale catalogue for his library; and Part 3 considers additional sources that he consulted for his second voyage. Chapter 3 offers an extensive and much-needed biographical account of Robert Wood, the sources for whose early years, especially in Ireland, are particularly scarce, but for whom they become more plentiful for the period after he had completed his formal education and begun to make a career in public life. The chapter ends with an account of certain posthumous matters, including Wood’s will, the Chancery court Sir J.L. Myres, for example, twice refers to him as English in his book on Homer. See Homer and His Critics, edited by Dorothea Gray (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1958), pp. 59 and 66.

1

xi case taken against his widow, and the arrangements she made to have a suitable tomb and epitaph made for her late husband, and to publish his third book. Where appropriate, the text refers to the Irish contribution to eastern travel history, with particular reference to prominent members of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, including William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough (1704-1793) and James Caulfeild, 1st Earl Charlemont (1728-1799), both of whose travels in the east were roughly contemporaneous with Wood’s first eastern voyage. Joseph Leeson (1711-1783), later 1st Earl of Milltown, of Russborough House, County Wicklow, is especially important to this story, as he employed Wood as his private secretary for several years in Italy. Equally important is the English aristocrat Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, later 6th Earl of Bridgewater (1736-1803), with whom Wood was to have a lifelong relationship of patronage and friendship. Chapters 4 and 5 examine the main results of the second tour, namely, the two publications: The Ruins of Palmyra, Otherwise Tedmor, in the Desart (London, 1753)2 and The Ruins of Balbec, Otherwise Helipolis in Coelosyria (London, 1757).3 These two impressive folio-sized volumes, which describe and depict the remains of the ancient archaeological sites of Palmyra, in Syria, and Baalbek, in modern-day Lebanon, were written by Wood, illustrated by Borra, and financed by Dawkins. Chapter 6 considers the author’s famous and influential study entitled An Essay on the Original Genius and Writings of Homer: with a Comparative View of the Ancient and Present State of the Troade (London, 1775).4 Although this work was possibly closest to his heart, Wood failed to publish it (at least officially) in his lifetime. However, he circulated several privately printed copies to his friends and literary associates in later life and the positive responses he received from his peers must have assured him (and his wife Ann Wood, who published it posthumously) of its great literary merit. Finally, Chapter 7 considers the enormous legacy of Robert Wood, in terms of the popularity of his books, as can be judged by the number of translations and editions through which they went; the variety and quality of portraits commissioned by his friends and associates; his contribution to the study of classical literature; his influence on architectural drawing in late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe; and the cultural significance of his work on building design. The chapter ends with a reflection on the somewhat questionable nature of his works, in terms of the fact that his second voyage of the east, and the entire production of the first two books, were financed by his friend Dawkins, whose wealth derived from a slave plantation in Jamaica.

Henceforth abbreviated to Ruins of Palmyra. Interestingly, ‘desart’ is the Irish spelling of ‘desert’. Henceforth abbreviated to Ruins of Balbec. This was Wood’s spelling of Baalbek. Other contemporary writers used different spellings, such as Richard Pococke’s ‘Baalbeck’. 4 Henceforth abbreviated to The Original Genius of Homer. However, in Chapter 6, where the book is discussed in detail, the two distinct parts are referred to as the Essay and the Comparative View. 2 3

xii

Note on the Spelling, Terminology and Authorship We have retained Wood’s eighteenth-century spelling of place names and given the modern name or spelling in brackets on first mention. For distances we have used miles (rather than kilometres) but for the dimensions of buildings and illustrations we have used metres and centimetres. Also, we have given a brief explanation, in brackets, after what may be regarded as uncommon architectural terminology (especially in relation to the architectural engravings); and we have given a brief identification of Homeric characters mentioned in Chapter 6. The idea for this book originated with Rachel Finnegan, who has written the majority of the text. Lynda Mulvin has contributed material on the artistic, archaeological, and architectural aspects of Robert Wood’s work in Chapters 4, 5 and 7. For reference purposes, we have included the name of the author at the end of each chapter or, in the case of co-authored chapters, at the end of major sections. (Rachel Finnegan)

Chapter 1

Eighteenth-Century British Travellers in the East A British Extension of the Grand Tour The body of literature on the British experience of the traditional eighteenthcentury grand tour of France and Italy is enormous and needs no introduction here.1 However, from the 1730s onwards, the more intrepid of grand tourists from England and Ireland, such as the abovementioned 2nd Earl of Bessborough, who was born and brought up in County Kilkenny, set their sights further afield than the traditional circuit of France and Italy and made a voyage to the Eastern Mediterranean, which included Greece (both the mainland and the islands), Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine. While the eastern voyage was predominantly a male preserve, some women did undertake it during the 18th and early 19th centuries, though generally they did so not in their own right, but in their role as the wives of diplomats or merchants involved in trading in the Levant. The most notable examples of such women are Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762), who travelled with Sir Edward, on his appointment as English Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (1716-1718) and, almost a century later, Lady Henrietta Liston (1751-1828), who accompanied Sir Robert (1742-1836) to take up the same post (1812-1814). Both are famous for the letters and journals they wrote on their eastern experiences which, although circulated among their friends and family during their lifetime, were published posthumously.2 An exception to this rule was the unmarried Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope (1776-1839), who famously travelled to the east and even conducted an archaeological excavation at Ashkelon (Palestine), reputedly being the first person to use modern principles of archaeology. As with her predecessor Lady Mary, and her slightly older contemporary Lady Henrietta, her fame was sealed with her eastern letters and memoirs, which were published after her death.3

1 While there are countless books and journal articles related to the subject of British grand tourists, including the many wonderfully visual catalogues accompanying art exhibitions in major museums and galleries, one of the most useful sources for this topic is J. Ingamells (ed.), A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy 1701-1800 (New Haven and London, 1997). 2 See T. Heffernan and D. O’Quinn (eds), The Turkish Embassy Letters (London, 2013) and P. Hart, V. Kennedy, D. Petherbridge and F. Özden Mercan (eds), Henrietta Liston’s Travels: The Turkish Journals, 1812-1820 (Edinburgh, 2020). See also R. Finnegan, Review of Hart, Kennedy, Petherbridge and Mercan (eds), Henrietta Liston’s Travels: The Turkish Journals, 1812–1820, The Scottish Historical Review, Vol. 100, No. 2 (2021), pp. 298-300. 3 C.L. Meryon (ed.), Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope: As Related by Herself in Conversations with Her Physician: Comprising Her Opinions and Anecdotes of Some of the Most Remarkable Persons of Her Time (London, 1845) and C.L. Meryon (ed.), Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope, Forming the Completion of Her Memoirs Narrated by Her Physician, 3 vols (London, 1746).

2

The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

Motives for Undertaking the Eastern Voyage Making a voyage to the east for reasons other than employment, whereby the traveller had a choice to travel, rather than being obliged to do so by his terms of office, demanded not only an unusual degree of courage and determination, at a time when travel to this far-flung and relatively unknown region was arduous and often dangerous, but also a considerable amount of wealth. In addition, such a voyage required a strong level of motivation, such as a desire to see the biblical sites of the Holy Land (in the case of many scholarly clergymen) or a more general wish to explore, first-hand, the monuments (architectural and archaeological ruins) of ancient civilisations, especially those that were still unfamiliar. Making a voyage of this type often served to increase an individual’s standing among his circle of friends, whom he impressed, on his return, with accounts of his exploits and with the more tangible aspects of his travels – souvenirs – including antiquities (coins, ancient ‘marbles’ or statues and figurines), books, prints, paintings, furniture and other decorative goods with which to adorn his home. If he acquired objects that were too numerous, heavy or cumbersome to take with him on his return journey, he would ship them back them home at great effort and expense. Many shiploads of precious antiquities, artworks and furniture never arrived, having been seized or stolen in transit, of having been victims of shipwrecks. The owners often replaced them either by making another journey to the east, or by sending a trusted representative to organise a new shipment or employing the services of an agent based abroad, who was skilled in negotiating with the authorities. Two of the Irish individuals referred to in the present book suffered in this way: Joseph Leeson lost antiquities worth £60,000 when the Augustus Caesar was seized by the French in 1745 (see Chapter 3); and Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough (17581844), lost three crates of treasures, largely artworks, including prints and copies of famous masterpieces, when the British frigate Westmorland was famously seized at Leghorn (Livorno) by King Carlos of Spain as a prize of war in 1778.4 While some gentlemen set out from their homeland already prepared for their eastern voyage, others conceived such an adventurous scheme during their standard grand tour of Italy, often after forming an acquaintance with a determined and wealthier compatriot, who was trying to make up a travelling party and so was actively seeking likely candidates as compatible and useful companions. This was the case with the 2nd Earl of Bessborough who, in 1738, joined forces with the youthful John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), and travelled with him from Naples to Constantinople (İstanbul) via Greece and the Greek islands. The travelling party included the Swiss portrait painter Jean-Étienne Liotard (1702-

4 See M.D. Sanchez–jauregu and S. Wilcox, The English Prize: The Capture of the Westmorland. An Episode of the Grand Tour (New Haven, 2012) and R. Finnegan, Frederick, 3rd Earl of Bessborough, collector and artist (1758-1844), Irish Architectural & Decorative Arts: The Journal of the Irish Georgian Society, Vol. 18 (2016), pp. 64-83, at pp. 65-66.

Eighteenth-Century British Travellers in the East

3

1789), who remained in Constantinople and made his name by taking the portraits of many British residents and visitors.5 A third category of gentlemen travelling to the east comprised those who were part of a scientific expedition, often funded by an individual (such as a monarch) or an organisation (such as a scientific academy). Their job was to explore a certain aspect of the east (for example, its archaeology, antiquities or natural history) and to return with an abundance of knowledge that could be written up for publication, or with cargoes of specimens that could be used to form important collections – or both.

Eighteenth-Century Interest in the East The Popularity of Eastern Travel Literature As the grand tour, in the early decades of the eighteenth century, was still considered an essential part of a young man’s education, most (male) members of upper-class society undertook at least one extended journey abroad, almost as a rite of passage. However, very few had both the means and the opportunity to extend their travels beyond the frontiers of what was regarded as ‘civilised’ society, which meant that those who were interested in learning about new cultures in distant lands had to depend on modern histories and other factual accounts relating to the east, or on the printed travelogues of those who had returned from such places, to satisfy their curiosity. As this pattern of visiting far-flung places began to develop, so too did the genre of eastern travel literature, which aimed to provide the public (or rather a small sector of the educated public) with a new and interesting vision of the world, compared to the humdrum descriptions of France and Italy that had become their staple diet. In this way, eastern travel literature grew in popularity alongside a corresponding thirst for knowledge about civilisations outside most people’s comprehension, including details of their lives, their material culture and their natural surroundings. This, of course, went hand in hand with the existing and emerging disciplines of folklore, ethnography, history, anthropology, polite literature,6 architecture, archaeology and antiquities, as well as the more scientific study of natural history in its various forms.7 Furthermore, oriental themes in western fiction, poetry and drama also served to both reflect and popularise a growing fascination for the east,8 along with a wealth of visual imagery of the Ottoman Empire, which helped to sow the seeds for an ‘imagined orient’ or fantasy, that developed in the minds of the European reader, including the distinctive fashion for ‘Turquerie’.9 5 See R. Finnegan, The classical taste of William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough, Irish Architectural & Decorative Arts: The Journal of the Irish Georgian Society, Vol. 8 (2005), pp. 12-43, at pp. 15-16. 6 As defined in the eighteenth century and still in the Royal Irish Academy. 7 For a summary of this topic, see R. Finnegan, English Explorers in the East (1738-1745). The Travels of Thomas Shaw, Charles Perry and Richard Pococke (Leiden, 2019), Chapter 2. 8 See F. Turhan, British Romantic Writings about the Ottoman Empire (New York and London, e-book, 2005). 9 See H. Williams, Turquerie: An Eighteenth-Century European Fantasy (London, 2014), p. 63 and Chapter 3,

4

The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

The Role of Learned Societies and Academies The serious study of such subjects was reflected in the activities of learned societies and academies that had emerged throughout Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, whose general aim was to promote knowledge and excellence in scholarship across many different fields, often promoting the results of their investigations in published ‘transactions’. The more scholarly of the eastern travel writers from the British Isles sought and often received the patronage (or at least the approval) of august institutions such as the Royal Society (established 1660), whose distinguished members would have been envisaged as the potential readership of their books. However, as in all walks of life, there were also rogues in the travelwriting fraternity (both authors and printers), who were eager to make money from the sale of books, and whose published works were considered at worst spurious – almost fictitious – and at best unreliable, in that they could not be depended upon as trustworthy accounts. This view was reflected in satire, which often served to warn of bogus or dull travelogues.10 Other notable institutions relevant to the research of eastern culture and civilisation were the Society of Antiquaries of London (established in 1750) and the Society of Dilettanti (established in 1733). The latter society, together with the short-lived Egyptian Society (1741-1743) and its immediate successor the Divan Club (1744-1746), were particularly linked to voyages to the Eastern Mediterranean, especially Greece and Egypt.11 Robert Wood was never elected to the Royal Society or the Society of Antiquaries and his election to the Dilettanti Society came surprisingly late, in 1763, several years after the publication of his first two books (Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec), but before he circulated printed copies of his draft of The Original Genius of Homer. While he never joined the Egyptian Society (he was on his travels at the time), on 20 April 1744, he was proposed by John Manners, Marquess of Granby (1721-1770), as a member of the Divan Club and was accordingly elected (see Chapter 3).12

Playing the Turk in Europe (pp. 63-86), for a fascinating account of the adoption of Turkish dress for plays and other events and festivities. 10 For a summary of parody and satire of travel literature, see Finnegan, English Explorers in the East, pp. 34-38. 11 See R. Finnegan, The Divan Club, 1744-46, Electronic Journal of Oriental Studies, Vol. 9, No. 9 (2006), pp. 186 Available at: https://www.academia.edu/40657464/The_Divan_Club_1746-46 12 Finnegan, The Divan Club, 1744-46, p. 36.

Eighteenth-Century British Travellers in the East

5

The Western View of the East As mentioned above, oriental themes in western fiction, poetry and drama both reflected and helped to popularise the eighteenth-century fascination with the east. At the same time, such literature also served to perpetuate what had long been a largely negative view of the east, through its stereotyping not only of unsympathetic characters, but also of the Ottoman Empire itself, whose administration was perceived as the antithesis of the more benign regimes of western democracy. However, westerners who lived in the east, such as those involved in the trade of textiles, offered a more positive view of life in the Ottoman Empire. These included the ‘factors’ or merchants involved in trade, together with the various personnel who went hand in hand with the trading ventures (especially members of the Levant Company), including company officials such as consuls, vice-consuls and treasurers, and those appointed to cater for the welfare of the members of the community and their families, such as physicians and chaplains. Collectively, these resident foreigners were called ‘Franks’ and enjoyed special rights and conditions as the inhabitants of trading centres such as Constantinople, Aleppo and Smyrna (Izmir). While much has been written on the lives of those involved in the trading houses, especially the Levant Company,13 little is known about the experience of their families, in particular the education of the children. However, there is no evidence to show that trading families typically sent their children to England, as was the case with one agent for the rival East India Company.14 Many British Franks came from long lines of trading families who either lived their whole lives in the east or who spent years there and eventually retired to their homeland. Either way, they would have been instrumental in spreading information about eastern culture both through their correspondence and memoirs, and by word of mouth. Furthermore, the products they traded, such as rich silks, colourful carpets and other exotic commodities, reflected an interest in oriental taste that manifested itself in contemporary fashions, textiles, architecture and interior design. The western demand for coffee and other eastern foodstuffs such as spices was further evidence of a growing interest in eastern culture. (Rachel Finnegan)

For detailed studies of many aspects of this organisation, but particularly the social aspects, see A.C. Wood, A History of the Levant Company (London, 1964) and C. Laidlaw, The British in the Levant. Trade and Perceptions of the Ottoman Empire in the Eighteenth Century (London and New York, 2010). 14 The consul John Barker, for example, who had fled from Aleppo to Latakia, with the help of Lady Hester Stanhope, returned to Wales for two years with his family in 1819, where he left several older children with relatives for their education. See Laidlaw, The British in the Levant, pp. 209-210. 13

Chapter 2

The Sources This chapter considers (1) the primary sources that have survived from Wood’s eastern travels, known as the Wood collection; (2) the literary sources that were available to Wood when he was preparing for his first eastern voyage, as can be ascertained from the notes in his manuscripts; and (3) further literature that he consulted in preparation for, and during, his second eastern voyage.

Part 1: Primary Sources as Evidence for Wood’s Eastern Travels Summary of Relevant Items in the Wood Collection While there are various incidental letters, both to and from Wood concerning his travels, some of which are discussed both in this chapter and in Chapter 3, the most important collection of manuscripts relating to this subject (notebooks, diaries, journals, etc.) is that held by the Hellenic and Roman Library in London. It was donated to the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies (better known as the Hellenic Society) in 1926 and originally consisted of 28 items, though one (volume 28) has since gone missing. The items in the collection, including Wood’s annotated and interleaved copy of Homer from 1743, have been listed and briefly described in a document prepared by Sue Willetts and Paul L. Jackson.1 Most of the items have now been digitised and are available on the Hellenic and Roman Library website,2 together with a very useful four-page list of published resources.3 Of the 16 manuscripts sources in the collection, those most relevant to the present volume are summarised below, in the same order in which they are catalogued in the collection. They are also discussed elsewhere in the book, where appropriate. While the manuscripts are referred to here as ‘volume 1’, etc., they are referenced in the footnotes as ‘No. 1.’, etc. The number of pages recorded for each volume (as per Willett and Jackson’s listings) does not necessarily represent the extent of the text: in some of the volumes there are whole sections of blank pages; in some the text appears on only one side of the double-page spread (this is often inconsistent and sporadic); and in others there are passages that have been scored out and are impossible to read. As not all the manuscripts have page numbers, when quoting from these sources, the author of this chapter has followed the pagination specified in the Bookmarks function of the digitised documents.

S. Willetts and P. Jackson, The Robert Wood diaries (1993). Available at: https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/6162/ See the various entries under Wood at: https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/view/subjects/CLA.html#group_W See https://archives.libraries.london.ac.uk/resources/Wood.pdf The author of this chapter is most grateful to the staff of the Hellenic and Roman Library, University of London, for kindly allowing her to quote from the manuscripts in the collection.

1 2 3

The Sources

7

Dawkins’s Diaries Volumes 1-6 are transcripts or fair copies – made by Elizabeth Wood (Robert Wood’s only daughter) – of the diaries of James Dawkins, spanning a nine-month period from 5 May 1750 to 6 February 1751. These volumes, which are bound in green vellum with gold tooling, and measure 24 x 18cm, comprise around 1000 pages. They are written in a very clear script with conveniently spaced lines and often on only one side of the page. These volumes describe the party’s voyage from Naples to Carmel, via a route that included Smyrna, Sardis, Thyatira, Pergamum, Sinus Eleaticus, Constantinople, Boursa, Cyzicus, Lampsacus, Troy, Tenedos, Mytilene, Lesbos, Phocaea, Scio (Chios), Teos, Ephesus, Samos, Magnesia, Laodicea, Hierapolis, Mylasa, Halicarnassus, Kos, Cnidus, Rhodes, Alexandria, Cairo, Pyramids, Acre, Mount Carmel, Nazareth, Capernaum, Tiberias, Nazareth, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Rama. Two further notebooks (volumes 7 and 8) are a continuation of the Dawkins diary. These volumes are in a different format from the first six: volume 7 has marbled paper covers, measures 22 x 18cm, and contains 188 pages, while volume 8 is unbound, has brown paper covers, measures 19 x 13cm, and contains 112 pages. They are also written in two distinct hands: the script of volume 7 is still very neat and legible and is clearly a fair copy (but not in Elizabeth Wood’s hand), while that of volume 8 has the appearance of being an original manuscript, rather than a later copy. The two volumes cover a four-month period, from 6 February to 18 April 1751 and from 18 April to 8 June 1751, and describe the party’s voyage from Mount Carmel, in the Holy Land, to Cyprus via Acre, Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, Damascus, Baalbek and Tripoli; and then from Stanchio (Kos) to Porto Leone (Piraeus) via Delos, Athens, Marathon, Thermopylae, Chalcis, Thebes, Delphi, Megara and Athens, respectively. The reason Athens is mentioned twice in this list is because the travellers made a lengthy excursion from this place, between 16 May and 3 June 1751, when they visited Marathon, Corinth, Megara Thermopylae, the Bay of Salamis, and Eleusis (see Chapter 3). These combined diary sources, which give us a good idea of the route taken by the group while in the east, were regarded as the official source for their planned publications on Palmyra and Baalbek (see below) and deal with all aspects of the party’s travels. As with other diary sources of the period that were subsequently used as the basis for printed travel accounts, subjects of interest include antiquities, views, modern society, water supplies, rivers, architecture (such as the mosques and seraglios of Constantinople, churches, convents, bridges and aqueducts), coffee houses, gardens, trees, climate, disease (plague, leprosy), social class, religion, manufactories and inscriptions. Though the diaries of Dawkins offer very little of personal interest, they contain the occasional reference to people (named and unnamed) whom the group met on their travels or during their sojourns in major cities such as Constantinople and Smyrna. This is especially true of volume 1, where we read about the ‘amiable

8

The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

characters’ they befriended at Smyrna, including Mr Burdett (Revd Charles Burdett, chaplain to the Levant Company, who had been there since around 1724);4 Mr Crawley (Samuel Crawley, English consul, who had been there since 1742, and who died there in 1762, probably of plague);5 and two English merchants Mr D’Ath [Thomas D’Aeth] and Mr [Richard] Lee (who had been there since at least the early 1740s).6 All of these gentlemen are mentioned in favourable terms in the memoirs and diaries of other contemporary and near-contemporary visitors to Smyrna, such as the traveller and divine Revd Richard Pococke (1705-1765)7 and Alexander Drummond (d. 1769), English consul for Aleppo from 1751-1758. Further similarities between observations made by Dawkins and other English visitors to the east can be found in other volumes in the series. For example, volume 1 contains a description of the journey to the village of Belgrad(e) Forest (T. Belgrad Ormani),8 located 9 miles north-west of Constantinople, where the English, Dutch and Swedish ambassadors, together with many of the wealthier Franks, had country residences. His entry from 4 July 1750 reads: ‘We set out with Mr. Foley for Belgrade’,9 and then goes on to describe the four-hour journey as follows: Our ride was very pleasant over the open countries & then thro’ the fine woods of Belgrade & such as I could have fancied myself in England were it not that the Country from Stambole to Belgrade is miserably in culto.10 His appreciation of the area is matched by that of other eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century visitors, including Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Richard Pococke and Lady Henrietta Liston, all of whom stayed at the ambassadorial residence at least once during their time in Constantinople, and described the beauty of the area in their letters and memoirs.11 See Laidlaw, The British in the Levant, p. 112. See D. Wilson, List of British Consular Officials in the Ottoman Empire and Its former Territories, from the Sixteenth Century to about 1860 (2011), p. 15. Available at: http://www.levantineheritage.com/pdf/List_of_ British_Consular_Officials_Turkey(1581-1860)-D_Wilson.pdf. See also Laidlaw, The British in the Levant, pp. 112, 185-187, 189. 6 While Lee had earlier been in partnership with John Lisle, from 1748 he had been in partnership with D’Aeth and was evidently a keen collector of antiquities. See M.H. van den Boogert, Freemasonry in eighteenth-century Izmir? A critical analysis of Alexander Drummond’s travels (1754), in: M.H. van den Boogert (Hrsg.): Ottoman Izmir: Studies in Honour of Alexander H. de Groot. Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten (Leiden, 2007), pp.104-121, at pp.110-11. 7 See R. Finnegan, Richard Pococke’s Letters from the East (1737-1740), Series The History of Oriental Studies, Vol. 9 (Leiden and Boston, 2021). 8 Named after the capture of Belgrade (the Serbian village in Hungary) in 1521 by Suleiman I. 9 Wood collection No. 3, p. 76. The author of this chapter has been unable to identify this gentleman, although there is a record of a John Foley (English merchant in Smyrna) from the previous century. See E. Bashan, Contacts between Jews in Smyrna and the Levant Company in London in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Jewish Historical Studies, Vol. 29 (1982-1986), pp. 53-73, at p. 63. As English factors often remained in the east and their businesses were family affairs, John Foley may have been an ancestor of the Foley who conducted Wood and his companions to Belgrade Forest. 10 Wood collection No. 3, p. 80. 11 Lady Mary, who stayed there during her husband’s ambassadorship (1716-1718), describes it, in a letter to Alexander Pope, as perfectly answering ‘the description of the Elysian Fields’. See Heffernan and O’Quinn, The Turkish Embassy Letters, p. 147. Pococke visited the village in the summer of 1740, when Sir Everard Fawkener (1684-1758) was ambassador to the Porte. See Letter from Pococke to his mother, 4

5

The Sources

9

In volume 5, Dawkins refers to the beauty and the unusual costumes of the women they encountered in Scio, which they visited in August 1750. He describes them as: remarkably pretty & part of their Dress is very gracefull, their Turban, their manner of dressing, their Hair, but their pleating the Petticoat quite from their Shoulders which reaches no lower than their knees, disguises their shape [&] makes them look clumsy & has a disagreeable Effect: They are always clean, even the poor Girls bien chausées & coiffées, & I never saw so many charming faces in any place in my Life as here, add to their Beauty a most agreable freedom with an easy Innocence in their Behaviour which surpasses allmost that of Ladies in most other Countries and renders them mighty engaging.12 Lord Charlemont had been equally taken with the women of Scio during his visit just a year earlier, in 1749, and described their appearance and dress in a similar way: The women of Scio are remarkably handsome, and obtain a preference even among the beauties of the Archipelago. They are plump, and well made, with lovely complexions, and unite in an inexpressible sprightliness of countenance to the large eyes of Juno, and to the true Grecian nose. Their head-dress is perfectly picturesque, but the rest of their garb, like that of all the islands, Tinos only excepted, is unbecoming and ugly. Their waist is placed immediately under their breasts, and their petticoats are so short as to show a great part of their leg, a circumstance of which we certainly should not complain, if they did not render it disadvantageous by a whimsical predilection for thick legs which they esteem a beauty, and to procure which they wear several pairs of stockings.13 Both descriptions correspond with the sentiments of other contemporary travellers, including the Earl of Sandwich, who, according to the famous letter-writer and anecdotist Revd Joseph Spence (1699-1768), was particularly struck by the beauty of the women there and declared that he should be very glad to ‘marry two or three of them for the fortnight or so he was to stay on their island’. However, the earl was informed by the English consul at Scio that the apparent ‘freedoms’ these women took with strangers were ‘only the mode of the island’ and were not to be taken seriously.14 Constantinople, 7/18 July 1740, in Finnegan, Pococke’s Letters from the East, pp. 363-365. Lady Liston found solace at this place, to which she and her husband, Sir Richard Liston, retreated in order to escape the ravages of the plague at Constantinople. See Hart et al., Henrietta Liston’s Travels, pp. 160-161. 12 Wood collection No. 5, pp. 18-19. 13 See W.B. Stanford and E.J. Finopoulos (eds), The Travels of Lord Charlemont in Greece & Turkey 1749 from His Own Unpublished Journals (London, 1984), pp. 35-36. 14 Letter from Spence to his mother, Turin, 17 February 1740. Slava Klima (ed.), Joseph Spence: Letters from the Grand Tour (Montreal and London, 1975), pp. 255-256.

10

The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

Volume 6 of the Dawkins diaries records the events leading up to the gruesome death of the author’s great friend John Bouverie, which took place in Güzelhisar, in mid-September 1750, followed by the burial arrangements. This is the last we hear of his death, the account of which is quoted in full in Chapter 3, and the diary entries continue as they had before his illness. The name Güzelhisar means ‘Beautiful Fortress’ and is spelt variously in the sources as ‘Guzelhisar’ or ‘Güzel Ḥiṣār’. It was formerly Tralles, a town in western Anatolia also known as Aydin, ̊̊ and Wood identified this with the ancient Magnesia on the Meander (Magnesia ad Maeandrum). Much attention is given to the towns they visited along their way, especially Damascus, which is described in detail. Anyone attempting to read his description of Palmyra will be disappointed, as it is missing from this manuscript (the date of their arrival to this place was 14 March 1751). A descendent of Robert Wood (A.H. Wood), presumably the same person who donated the manuscript collection, includes a note in pencil on page 114 of the diary, dated 31 January 1925, advising the reader that there is a gap in this journal and that ‘the travellers visited Palmyra’, and directing them to Wood’s printed works. According to volume 7 of the diary, Dawkins and his party reached Baalbek (‘a most charming situation’) on Wednesday 24 March 1751, after which they ‘bath’d at night at the Bagnio but indifferent ….’15 Their arrival at this place is recorded approximately half-way through the volume, from which point much of the content relates to the famous Roman architecture that was to become the subject of Wood’s second book, Ruins of Balbec. From there, the party travelled to the Holy Land and then to Cyprus. The volume ends with an entry for Sunday, 18 April 1751, in which the author includes an interesting observation about the house of the English consul in Cyprus: the houses are all built of mud that the Mr Wakeman’s16 is one of the best Consuls Houses I have ever seen & the cheapest. It cost but eleven hundred dollars with two good Cornfields.17 Bouverie’s Diary Volume 9 in the collection is a brown leather pocketbook comprising part of the diary of John Bouverie. It is bound in a brown leather cover and measures 16 x 10cm. Only half of this volume has been used (it is blank after page 91 of 184 pages), owing presumably to the fact that the author died only a week or so after the last entry. It spans the periods from 25 May to 8 June, 25 July to 3 August, and 7 September 1750, Wood collection No. 7, p. 124. This is George Wakeman, who was English Consul at Cyprus from 1741-1753 (though perhaps earlier) and may have been at Acre immediately before that. See Wilson, List of British Consular Officials, p. 34 and A.E. Özkul, The consuls and their activities in Cyprus under the Ottoman administration (1571-1878), Turkish Studies: International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Winter 2013), pp. 239-283, at p. 256. 17 Wood collection No. 7, p. 190. 15 16

The Sources

11

and describes the party’s voyage from Smyrna to the Meander (the Büyük Menderes River). However, the final two pages contain rough sketches of an architectural feature from a Roman theatre: a ‘balister’ (balustrade) with some measurements (p. 184) and a feint outline of a plan of the building with another sketch of a piece of balustrading (p. 186). The handwriting is quite clear and in parts a darker ink seems to have been applied over a lighter ink. The text is largely on the right-hand pages, with some on the left. The last two entries in Bouverie’s diary are for 11 and 12 September, just days before his death, and both record meals that were given to the party free of charge. The first he describes as follows: ye [the] evening ye poor people of ye place brought us in a supper by way of present consisting of a rice broth without meat, a Pillaw [pilau] ye same, but much spice & a blackish dough in imitation of ye Italian paster [pasta] and dress’d [garnished] with bad Curd yt [that] they call Cheese.18 The second is as follows: At ye village we din’d at a mans [sic] house yt entertains strangers gratis, we had our own meat but he wd [would] accept of nothing for ye incomodo [inconvenience] wh [which] however we contriv’d to give to give to his sons.19 His final words, at the end of the entry for 12 September, after describing a threehour journey from that village, are: ‘We also turn’d to ye left & came unexpectedly to ye ruins of an ancient City.’20 Wood’s Diary (1750-1751) Volumes 10 and 11 are two unbound fascicles with brown paper covers, each measuring 22 x 17cm and comprising 42 and 38 pages, respectively. These are original parts of Wood’s diary (rather than copies) and cover the periods 22 September to 8 October 1750 and 16 May to 1 June 1751, respectively. On the inside cover of each volume is a brief description of the contents, followed by the initials ‘R.W.’ Volume 10 is described as a ‘Journall from Athens thro’ the Attica, Boeotia, from May 16. 1751’, while volume 11 gives the dates at the top and lower down the page are the words, in very feint, almost illegible, script, ‘Journall from Guzelhissar Sept. 22’. Volume 10 comprises double pages of text, inscriptions, and sketches. Several pages are bound upside down and others are blank towards the end. The first page contains a lengthy Greek inscription (18 lines), under which is the following note: ‘This inscription is in Mr. Dawkin’s [sic] possession & was taken from a ruind greek Wood collection No. 9, p. 89. Wood collection No. 9, pp. 89-90. 20 Wood collection No. 9, p. 90. 18 19

12

The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

church at Cephista’.21 This is followed by a rough plan of the plain of Marathon, with intermittent notes describing the topography and the route they took, opposite to a full page of text with an account of their journey. After this are accounts of their journey to Thermopylae and other places, with similar, intermittent sketches and inscriptions. Volume 11 starts on 22 September, just a few days after Bouverie’s death, with their departure from Güzelhisar. It is slightly more haphazard than the previous volume, with extensive notes and inscriptions written sideways on the margins, where there was insufficient space on the page, yet with some pages either blank or only half filled. The final page contains a neatly copied Greek inscription, upside down. A third part of the Wood diary is volume 12 – a pocketbook of the same type as volume 9 in brown leather and measuring 16 x 10cm. It is an original section of his diary (rather than a copy) and covers the period 25 May to 19 August 1750 and the journey from Smyrna to the Meander, via the towns of Sardis, Thyateira, Kırkağaç, Pergamon, and Mitylene, all of which the travelling party explored particularly in terms of their antiquities. The first page of this volume describes their departure from Smyrna, when they were ‘accompany’d by the Gentlemen of the factory as far as Diana’s baths’.22 This seems to have been a customary practice among the Franks, recorded in the memoirs of other visitors, such as Richard Pococke, who showed their appreciation of honoured countrymen by ceremoniously escorting them out of their city, on their departure. An interesting feature of this and other manuscripts in the collection (see below) is the presence of several childish drawings, but it is unclear whether they are the author’s or whether they have been later added by a child (or perhaps a mix of both). Notable features included in this volume are: a somewhat childlike sketch of a house with two chimneys situated alongside what looks like a river (p. 7); Greek inscriptions (pp. 11, 15, 17, 19, 7-73, 91, 139, 155-159, 165, 173); a page of text with a peculiar, shaky hand (p. 43) that is entirely illegible; another rather childlike picture of flowers occupying half a page (p. 49), with two similar drawing on the following pages (pp. 50-51); a page with a sketch of a wall and a short inscription (p. 65); a page of curious calculations (p. 69); some more flowers (p. 75); another rough sketch of a house (p. 89); random scribblings (p. 91); further childlike drawings of two eastern men sitting outside their tents talking (p. 94); another sketch of something indiscernible (p. 95); the words ‘The Fables Aesop’ in large writing (p. 99); a sketch of what appears to be a river with fish swimming in it (p. 119); a feint sketch of a map (p. 154); a list of modern place names with the ancient names written beside them (p. 155); and several pages of notes relating to events and places in classical antiquity, including a map (pp. 161-171). The volume ends with one and a half pages of Greek script. 21 22

Wood collection No. 10, p. 2. Wood collection No. 10, p. 1.

The Sources

13

Wood’s Notebooks of Inscriptions Volumes 13 and 14 in the collection are a pocketbook (in vellum – 114 pages, measuring 14 x 8cm) and a notebook (in marbled paper – 52 pages plus 19 loose leaves, measuring 38 x 25cm), each containing inscriptions copied by Wood during the eastern voyage. Discussion of these important volumes has been somewhat neglected in the literature. Volume 13 starts with a list of distances (in hours) between the different places from Tedmor (Palmyra) to Bagdad, which Wood had obtained from a Bedouin ‘who had made those journeys’.23 Every other page of the pocketbook contains a neatly written Greek inscription taken from various places, including Athens, Baalbek and Palmyra, with notes to follow, in varying degrees of detail, stating where it was found, in terms of both the location (the town or ancient site) and whether it was inscribed on a stone, a wall, a slab, etc. Often, it is noted that the inscription was purchased. Some of the notes seem to be in a different hand, such as the frequent references to inscriptions being in Oxford, together with one comment regarding an inscription found at the entrance to the ‘hot baths in ye isle of Lesbos’, in which the writer states: ‘Mr Wood has it KLWDION & I believe he is right’.24 Occasionally, there is a sketch of the object on which the inscription was found, for example, the two temple-like structures depicted on pages 12-33, or of an architectural feature of the building, as in the small sketch of a capital at the bottom of page 41, related to an inscription from Kos. In addition, many of the inscriptions are accompanied by notes relating to other authors, presumably epigraphers, or on the doubtful interpretation of certain words, such as the one taken from an altar (which is graphically depicted) on page 63, where it says: ‘the last words should no doubt be … tho’ by the negligence of the sculptor the first E is a plain C’.25 While most of the inscriptions are Greek, there are a few that are in Palmyrene Aramaic script, but are described as being ‘wrote immediately under the greek inscription’, as, for example, on pages 68-69 and 71. Wherever this occurs, there is an additional note, in brown ink, which says ‘Copy’d’, sometimes giving a number. There is also evidence, in some of the inscriptions, of a darker pen overwriting a feinter one, where the later editor (perhaps Wood himself) has attempted to define and preserve the original. Some of the pages in the pocketbook are blank, while other contain Wood’s (or someone else’s) characteristic childlike drawings of flowers (such as on pp. 106-107). On page 108 is a drawing of a woman of Symi, in the Dodecanese islands, to illustrate her dress. The note beneath this says: ‘ye dress of ye women at Syme those pieces wh hang down before ye breast are of brass & sometimes a dozen of ym they wear long ear rings & also wch hang as far as their shoulder’. What is interesting about this picture is that it has been completely drawn over (and practically obscured) Wood collection No. 13, p. 1. Wood collection No. 13, p. 7. This reference is a little confusing, as the inscription on the previous page (6), to which this must refer, gives the word ‘KLWDIA’ rather than ‘KLWDION’. 25 Wood collection No. 13, p. 65.

23 24

14

The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

with brown pencil or crayon, possibly by a child. The final page of the pocketbook contains a table entitled ‘Proportions according to Vignola’, the sixteenth-century Italian architect, which relates to the different orders of columns (Tuscan, Doric, Corinthian, Ionic and ‘Attick’) and the number of architectural features such as cornices, capitals, and bases. Two copies of Vignola’s Regola d’Architettura (Rome, n. d.) are in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772), Lots 326 and 809 (see Part 2 for further details on this important, recently ‘discovered’ source). Volume 14 relates to inscriptions taken from Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt. Apart from being much bigger and more extensive than volume 13, it is also more organised, with a list of contents on the inside cover, running from Delphi, on page 10 to Alexandria in Egypt, page 60. The earlier inscriptions are beautifully and neatly composed within lines, which are numbered with notes. Examples of this method are inscriptions on pages 10, 12 and 14, for which the numbers correspond to notes (in both Greek and Latin) on pages 11, 13 and 15, respectively. After this, the inscriptions become more like those in volume 13, in terms of neatness and method, with notes randomly inserted at a later date, including some referring to other scholars. These relate largely ‘Mr Sherard’: William Sherard (1659-1728), who had been English consul at Smyrna from 1703-1718, when he collected epigraphic manuscripts from Western Asia Minor,26 with page numbers to his work. Other scholars cited include Richard Pococke and Jacob Spon (1647-1685), Smith, and Potter, with some cross-referencing to the author himself (possibly relating to volume 13), in the first person. As with the previous volume, there are references to ‘Mr Wood’, which suggests that some of the notes were made by a later editor. On page 55, for instance, in the margin next to a 13-line inscription, is the note: Among the Ins. in Mr. Sherard, not copied by Mr. Wood, are some relating to the persons or families mentioned in those he transcribed. Thus, p. 16. Ms. is one, wh may be considered as connected with this. I have copied it in small characters … The text in this volume ends at page 60 (incidentally, on this page are some small pieces of text that have been pasted into the page), after which 19 loose pages have been inserted, with additional inscriptions, some of which had been sent to Wood by other collectors. William Ruppel, for example, sent Wood an inscription from Palmyra, in 1764, that had been ‘Brought from Scanderoon Nov. 1748 & on arrival delivered to the late Arch.d [Archibald] Duke of Argyle’.27 A further note explains that the stone had been found by some gentlemen from East India, on their way to Aleppo, and given to Alexander Drummond, who then sent it to England to the author (Ruppel).28 Some of the inscriptions in these loose pages are ticked, as if to These are now in the British Library. See M. Crawford, William Sherard and the prices edict, Revue Numismatique, Vol. 159 (2003), pp. 83-107. Wood collection No. 14, identified in the digital source as p. 56 [Back cover]. This was the Scottish peer, Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll, 10th Earl of Argyll (1658-1703). 28 Wood collection No. 14, identified in the digital source as p. 57 [Loose page 01]. 26 27

The Sources

15

show that they have been checked, while other have been roughly scored out. Two are copied in a neat diagram of the wall from which they were taken, namely, the semicircular building (presumably the ancient theatre) in Mylas.29 While these two important volumes are diverse in their appearance and content, they are evidence of the author’s curiosity for epigraphy, together with his scholarly talents in the classical languages and an interest in Palmyrene Aramaic. They also show that he continued to collect inscriptions long after his eastern travels, with one being received 15 years after his second tour and years after the publication of his Ruins of Balbec. Borra’s Sketchbooks Volumes 15, 16 and 17 are sketchbooks by the group’s Italian draughtsman, Borra, and are a very important aspect of the manuscript sources for Wood’s first two publications, which are further discussed in Chapters 4 and 5. Volume 15 is a parchment book with flap consisting of 308 pages, a whole section of which is blank, and measuring 19 x 14cm. The sketches, which are in ink or pencil, relate to the various places on the tour, including Egypt. The most important notes are written in Italian, in dark ink, whereas some of the subsidiary notes, as with the sketches themselves, are made in a feinter pencil. The main subjects of the drawings, some of which are identified by location and date, are as follows: plans of buildings; sketches of ancient edifices such as aqueducts, temples and theatres; views of villages, cities, harbours, rivers (such as the Nile) and cliffs, some taken from different angles and perspectives; roughly sketched maps; sketches of men and women in Greek and Turkish costume; architectural drawings of cornices, pillars, ornamentation on temples, friezes and castles, some with measurements and detailed notes; sketches of Egyptian antiquities, such as the Sphynx; sketches of heraldic shields; and the occasional inscription. Volume 16 is a parchment book with flap consisting of 360 pages and measuring 28 x 22cm, the last 200 of which are unused. The sketches, which are in ink or pencil, relate to Naples, Asia Minor and Egypt. As with the previous volume, the main notes are written in Italian, in dark ink. The subject matter of the drawings, some of which are identified by location and date, is similar to that found in volume 15, though with some more local variants, as follows: views of battlements; several views and sketches of Mount Vesuvius, both smoking and erupting; plans of large buildings, with dimensions; drawings of ancient edifices such as aqueducts, arcades, colonnades, theatres and Egyptian pyramids; views of the skyline of cities, with minarets; rough sketches and more detailed drawings of columns, ruined temple structures, ornamental doorways and sculpted friezes; and rough and more detailed plans of sites, some of which have detailed notes in English, possibly in Wood’s handwriting, suggesting that they must have been added at a later date. 29

Wood collection No. 14, identified in the digital source as p. 64 [Loose page 42].

16

The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

Volume 17 is an unbound paper fascicle, with a brown paper cover. It consists of 44 pages and measures 24 x 19cm. The sketches in this manuscript relate to Palmyra, Damascus, etc., and follow a pattern whereby the artist first presents a view of the city, taken from a distance, and from different angles, and then focuses on individual buildings, giving plans, front elevations, and more detailed drawings of architectural features such as columns, pediments, and cornices. This volume also contains a sketch of a headless, seated, Roman sculpture on a page that has smaller sketches of architectural features and plans of buildings, and which is dotted with measurements and calculations. It is interesting that these sketchbooks remained with Wood and were not returned to Borra, after the publication of Ruins of Balbec, who lived for a further 13 years. Wood’s Notebooks Volume 18 is a parchment book (136 pages), measuring 32 x 21cm, with a separate fascicle of 48 pages at the back and contains extracts from Wood’s manuscripts transcribed by his daughter Elizabeth. It is neatly written in her clear hand but quite tightly packed on the page. It is not within the scope of this chapter to describe the contents of this source here, though it will be referred to elsewhere in this book, where relevant, including later in this chapter, where the present author examines the extent to which Wood was guided by the works of the ancient and modern writers. It will therefore suffice to summarise, at this point, the useful outline already given by J.A. Butterworth in a page of his four-page article devoted to the Wood collection, in which he confirms that most of the material relating to Wood’s second (1750-1751) tour was extracted from journals that have failed to survive. Butterworth outlines the four sections of the main part (i.e., the bound part containing 136 pages) as follows: (1) Extracts from several journals covering the 17501751 journey: Teos to Magnesia; part of the return journey from Baalbek to Tripoli; a draft page of an unused preface; from Mitylene to the Hellespont; from Naples to Stromboli; Smyrna; general remarks on Constantinople; and from Constantinople to Lampascus. (2) Extracts from miscellaneous papers, including Wood’s observations on the difficulties of travelling in in the east. (3) Excerpts from ‘the small book’ (that is, volume 23, see below) and volume 24 (see below). (4) Notes transcribed from the first eight books of Wood’s copy of Homer’s Iliad (item 22, see below).30 He refers to the 48-page fascicle at the back of the volume as item 18a and outlines the structure of this part, giving the dates and page ranges for each section. These can be further summarised here as relating to: travels in the Holy Land; from Beirut to Baalbek; description of the Plain of Meander; remarks on the Greek language; ‘Journal from Guzelhissar’; ‘Journal from Stanchio’ (account of a boat trip); miscellaneous topics, including notes on sources, in preparation for the visit See J.A. Butterworth, Library supplement: the Wood collection, The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 106 (1986), pp. 197-200, at p. 198.

30

The Sources

17

to Athens; ‘Journal from Athens’; and ‘Extracts from my father’s memorandum book’ (brief notes on Roman antiquities, the view of the Black Sea from the Bosphorus, and Chios).31 Volume 23 in the Wood collection which, as noted above, was identified by his daughter as ‘the small book’, is very important, as it relates to his earlier (1742-1743) voyage of the Levant. This manuscript is a notebook with card covers, measuring 20 x 14cm and containing 358 pages (it is paginated up to p. 283), many of which are blank, bound in upside down (especially at the end), and with a couple (pp. 284-285) missing (torn out). In addition, numerous passages are scored out.32 In general, the script is in black ink, but sometimes it is faded and difficult to read, and there are some pages with columns inserted in ink and with the headings Italy, France and Spain (pp. 340-341), as though Wood had intended to insert a table related to these countries but never got around to it. The volume also contains some sketches, such as a ruined pyramid (p. 244) and chambers (p. 252). The notebook is written in a variety of styles and perspectives (first and second person) and there is some cross-referencing to the ‘Journall’. The author says, for example, ‘Materially see 12th page of the Journall’, and several times suggests: ‘Let us now proceed according to the Journall’, as though talking to a prospective reader.33 Though space does not permit a detailed examination of the manuscript (and it is referred to later, in Chapter 6), there are some interesting points that deserve a mention here and which will give an idea of the variety of material it contains. Firstly, a section of this manuscript (pp. 202-255) describes the author’s travels to the following places: the Adriatic, Egypt, and Aleppo, plus a 51-day return voyage from Alexandria to Toulon. Much of the text is concerned with descriptions of the landscape and the climate, as well as the listing of the distance (and the time it took to travel) between the various (often dismal and miserable) towns and villages along the way. Occasionally, the author adds a more human note, when referring to the people around him. He mentions, for example, the ‘severall gentlemen of the English & french factorys’ with whom he dined just after leaving Aleppo in late November,34 and notes, elsewhere, that his company had to leave their dining place, near the hilly and barren countryside of Orpha (Urfa), sooner than expected because of a squabble that broke out ‘between two of our servants and some Bedouins’.35 Wood seldom refers to the hazards of journeying in these parts, and when he does, he tends to minimise them. For instance, he mentions at one point that, ‘during our whole journey… we met with no disturbance from either Arabs … we saw no wild beast of any kind, unless Jackells may be so call’d of those we had sometimes great numbers howling about our tents & sometimes stealing in to get at our provisions’.36 Butterworth, Library supplement: the Wood collection, p. 198. Passages are scored out, for example, on pages 48 54, 100, 104, 132, 139 (two entire pages: 140-41), 153, 228 and 234. Furthermore, on pages 288-289 there are vertical/diagonal lines through whole paragraphs. 33 Wood collection No. 23, pp. 41 and 57, respectively. 34 Wood collection No. 23, p. 224. 35 Wood collection No. 23, p. 218. 36 Wood collection No. 23, pp. 221-222. 31 32

18

The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

Homeric scholar J.V. Luce remarks that his experience of jackals is mirrored in a simile from the Iliad, which portrays watchdogs listening uneasily to the sound of a bold-hearted wild beast coming down from the heights through the brushwood.37 At the end of this passage, Wood notes that he believes two of their hours are equal to three caravan hours, presenting a brief list of the amount of time taken (81 hours) to make a return journey from Aleppo to Romuncola. Later in the manuscript, he describes an encounter with a belligerent group of about 100 Arabs, who came very close to his company when the latter were inspecting a curious well near Sicara containing embalmed birds. Luckily for Wood and his company, who had already been warned about the dangers of journeying in this area, these bandits had either failed to notice them, or believed that their guides (Arabs who had fled at the sight of this intimidating gang) were hiding close by. Clearly, Wood’s group seemed less perturbed by this threat to their lives than did their guides, and quickly returned to their inspection of the well, once the danger had passed.38 The second interesting section, at the end of the volume, is an itinerary in the form of a series of lists, which indicates the route that Wood took after sailing from England on his original eastern voyage. The first is from is from Sinigaglia (Senigallia – a port town on Italy’s Adriatic coast) to Casebugiate (?) (pp. 347 and 349); the second is from Spa to Amsterdam (p. 352); the third is from Cologne to Ausburg (p. 353); and the fourth is from Rotterdam to Venice (p. 355), the latter of which (Venezia) is described as being ‘7 miles by water’. Each place name has a number after it, which becomes clear when the reader reaches page 354, where a short piece of text lists the number of horses used from Rotterdam to Ausberg, and the prices he paid for them. Finally, there is a curious passage at the end of the manuscript, several pages in length (the latter of which are scored out), and bound upside down. The heading is ‘Mandatum’, which suggests that this may be a request or a ‘commission’ from a friend or associate, who had asked him to do a little research on his behalf during his voyage. Alternatively, it could just be a note from the author to himself, to remind him of a subject he should follow up. The first paragraph reads: to Enquire in the number of great City’s there were formerly on the Propontis I have read that no spot of […] contain’d more, compare the number of inhabitants at present with with [sic] the Antient number & see whether the Encrease of Constantinople (which I beleive is the only city that has encreas’d unless perhaps Gallipoli which see) makes up for the decrease in the Country around, I beleive Mr. Montascue [Montesquieu?] has made some Computation of the proportion between the Antient and modern inhabitants in Greece the same thing done as greatly as possible with regard to Egypt 37 See J.V. Luce, Celebrating Homer’s Landscapes: Troy and Ithaca Revisited (Newhaven and London, 1998), pp. 35-36. 38 See Wood collection No. 23, pp. 241ff.

The Sources

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& Syria & would not be without its use, as you come from Saqara to Cypres [Cyprus] enquire into the present & antient state as well of the Islands, you pass as of the territory lying between Ionia & Syria, we had a View of Coos [Kos] Aliodes & I don’t know any thing that does greater Honour to the antients [than] the Story we are to do of the Inhabitants of Coos being remitted some say because of a famous picture of Venus done by Appelles, inhabitant of that island …39 Volume 24 is a notebook with marbled paper covers measuring 22 x 19cm and consisting of 172 pages. However, the extent of the text is only 38 single pages, the remainder of the volume being blank. The handwriting is very clear, and the text is divided into neat paragraphs. The document is entitled ‘Remarks on Homer’s plan of Troy in a Letter from Rome to James Dawkins Esqr.’ and appears to be a preliminary draft of The Original Genius of Homer. According to Jackson and Willett, the letter was almost certainly composed in 1755; and evidence from the published book (1775) shows that this must be correct, as Wood states, in the preface: But while, in compliance with his [Dawkins’] wishes, I was preparing it for the press, I had the honour of being called to a station, which, for some years, fixed my whole attention upon objects of so very different a nature, that it became necessary to lay Homer aside, and reserve the further consideration of my subject for a time of more leisure.40 The ‘station’ he refers to is his appointment as under-secretary to William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (1708-1778), which was made in December 1756 (see Chapter 3). This manuscript source is further discussed in Chapter 6, which is devoted to Wood’s third book (on Homer). Brief Bibliography Relating to the Collection A year after the Wood collection was donated to the library (in 1927), it became the subject of a substantial article by C.A. Hutton.41 While the author skims over the earlier voyage in half a paragraph, she gives a full account of the contents of the diaries and sketchbooks for the second voyage, ‘the value of which’, she claims, ‘lies not in the minute geographical details which occupy fully half their pages, but in the careful records of the ancient sites visited’.42 Using the combined sources, Hutton reconstructs the voyage of Wood, Dawkins, Bouverie and Borra and compares the 39 Wood collection No. 23, pp. 361-358 (reverse order owing to the fact that the pages are upside down and that p. 360 is the inside back cover). 40 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. vi. 41 See C.A. Hutton, The travels of ‘Palmyra’ Wood in 1750-51, The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 47, Part 1 (1927), pp. 102-128 42 Hutton, The travels of ‘Palmyra’ Wood in 1750-51, p. 103.

20

The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

drawings from the sketchbooks with the sites as they were in the 1920s, reproducing examples of the former at the end of the study. Before doing so, however, she succinctly sums up the nature and extent of the collection in a single paragraph that can be usefully quoted here in full: Each of the travellers kept a diary, specialising in his own subjects: Wood on the topography of a site and its inscriptions; Bouverie on its monuments and Dawkins on the local conditions, fauna, flora, etc.; he also wrote up the official record of the tour, a compilation from all the diaries, garnished with appropriate classical quotations and much recondite information. Wood’s copy of it is contained in six quarto volumes bound green vellum and one paper-covered book. Vols 1 – 3 and the paper-covered book are transcribed in an ornate hand by someone who was often puzzled by his strange text; the other volumes were copied by Wood’s daughter, to whom it was a labour of love. We have also several separate diaries, three by Wood, one by Bouverie, and, possibly, one by Dawkins. There are three sketch-books with measured plans, architectural details and ‘prospects’ which Borra took wherever possible, for, as Wood truly observed at Sardis, ‘a plan of ruins or a view is much more agreeable to the reader than following the traveller thro’ a tedious dry description which is often like the original in nothing else than its unconnected unintelligible disorder.43 A year later, in 1928, James Moncur, a student of modern languages at the University of St. Andrews, who had been working on the collection for the previous three years, was awarded a PhD for his study on the life and works of Robert Wood, with a particular emphasis on his book on Homer and its reception in Germany. While the dissertation was never published, it was made available in the university’s research repository in 2018.44 The author makes full use of the manuscript sources and quotes from them extensively, in an attempt to ‘give a full account of Wood’s two expeditions to the east, about which practically nothing was known’.45 While most commentators tended to ignore Wood’s first tour of the east, suggesting perhaps that they were unaware of it,46 Moncur devoted his first chapter to it, using the combined sources of manuscript numbers 18 and 23 to reconstruct Wood’s voyage.47 This section is very useful in terms of putting a structure on the travels, and confirms important Hutton, The travels of ‘Palmyra’ Wood in 1750-51, p. 103. See J. Moncur, The Life and Work of ‘Palmyra Wood’. A Biographical Study: Including a Description of His Travels, The First Draft of His Essay on Homer, and a Commentary on the Place of the Essay in English and German Criticism. Unpublished PhD dissertation (University of St Andrews, 1929). Available at: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/13087 45 Moncur, The Life and Work of ‘Palmyra Wood’, pp. 1-2. 46 K. Simonsuuri, for example, in her chapter on Wood’s theory of the Homeric epic, refers only to his eastern voyage of 1750, as well as stating that he met his costs out of his private means. The latter point is untrue, as the trip was financed by Dawkins. See Homer’s Original Genius: Eighteenth-Century Notions of the Early Greek Epic (1688-1798) (Cambridge, 1979), pp. 133-134. Nor does she refer to the primary sources (his travel notes, diaries, etc.) that informed his book. 47 See Moncur, The Life and Works of ‘Palmyra Wood’, pp. 19-31. 43 44

The Sources

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details, such as the fact that Wood travelled in four different ships. However, most of the content of the dissertation consists of lengthy quotations, with very little analysis. Furthermore, though the title of the work is ‘The Life and Work of Palmyra Wood’, the biographical section up to 1742 is very disappointing, occupying only four pages of text (pp. 4-8). In this way, it adds little to the numerous existing potted biographies of Wood mentioned earlier. Sixty years further on, in 1988, Butterworth published a five-page article devoted to the Wood collection. This was intended to ‘supplement the earlier study [i.e., that of Hutton] by providing a brief account of other items in the collection only referred to there’.48 In particular, the author focused on items 18, 19, 22, 23 and 24 in the collection, which until then had received little or no attention (at least in print) and whose entries in the library catalogue were, in his view, sometimes lacking or incorrect. His assessment of volume 23 (see above) is particularly useful, as it is one of the few publications relating specifically, and in some detail, to the manuscript source for the first eastern voyage. More recently, J.A. Baird and Z. Kamash have used the relevant manuscripts from the collection to inform their detailed study of the site of Tadmor-Palmyra, ‘as a means of exploring interventions at the site and the legacies of these interventions, and of studying the way in which value was apportioned and memories evoked or occluded with respect to aspects of the site and its visual reception’.49 This study contains a fascinating appendix in which the authors provide a textual comparison of Wood’s manuscript and published material to shows the extent of overlap, links and divergences in particular themes, descriptions, etc. It also compares Borra’s ‘skilful but sketchy’ drawings with the more detailed and large-scale engravings appearing in the book.50 It would be very interesting if the same method could be applied, in a parallel study, to Wood’s description and presentation of Baalbek.

Butterworth, Library supplement: the Wood collection, p. 198. J.A. Baird and Z. Kamash, Remembering Roman Syria: valuing Tadmor-Palmyra, from ‘discovery’ to destruction, Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, Vol. 62, No. 1 (2019), pp, 1-29, at p. 3. 50 See Baird and Kamash, Remembering Roman Syria, pp. 6-7. 48 49

22

The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

Part 2: Literary Sources Available to Robert Wood Prior to His First Eastern Voyage (1742-1743) Private Libraries as Evidence for the Use of Literary Sources A reliable indication of a gentleman’s preparedness for his travels, as well as his continued interest in the countries he visited, is the contents of his library, as can be ascertained from his library catalogue or, more often, the posthumous sale catalogue of his collection. A good example of this is the auction catalogue compiled by Laurence Flin for Richard Pococke’s library sale, which took place in Dublin in March 1766.51 The catalogue is a fascinating document listing numerous books and prints related to his extensive travels in Europe and the east.52 Sometimes, both sources are available, as is the case with library collection of the 2nd and 3rd Earls of Bessborough, which went under the hammer in 1848, after the death of the latter. The manuscript catalogue was composed largely by the 2nd earl, who made his eastern voyage in 1738, and was added to by his son, Frederick, the 3rd earl, who never travelled further than Italy.53 Both were avid collectors of books related to the grand tour (including the east), art and antiquities.54 Fortunately, a copy of the catalogue for the four-day sale (April 1772) of Robert Wood’s valuable library has survived in the British Library. While we were unaware of its existence for the first edition of this volume, we were subsequently informed of its whereabouts by Paul Jackson and have integrated relevant material from this important source into the present revised edition, referencing it as Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772). This little-known source, which is mentioned nowhere in the literature, lists 826 lots and the prices raised (£556. 11. 3).55 It is curious that his widow decided to disperse the collection, since she retained the house in which it was kept, and was proud of her husband’s literary achievements, even arranging for the posthumous publication of his third book. Furthermore, she could hardly have needed the money, as she was wealthy in her own right and then became the sole legatee of a considerable fortune (see Chapter 3). Ancient Geographers, Historians and Other Classical Authors An essential source of literature for a serious traveller to the east was the classics, particularly the works of the geographers/historians. As a gifted classicist, Wood was adept at interpreting these Greek and Latin sources and applying them to the landscape of the places he visited, as he attempted to identify the places they L. Flin, Catalogue of the Library of the Late Right Rev. Dr Richard Pococke (Dublin, 1766). See Finnegan, Richard Pococke’s Letters from the East, pp. 8-9. 53 The Catalogue of Books at Roehampton, 1762 is in the Library at Stansted Park, Hampshire, England, where the Bessborough family settled after leaving Ireland in the 1920s. 54 Christie, Manson and Woods, Catalogue of the Valuable Library of the Late Right Hon. Frederick Earl of Bessborough (London, 1848). For an analysis of the Bessborough library, see R. Finnegan, The library of William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough, 1704-93, Hermathena, No. 181 (November 2006), pp. 149-87. 55 See S. Baker and G. Leigh, A Catalogue of the Valuable Library of Robert Wood, Esq; … (London, 1772). 51 52

The Sources

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described. Together with the poems of Homer, these sources, as discussed in later chapters, would also have been invaluable to him in researching his pioneering book on Homeric geography – a fact borne out in the numerous listings of classical and ancient geographical/historical texts in his Library Sale Catalogue (1772). Internal evidence from the only surviving manuscript from his earlier (17421743) voyage (volume 23 of the Wood collection, see above) shows that the author depended very much on the texts of the ancient geographers, historians and poets when travelling and exploring the sites, and when writing up his notes. On the first page of this manuscript source alone, which relates to the early part of his travels, when he is still in Italy, he cites passages from seven Roman poets (Virgil, Livy, Claudian, Statius, Sidonius Apollinaris and Lucan) concerning the location of the River Timavus.56 This makes it clear that he had the texts to hand. However, not only does he cite and occasionally quote from these sources, but he also compares, contrasts, and analyses them, continually critiquing modern sources on the same issues, including those that he appears not to have taken with him, but which he recalls from memory. For example, in relation to the location of Cavanello, in the Veneto, he says: ‘If I remember right Missom [?] says that Livy calls this river a more rapid one than the Rhone’, then stating his surprise at ‘how this Author could be Guilty of such a mistake’.57 He also constantly reminds himself to check the sources, such as in his note: ‘See Mart [Martial] who shewes that in Strabo’s time it was disputed which of three towns of that name was the antient country of Nestor’.58 Notes of this type suggest that Wood intended to read up further on these points after returning from his voyage, when he would have access to his library. The sections of this manuscript relating to Wood’s exploration of the east refer to other classical authors (‘Classicks’), including Homer, Herodotus, Euclid, Cicero, Horace, Plutarch, Suetonius, Pliny, Ptolemy, Atticus and Pausanias, many of which are listed in his Library Sale Catalogue (1772). In some cases, he mentions the edition he uses, such as the Jesuit scholar Jean Hardouin’s 1723 edition of Pliny,59 the preface of which he discusses and then scores out,60 and Madame Dacier (1645-1720) and P. Sanadon’s recent edition of Horace – a French translation in four volumes with geographical and historical commentary.61 Modern Literature, Books of Antiquities and Travels on the East We know from his Library Sale Catalogue (1772) that Wood owned several volumes related to eastern history, antiquities and travels, although it is impossible to know Wood collection No. 23, p. 5. Wood collection No. 23, p. 5. 58 Wood collection No. 23, p. 6. 59 A century later, this was still considered one of the best editions of Pliny: see The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, Conducted by D. Brewster, with the Assistance of Gentlemen Eminent in Science and Literature, Vol. 15 (Philadelphia, 1832), p. 761. This French scholar (1646-1729) was also known as John Hardwin and Johannes Harduinus. 60 See Wood collection No. 23, pp. 282-283. 61 M. Dacier and P. Sanadon, Oeuvres d’Horace, en Latin, Traduites en François. (Amsterdam, 1735). Curiously, this is not in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772). 56 57

24

The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

whether he had them before or during his first voyage, as many predate this tour and may have been acquired afterwards secondhand.62 Slightly later volumes in Wood’s library indicate his continuing interest in eastern travels far beyond his own voyages, which is typical of many authors of his type.63 More specific to his interest in Syria, Wood may also have had access to the published travel accounts of the following Dutch authors: artist and traveller Cornelis de Bruijn (1652-1727), who had visited the Levant in 1681 and published a version in English in 1702; and oriental scholar and cartographer Adriaan Reland (1676-1718), who had visited the Holy Land and other areas of the Levant in 1708.64 However, of more interest to the present study are the travel accounts that Wood actually mentions in his earlier manuscript (volume 23 in the Wood collection). The fact that they appear in this document suggest that he either had access to them before his first eastern voyage, or that he acquired them during his travels. This source makes reference to the travels of modern authors such as Jacob Spon (16471685) and George Wheler (1651-1724), often misspelt as ‘Wheeler’, Henry Maundrell (1665-1701),65 Jean de la Roque (1661-1745),66 and Mezeriac (possibly Claude Gaspar Bachet de Méziriac, 1581-1638), as well as various dictionaries, including Calvert’s Dictionary of the Bible and Martiniere’s Grand Dictionnaire Geographique et Critique (Hague, 1726). It also refers to Paul Lucas (1704-1724)67 and ‘Sandy’, possibly George Sandys (1578-1644).68 Another interesting source he mentions in this earlier manuscript is correspondence between Cromwell and Pope, in which he specifies the Dublin edition: ‘See Cromwells letter to Pope (& foregoing letter) about ye Geography of Lucan & Homer, as also the letter of June 10th 1709 for a geographic [?] of Statius’.69 These letters are part of a small collection of correspondence between the translator and poet Henry Cromwell (1659-1728) and Alexander Pope (16881744) on matters relating to poetry, the second of which is ‘Criticisms on Statius’. Pages 266-269 of this manuscript (volume 23), in particular, comprise a series of notes and observations on the sources that Wood had consulted on various matters, including ‘the Supposition of the superior and inferior current of the Bosphorus’, which he claims has ‘occasion’d great Speculation’. Some of the notes in Examples predating his first tour are: ‘Seller’s Antiquities of Palmyra’ (1705), Lot 506; ‘Blunt’s Voyage to the Levant’ (1636), Lot 114; ‘Voyage de Tavernier’ (1676), Lot 134; Green’s ‘Journey from Aleppo to Damascus’ (1736), Lot 216; ‘Relations de divers Voyages, par Thevenot’ (1663), Lot 376. 63 For example, ‘Voyage d’Egypt & de Nubie, par Norden’ (1755), Lot 582; Campbell’s ‘Travels thro’ Egypt, Turkey, Syria, &c., …’ (1758), Lot 437; and ‘Hasselquist’s Voyages in the Levant (1766). 64 For details of these sources, see J.R. Bartlett, Richard Pococke in Lebanon, 1738, Archaeology & History in Lebanon, Issue 16 (Autumn 2002), pp. 17-33, at p. 1. 65 Author of A Journey to the Banks of the Euphrates at Beer, and to the Country of Mesopotamia (Oxford, 1699) and A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter A.D. 1697 (Oxford, 1703). 66 Author of Voyage en Syrie et au Mont Liban (Amsterdam, 1722). 67 Voyage du Sieur Paul Lucas, Fait en MDCCXIV, &c. Par Ordre de Louis XIV, Dans la Turquie, l’Asie, Sourie, Palestine, Haute & Basse Egypte, &c. (Rouen, 1724). 68 Author of A Relation of a Journey Begun An: Dom: 1610. Foure Bookes. Containing a Description of the Turkish Empire, of Aegypt, of the Holy Land, of the Remote Parts of Italy, and Islands Adjoining (London, 1615). He was for a time a colonist in Virginia and has been claimed as the first American classical scholar. However, there were of course Latinists and even perhaps some Hellenists much earlier in Spanish America. 69 Wood collection No. 23, p. 269. 62

The Sources

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this manuscript are expressed in such a general way as to confirm that he had read widely on the subject before setting out on his voyage. For example, he says: ‘I have not met with any Author among the moderns that gives an account of …’ 70 He also mentions specific sources but, frustratingly, fails to give the name of the author, as in, for example, his reference to ‘an abstract (in a litterary Journall publish’d at Dublin)…’.71 The Availability of Other Published Sources Not Mentioned in Wood’s Manuscripts Although he may not have mentioned them in his memoirs, Wood is likely to have had access to other notable eastern travel accounts that predated his first trip, for example those of the English and French writers Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1718)72 and the more recent work of Revd Thomas Shaw (1694-1751), whose longawaited book was printed only four years before his own voyage (1738).73 The great esteem in which the latter work was held is clear from the number of editions and abridged editions through which it went, plus the fact that it was translated into French (1743 and 1760), German (1765) and Dutch (1773).74 However, Wood referred to Shaw in his later memoirs (see below) and a first edition of his book is listed in his Library Sale Catalogue (1772) as Lot 621. Works in Preparation Given the intellectual circles in which he mixed while he was in Italy, before making his first eastern voyage (see Chapter 3), Wood was undoubtedly aware of the publication plans of those who had recently returned to England from their eastern travels, and whose imminent books were printed around the time that he was in the east. Founder members of the Egyptian Society Richard Pococke and Charles Perry (c. 1698-?), who had travelled together in Egypt, Cyprus, and mainland Greece, but who became rivals on their return to London, each strove to outdo the other in the publication of their famous tomes, which came out within weeks of each other, in the spring of 1743. The less serious and successful of these was Perry’s A View of the Levant.75 Although a second edition appeared 20 to 30 years later, it was twice translated into German (1754 and 1765),76 and was (and still is) frequently cited in the sources, this work is nevertheless flawed. Not only is it full of grave inaccuracies, Wood collection No. 23, p. 230. Wood collection No. 23, p. 268. 72 A Voyage into the Levant Perform’d by Command of the Late French King, Translated by J. Ozell (London, 1718). 73 T. Shaw, Travels or Observations Relating to Several Parts of Barbary and the Levant (Oxford, 1738). 74 For a list of the various editions, translations and reprints, see Finnegan, English Explorers in the East, Appendix, pp. 291-292. 75 The full title of this book is: A View of the Levant: Particularly of Syria, Egypt, and Greece. In Which Their Antiquities, Government, Politics, Maxims, Manners, and Customs, (with Many Other Circumstances and Contingencies) Are Attempted to be Described and Treated on (London, 1743). 76 For a list of the various editions, translations and reprints, see Finnegan, English Explorers in the East, Appendix, pp. 292-293. 70 71

26

The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

inconsistencies, and unedited passages, but many of the illustrations on which its reputation is based are borrowed from the work of the French author Lucas, whom he otherwise castigates and lampoons throughout. After printing his eastern experiences, Perry brought out several more books on subjects more relevant to his medical training. It is perhaps telling that Wood makes no reference to him in any of his memoirs or in his printed works, even though a copy is listed in his Library Sale Catalogue (Lot 398). While it also has its shortcomings (and provoked an unseemly backlash from Thomas Shaw, in the form of a full volume),77 Pococke’s two-part work A Description of the East and Some Other Countries is considered a more worthy contribution to oriental studies.78 Curiously, although this work was abridged in several compendiums of travels and was translated twice into German (1754-1755 and 1771-1773, reprinted in 1779), twice into French (1760 and 1772) and once into Dutch (1776), it was never reissued in English.79 Volume 1 (1743) is devoted to the architecture and antiquities of Egypt and its success prompted the author to bring out volume 2 (1745), in which he describes and illustrated other countries in the east, as well some of the lesserknown places in Europe through which he passed when travelling to and from the east. While Pococke later printed a volume of inscriptions that he had collected during his travels, in collaboration with his cousin and former travelling companion Revd Jeremiah Milles (1714-1784),80 he failed to publish his more personal memoirs, even though there is evidence in the manuscripts of his intention to do so. These letters, which comprise two collections (diary letters addressed to his widowed mother, Elizabeth Pococke, and more formal accounts addressed to his uncle and patron, Thomas Milles, Bishop of Waterford & Lismore), are in the British Library and were first published between 2011 and 2013;81 a new, revised edition of the eastern correspondence appeared in 2021.82 The circumstances of these three rival authors (Shaw, Perry and Pococke), and the extraordinary collection of eastern travels which they published within a sevenyear period, make for a very interesting story.83 In addition, there are naturally areas of overlap between the works of these authors and that of Wood, which give rise to inevitable comparisons. This relates largely to Pococke, whose engraved drawings A Supplement to a Book Entituled Travels, or Observations, &c. Wherein Some Objections, Lately Made Against It, Are Fully Considered and Answered: with Several Additional Remarks and Dissertations (Oxford, 1746). The full titles of the volumes are: A Description of the East and of Some Other Countries, Volume I, Observations on Egypt (London, 1743) and A Description of the East and of Some Other Countries, Volume II Part I: Observations on Palaestine or the Holy Land, Syria, Mesopotamia, Cyprus and Candia; Volume II. Part II: Observations on the Islands of the Archipelago, Asia Minor, Thrace, Greece, and Some Other Parts of Europe (London, 1745). 79 For a list of the various editions, translations and reprints, see Finnegan, English Explorers in the East, Appendix, pp. 293-294. 80 Inscriptionum Antiquarum Græc. et Latin. Liber. Accedit, Numismatum Ptolemæorum, Imperatorum, Augustarum, et Cæsarum, in Ægypto cusorum, e Scriniis Britannicis, Catalogus ... (London, 1752). 81 See R. Finnegan, Letters from Abroad: The Grand Tour Correspondence of Richard Pococke & Jeremiah Milles, 3 vols (Piltown, 2011-2013). 82 See Finnegan, Richard Pococke’s Letters from the East. 83 See Finnegan, English Explorers in the East. 77 78

The Sources

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of the monuments of Baalbek in volume 2 of his travels predate those of Wood, in his Ruins of Balbec, by 12 years. The fact that Wood mentions Pococke numerous times in his diary from his first eastern voyage (volume 23 in the Wood collection), where he consistently misspells his name as ‘Pocock’, means that he must have revised certain passages on his return, as he could not have seen it either before or during his tour of the east. The entry for Pococke in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772) relates to all three of volumes (his travels and his book on epigraphy). A further imminent publication that Wood may have been aware of before or during his first voyage was that of German travel writer Jonas Korte, who had travelled in the Levant from 1737-1739 and brought out his Reisen in 1741.84 However, there is no evidence of this in his Library Sale Catalogue (1772).

84

See Bartlett, Richard Pococke in Lebanon, 1738, p. 17.

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

Part 3: Literary Sources Available to Robert Wood for His Second Eastern Voyage (1750-1751) Internal Evidence It is clear from the more varied manuscript sources in the Wood collection for his second eastern voyage, which includes the diaries of his travelling companions, as well as sketchbooks and notebooks with inscriptions (see Part 1, above), that Wood and his party had access to a wide selection of relevant literature to inform their decisions about their itinerary and their general plan of action. As their journey began in early May 1750, and they assembled in Naples the previous winter, they had four to six months to prepare. An important aspect of their plans was to assemble a collection of appropriate literature to take with them, as famously described in the preface to Ruins of Palmyra. They also had the benefit of Wood’s previous experience and the research he had already conducted on his first voyage, which was, of course, one of the main reasons for inviting him to join them on their expedition. As can be seen from references in the diary sources for the second voyage, the party took pretty much the same texts as those taken by Wood on his original voyage. The classical writers included Pausanias, Virgil, Homer, Vitruvius, Strabo, Pliny, Aristotle and Cicero; and the ‘best voyage writers’ included Maundrell, Shaw and Pococke, the latter of whom is referenced throughout the diaries of Dawkins, often in a negative context, which shows that the travelling party conducted their detailed expedition with his weighty folio-sized tome(s) in hand (both Shaw and Pococke are listed in his Library Sale Catalogue as Lots 622 and 621, respectively). The Dawkins diaries also refer to the English epigrapher Edmund Chishull (16711733), which could refer to any of his works,85 and the French cartographer Guillaume Delisle (1675-1726). Furthermore, Wood’s own diaries for this voyage (volumes 1012) refer to editions of the classics, such as Alessandria Adimari’s edition of Pindar,86 which is mentioned in a series of notes on various authors. Letter to Joseph Spence How this mobile library was assembled is partially explained by Wood in a letter to Revd Joseph Spence, the scholar and letter-writer referred to above (Figure 1), who had returned from his lengthy sojourn in Italy (see below) and settled down to a life in Surrey, where he continued to write on classical and other poetry. This letter from September 1749, which is also significant for evidence for the development of Such as E. Chishull, Inscriptio Sigea Antiquissima Boustrophedon Exarata/Commentario eam Historico, Grammatico, Critico Illustravi (London, 1721) and Antiquitates Asiaticae Christianam Aeram Antecedentes: Ex Primaris Monumentis Graecis… (London, 1728); Travels in Turkey and back to England (London, 1747). The latter two works are listed in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772) as Lots 189 and 397. 86 A. Adimari, Ode Di Pindaro Antichissimo Poeta: Cioè, Olimpie & Pithie & Nemee & Istmie Tradotte in Parafrasi, & in Rima Toscana Da Alessandro Adimari, e dichiarata dal medesimo. Con Osseruazioni, e Confronti d’Alcuni Luoghi Immitati, ò Tocchi Da Orazio Flacco (Pisa, 1631). 85

The Sources

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Figure 1: Engraved portrait of Revd Joseph Spence, by George Vertue, after Isaac Whood, published 1746; 23.5 x 18.4cm (image courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. NPG D7818)

Wood’s book on Homer (see Chapter 6), indicates that the author was responsible for acquiring at least the classical texts and perhaps the measuring instruments: I have bought a Collection of the Greek and Latin Classics to come out in the ship (which we intend to have sent from hence) and such Instruments as are necessary for measures.87 Some of these texts may have ended up in his own private collection. It is also known that last-minute books for this trip were arranged by William Russel, who had a bookshop at Horace’s Head, outside Temple Bar, London.88 Unpublished Manuscript Sources in Circulation Wood must also have been aware of (and possibly had access to) eastern travel memoirs in private circulation, and which were to remain in manuscript form for decades, even centuries. He may have seen these at any time before, during or after S. Weller Singer (ed.), Anecdotes, Observations, and Characters, of Books and Men. Collected from the Conversations of Mr Pope, and Other Eminent Persons of His Time. By the Rev. Joseph Spence (London, 1820), Letter from Wood to Spence, London 25 September 1749, No. XXIV, p. 429. 88 This is according to his brother James Russel. See J.M. Kelly, Letters from a young painter abroad: James Russel in Rome 1740-63, The Volume of the Walpole Society, Vol. 74 (2012), pp. 61-164, at p. 75. 87

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

his two voyages and in advance of composing his published works. Of particular note were the memoirs of Lord Sandwich, who is known to have discussed his travel manuscript with those who were interested, including the abovementioned Revd Spence, whom he met in Turin, in 1740.89 Spence had held the Oxford Chair of Poetry from 1728-1738 and in 1742 was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford. However, he spent a considerable number of years abroad and, at the time of his meeting with Sandwich, was in Italy with Henry Fiennes Clinton (1720-1794), Earl of Lincoln, later 2nd Duke of Newcastle under Lyme.90 All three were acquainted: Wood corresponded with Spence about their mutual interest in Homer (see below); and Sandwich was to later discuss the contents of his memoirs at meetings of the Egyptian Society and the Divan Club, of which he was a founder member and the longest-serving Vizir (chairman), and to which Wood belonged, albeit fleetingly. Although Sandwich failed to publish this account in his lifetime,91 his chaplain, Revd John Cooke (1738-1823), edited and published it posthumously, in 1799.92 (Rachel Finnegan)

89 Klima, Joseph Spence: Letters from the Grand Tour, pp. 248-249. For a discussion of these letters, see R. Finnegan, Manuscripts, mummies & minute books: the case of Pococke & Sandwich in the East, in L. Mulvin (ed.), A Culture of Translation: British and Irish Scholarship in the Gennadius Library (1740-1840), The New Griffon. 13 (Athens, 2012), pp. 47-59, at pp. 51-52. 90 See J. Sambrook, Spence, Joseph [pseud. Sir Harry Beaumont] (1699-1768), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004). Available at: https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-26111 91 The manuscript is entitled A Voyage Round the Mediterranean in the Years 1738 & 1739 and is in the National Maritime Museum, ref. SAN/F/50, 92 A Voyage Performed by the Late Earl of Sandwich Round the Mediterranean in the Years 1738 and 1739, Written by Himself (London, 1799).

Chapter 3

Biographical Account of Robert Wood Early Life Date, Place of Birth, Family and Home The year of Robert Wood’s birth is uncertain. While the date has been given as early as 1714,1 more recent biographical sources agree on 1717 or tentatively suggest 1716/17. As for his place of birth, the epitaph on his tomb, composed by his friend and patron – writer, art historian and Whig politician Sir Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (1717-1797) (Figure 2) – states that he was ‘born in the castle of Riverstown near Trim in County Meath’. While this may seem odd, given that his parents lived in the manse in Summerhill (the official residence of his father, who was the local Presbyterian minister), which was 11 miles away, it is possible that the couple were either living there at the time, before the manse was built; or perhaps Mrs Wood had been invited there for the duration of her confinement. According to The Civil Survey of 1654-1656, the 320acre property of Riverstown, which then belonged to the Dillon family, had ‘On the premises a ruinated castle’.2 Two centuries later, Samuel Lewis’s A Topographical Survey of Ireland (1837) recorded the castle as being ‘now in ruins’;3 and a tower house is also recorded in a modern archaeological inventory of the area.4 While this does not sound like a very promising place for a mother to give birth, another modern source refers to the ruins of the eighteenth-century stone house that the Dillons built on to, ‘an earlier four-storey tour house [which] can be seen today’.5 This is likely the building in which Wood was born – habitable and even comfortable in 1707, when it was newly built, but which had fallen into disrepair a century later. At any rate, as the identity of Riverstown Castle as his birthplace has not been questioned, and is echoed in most modern biographical accounts,6 we must assume that the details his widow gave to Walpole for inclusion on his epitaph were correct. The illustrations below (Figures 3 and 4) are a nineteenth-century drawing of L. Cust and S. Colvin, History of the Society of Dilettanti (London, 1914), p. 260. R.C. Simington (ed.), The Civil Survey, A.D. 1654-1656. Vol. 5: County of Meath, with the Returns of Tithes for the Meath Baronies (Dublin, 1940), p. n. 3 See S. Lewis, S. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1737). Available at: https://www.libraryireland.com/ topog/T/Taragh-Skreen-Meath.php 4 Duchas the Heritage Service, Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Recorded Monuments Protected under Section 12 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act, 1994, County Meath (Dublin, 1996), p. 31. 5 Draft Tara Skryne Landscape Conservation Area. Section II (2010), p. 53. Available at: https://www. meath.ie/system/files/media/file-uploads/2019-05/Draft%20Tara%20Skryne%20Landscape%20 Conservation%20Area%20Written%20Report%20Section%202%20pages%201-22.pdf 6 See, for example, W.B. Stanford, Ireland and the Classical Tradition (Dublin, 1976), p. 136; Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy. p. 1015, under the entry for Robert Wood; and R. Richey, Wood, Robert, Dictionary of Irish Biography (Dublin and Cambridge, 2009). 1 2

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

Figure 2: Portrait of Sir Horace Walpole, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1756-1757; oil on canvas, 127.2 x 101.8cm (image courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. NPG 6520)

Biographical Account of Robert Wood

Figure 3: George Victor Du Noyer, ‘Riverstown Castle. Parish of Tara in Meath. Sheet 31/4. Looking WNW. 13 Aug 1865’; pencil on paper (image courtesy Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland)

33

Figure 4: Photograph of Riverstown Castle, Co. Meath, looking WNW (photo David F. Kane, with permission of the owners)

Riverstown Castle (dated 13 August 1865) by Irish painter, geologist, and antiquary George Victor Du Noyer (1817-1869) and a recent photograph of the building taken from the same angle. Robert’s father, Revd Alexander Wood (1683-1747/8), misnamed in some sources as Revd James Wood, was the son of James Wood (hence, perhaps, the confusion) of Dunmurry in County Antrim. He was ordained at Summerhill in 1710 and appointed as chaplain to a member of the local gentry. While one source claims that he was ‘Chaplain at Summer-hill about the year 1697; and remained there, with some short intervals of absence in England, till his death’,7 this cannot have been true, as he would only have been 14 at the time of his appointment! Other records show that he was a non-evangelical/non-subscriber and that he was present as a correspondent of the General Synod of Ulster in 1717 and 1720.8 A plausible but unverified source suggests that Robert’s mother was Letitia Galbraith, of St. Bridget, Dublin, and that the couple were married on 21 April 1715.9 J. Armstrong, Ordination Service: Sermon: Discourse on Presbyterian Ordination: Address of the Young Minister; Prayer on Ordaining; and Charge ... (Dublin, 1829), p. 106. 8 The author of this chapter is grateful to Valerie Adams, Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland, for providing her with this information. 9 Moncur cites what he believes is the marriage certificate of the Woods but fails to say where this document is found and notes that the parish records for Laracor, in Co. Meath, were lost in the destruction of the Four Courts in Dublin. However, the date seems likely, given that Wood was born a year or two later. 7

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

By the time Robert Wood was born, Revd Wood and his wife had resided at the in Summerhill (but not necessarily the manse) for approximately seven years. We know from the first will of Robert’s widow Ann, dated 1772, that her late husband had four siblings: ‘James Wood deceased Alexander Wood Mary Cope and Frances Sempill’.10 We also know from other sources that there were additional siblings who were deceased when Ann Wood made here will: Hercules, who died as an infant (see below) and Rowland, a merchant of Dublin, who died intestate in 1758.11 It is likely that Robert was not the first child, or even the second, as it was customary to name the first son after his father or grandfather (in this case, Alexander and James); and both Hercules and Rowley must have been named after the Wood family patron, local landlord Hercules Rowley (d. 1742). A nineteenth-century history of the Presbyterian congregation in Ireland describes the ‘Presbyterian settlement’ in Summerhill and tells of how Dean Swift was thwarted in his attempt to put an end to their worship in the area: At first it was a chaplaincy of the noble and opulent family of Langford, who were steady and consistent Presbyterians. Several families from their estates in Ulster having settled in this district, a Congregation was formed, which used to assemble in the chapel of the old castle of Summer-hill, under the pastoral attention of the domestic chaplain. There is good reason to conjecture, that several of the most eminent of the Dublin Ministers … officiated in this situation. – In the reign of Queen Anne the chapel was closed, by a very arbitrary exertion of authority on the part of the celebrated Dean Swift, (then Rector of Laracor, in the neighbourhood of Summer-hill,) upon a forced construction of the Act in England permitting Dissenters, which he insisted ought to be interpreted by the Conventicle Act in England12 permitting Dissenters to meet for worship only in private houses. – Upon this, the proprietor of the estate, Sir Arthur Langford, Bart. in order to prevent disputes, (being desirous to have a place of worship which might afford no legal pretext for persecution,) caused a parsonage-house to be erected for the Presbyterian Minister, with a convenient place for worship of one of its largest apartments. This ancient house still remains, and is at present [1829] occupied according to its original purpose. – Sir Arthur Langford bequeathed a rent charge of £30 per ann. for ever, for the support of the Presbyterian interest in this place.13

See Moncur, The Life and Work of ‘Palmyra Wood’, p. 5. 10 See Will of Ann Wood of Stanhope Street, St. George’s, Hanover Square, widow, 27 September 1772, Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies, AH 1466, p. 6. 11 See Moncur, The Life and Work of ‘Palmyra Wood’, p. 5. 12 This act of 1664 forbade conventicles (meetings for unauthorised worship) of more than five people who were not members of the same household. The purpose was to prevent dissenting religious groups from meeting. 13 Armstrong, Ordination Service, pp. 104-105.

Biographical Account of Robert Wood

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The same source published, for the first time, the correspondence between Swift and Langford, which makes for fascinating reading in its portrayal of Swift as a bigot.14 Luce relates this account with reference to the Penal Laws then in place in Ireland.15 These laws, which were enacted to restrict the religious, political, and economic activities of Catholics and Protestant Dissenters, barred Presbyterians from public office from 1707 and prohibited them from entering Trinity College Dublin. In addition, their marriages were not legally recognised by the state. Luce also presents in his study (as his Figure 6.1) a modern photograph of what, ‘according to local tradition’,16 was the Presbyterian manse. This is a substantial two-story building (Figure 5), now divided into two houses of five and three bays respectively, facing Summerhill demesne. In a mid-nineteenth-century Ordnance Survey (OS) map (see Figure 6, immediately above the number 5a), the house is represented as including a very considerable piece of adjacent land, as well as a large extension projecting from the rear (not visible in later versions of OS maps). This could indeed have been the original parsonage – a suggestion tentatively made by the authors of a recent conservation report, who state: ‘If this is indeed the Presbyterian Manse, it is one of the earliest buildings surviving in Summerhill.’17 However, it is possible that the establishment was later moved to a location around the corner, in the same terrace as the former RIC barracks and post office (now a terrace containing a credit union and Chinese takeaway), as the building depicted in Figure 5 does not correspond with the description of the Presbyterian meeting house given a century later in Griffith’s Valuation. This important historical source refers to what appears to be a terrace of four houses, the first two of which are associated with Revd Samuel Craig (the then incumbent Presbyterian minister), as ‘Ho., offs. [house, offices], yard, & land’ and ‘Presbyterian Meetg.-ho [Meetinghouse];’ and the fourth building in the terrace belonging to the Constabulary Force and comprising ‘Police bar. [barracks], offs, & yard, Garden’.18 Revd Wood served as the Presbyterian minister for Summerhill until his death, and throughout the whole period was connected to the Rowley family, whose most important architectural legacy was Summerhill House, which has been described as the ‘most dramatic of the great Irish Palladian houses’.19 Sadly, however, it was demolished in the 1950s.20 The design of this vast mansion, which was commissioned See Armstrong, Ordination Service, pp. 104-106. J.V. Luce, Robert Wood and Homer, in J.V. Luce, C. Morris and C. Souyoudzoglou-Haywood (eds), The Lure of Greece: Irish Involvement in Greek Culture, Literature, History and Politics (Dublin, 2007), 71-87, at p. 72. 16 See Luce, Robert Wood and Homer, p. 73. 17 Meath County Council, Summerhill Architectural Conservation Area Character Statement (Navan, 2009) p. 19. 18 Griffith’s Valuation (1847-1864), Valuation of Tenements, Parish of Laracor, p. 42. Available at: http://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie/gv4/z/zoomifyDynamicViewer.php?file=225052&path=./ pix/225/&rs=23&showpage=1&mysession=2783803165060&width=&height= 19 M. Bence-Jones, A Guide to Irish Country Houses, 2nd revised ed. (London, 1990), p. 268. 20 This was the final blow it was to suffer, having been burned in the 1798 Rebellion, after which it was restored (1869-1870), only to be burned again half a century later, on 4 February 1921. See Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720-1940, online. Available at: https://www.dia.ie/works/view/3647/building/ CO.+MEATH%2C+SUMMERHILL 14 15

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

Figure 5: View of the original Presbyterian manse, Summerhill, Co. Meath, where Robert Wood grew up (photo David F. Kane)

Figure 6: Six-inch Ordnance Survey Map from the 1840s showing the location of the Presbyterian manse, Summerhill, Co. Meath (image courtesy www.AskaboutIreland.ie)

Biographical Account of Robert Wood

37

by the Hon. Hercules Langford Rowley (1710-1794) in the early 1730s, is attributed to Sir Edward Lovett Pierce and the building was completed by Richard Cassells.21 Revd Wood died on 8 February 1747 and is buried in the graveyard of the Anglican church in nearby Agher (recently bereft of its rector, Jonathan Swift). The wording on his gravestone (Figure 7), which lies horizontally on the ground, is very simple and while much is obscured (only that covered in white lichen is in any way visible), we learn from this source that he was ‘37 Years Pastor of the Church of the Holy [… in the] Demesne of Summerhill’ and that he was interred with the remains of his son Hercules, who died ‘in His Second Year’ – as far as we can tell, on 6 May 1721. Curiously, there is no mention on the gravestone, of his wife, so it may be supposed that she remarried after Revd Wood’s death and was buried with her new husband.

Education Schooling There are no details of Robert Wood’s schooling, though it is stated in the same Presbyterian history as quoted above, that he ‘was a man of extraordinary attainments; and that his brilliant success in life reflected great credit on the memory of his father, who bestowed upon him a solid and fine education’.22 This suggests that his father may have tutored him at home; but whether this is the case, or whether he had a private tutor, or even attended a local school or academy, it is clear that he received a very thorough grounding in the classics, which allowed him to progress to university and which served him well in his subsequent literary and political career. Undergraduate Degree, University of Glasgow As mentioned earlier, the Penal Laws barred Presbyterians from entering Trinity College Dublin. At the same time, the Uniformity Act 1662, which prescribed the form of rites of the Established Church of England, prohibited English non-conformist Protestants from attending Oxford and Cambridge for almost two centuries, in what has been described as one of the ‘most odious classes of restrictions that was surrounding education’.23 Therefore, any Dissenters who could afford the luxury of a university education were restricted to studying at Leiden, Utrecht, Glasgow or Edinburgh. Given the strong ties of Irish Presbyterians with Scotland, and the relative proximity between the two countries, the University of Glasgow (and not See T. Hand, The white quarry, Ardbraccan, Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies, The Journal of the Irish Georgian Society, Vol. 8 (2005), pp. 138-159, at p. 141. 22 Armstrong, Ordination Service, p. 106. 23 V.K. Lund, The Admission of Religious Nonconformists to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and to Degrees in those Universities, 1828—1871. Unpublished MA dissertation, William & Mary. Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects, Paper 1539625037, p. 1. Available online at: https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/ s2-xzep-p808 21

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

Figure 7: Photograph of Revd Alexander Wood’s Grave, Agher Church, Co. Meath (photo David F. Kane)

Oxford, as has been suggested in some biographical accounts)24 was the natural choice for Robert Wood.25 An entry in the matriculation records of Glasgow shows that he matriculated in 1732, which would have made him about 15. His name is given as ‘Robertus Wood Ang: Hib’ (Anglo-Irish) and his date of birth is c. 1717. This entry describes him as a ‘Traveller and Politician’, listing the various political posts he later held in England.26 From its foundation in 1451, Glasgow University granted degrees in arts and theology, with some canon or ecclesiastical law. This was owing to student demand, with most candidates pursuing a church career. However, in 1571, James VI issued a charter known as the Nova Erectio, which re-founded the college and reformed its curriculum. By the terms of this charter, instead of each Regent (or lecturer) teaching all subjects, professors were appointed to teach individual subjects. This move was gradual, with 13 professorships or chairs being established between 1637 and 1760.27 24 This begins with A. Webb, Wood, Robert, A Compendium of Biography (Dublin, 1878), available at: https:// www.libraryireland.com/biography/RobertWood.php and is perpetuated by M.A. Hachicho, English travel books about the Arab near east in the eighteenth century, Die Welt des Islams, 1964, New Series, Vol. 9, Issue 1/4 (1964), pp. 1-206, at. p. 105. See also A. Damiani, Enlightened Observers: British Travellers in the Near East 1715-1850 (Beirut, 1979), p. 105, who claims incorrectly, on both counts, that ‘Having studied classics at Oxford, [Wood] developed his life-long interest in the excavation of ancient sites at quite an early age’; and D. Constantine, In the Footsteps of the Gods. Travellers to Greece and the Quest for the Hellenic Ideal, 2nd ed. (New York, 2011), p. 66, who suggests that Wood was ‘probably educated at Oxford’. 25 Edinburgh was the university of choice for those wishing to study medicine. 26 See W. Innes Addison, The Matriculation Albums of the University of Glasgow from 1728 to 1858 (Glasgow, 1913), No. 294, p. 9. 27 Namely, medicine (1637), divinity (1640), humanity (Latin) (1682), mathematics (1691), Greek (1704), oriental languages (1709), law (1713), ecclesiastical history (1716) anatomy (1718), moral philosophy, logic and rhetoric, and natural philosophy (1727) and botany (1760). See Records of the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Available at: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/archivespecialcollections/discover/ university/student/

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It is not clear whether Robert Wood pursued the standard three-year bachelor’s degree in arts or whether he read medicine; and his later educational choices of law (London) and the history of medicine (Padua) make the picture less clear. While, theoretically, the Medical Faculty at Glasgow could only award degrees to those who had already taken an arts degree, this regulation was largely ignored, and many undergraduates went straight to Glasgow to study medicine. However, given that Wood was later recognised as an outstanding classical scholar, it should be supposed that he took a degree in arts, which comprised the following subjects: Greek and Rhetoric (Year 1), Dialectic, Morals and Politics (Year 2) and Arithmetic and Geometry (Year 3). Teaching was conducted through lectures and students were assessed by their performance in class-based questions, as well as more formal disputations (debates), which were held for an hour each afternoon and for two hours on Saturdays. Until the early eighteen century, Latin was the main language of instruction at the university, as well as the language in which the debates were conducted. However, it was gradually replaced by English and Scots – the form of English used in Scotland.28 Middle Temple, London On graduating from Glasgow, Wood was admitted to the Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court in London in which students trained to be barristers.29 His admission record for 15 November 1736 describes him as a ‘Traveller and Politician’, as well as listing his political and literary achievements.30 There had been lawyers at the Middle Temple since 1320, but by the late sixteenth century, each society had developed a curriculum based on a series of sophisticated ‘learning exercises’ (largely moots and case disputation) that involved all ranks of the membership. However, by the time Wood was admitted as an ‘inner-barrister’, the educational apparatus of the inns had declined, with the moots having lost their original element of legal interest and become merely formal and ritualistic. There was also a certain lack of rigour when it came to assessment, with students merely being fined for failing to perform their exercises.31 It is possible that Wood had entered the Temple with the full intention of pursuing a legal career, but was disappointed in the system, so that rather than continuing until he was called to the bar or benched, he left after a year of study (possibly the summer of 1737). Still, this brief experience must surely have been of great benefit to his future career in administration and undoubtedly provided a useful point of connection with his future travelling companion and See The University of Glasgow story. Available at: https://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/teaching/ The other three were the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, and the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn. 30 See J. Hutchinson, A Catalogue of Notable Middle Templars with Brief Biographical Notices (London, 1902), p. 265. 31 See D. Lemmings, Blackstone and law reform by education: preparation for the bar and lawyerly culture in eighteenth-century England, Law and History Review, Vol. 16, Issue 2 (Summer 1998), pp. 211-255, at pp. 229-230. 28 29

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

patron James Dawkins, who was admitted to the Middle Temple three years later, in 1741.32 Doctorate, University of Padua Wood must have departed for Italy soon after leaving the Middle Temple, as there is a record of his graduation from the University of Padua in July 1738 with a doctorate. If the record relating to another Irish candidate is typical of the time frame (see below), we can assume that Wood was enrolled in December of 1737, which means the duration of the course was seven months. There were two universities in Padua: the University of Law, much frequented by the English, and the University of Arts. The latter institution was also known as the Venetian College of Arts, from 16171797, after which it became the Collegio Nazionale. It allowed students who did not profess the Catholic faith to receive the ‘laurea’ (doctorate) in philosophy and medicine, or philosophy, or medicine; and the ‘licentia’ in surgery. Wood attended this college and obtained a doctorate in philosophy and medicine.33 The fee for this degree more nobilium (as opposed to the ordinary degree) was 1395: 09 Venetian lire, which included sweets and gloves.34 Interestingly, between 1644 and 1738, all nine Irishmen listed in the record (i.e., those identified as ‘Hibernus’ rather than ‘Anglus’ or ‘Scotus’) obtained the same qualification. The Irish candidates listed for the early eighteen century were Henry Leslie (1715) and John Templeton (1719),35 the latter of whom entered the college in December 1718. Another source also states that the same Templeton (‘English gent. Student in Physik at Padua’) lodged a formal complaint to the British Resident of Venice, Revd Alexander Cunningham, concerning the disruptive behaviour of the German students, which hindered his progress in taking his ‘Doctors Degree’. Revd Cunningham duly protested to the university at the encroachments of ‘ye ancient privileges of ye British Nation’36 and the student successfully completed his course.

First Grand Tour and Eastern Voyage (1738-1743) Summary of First Grand Tour and Eastern Voyage While much is known about Wood’s travels from 1749 onwards, details of his first grand tour are less clear, with the result that some studies have either glossed over Hutchinson, A Catalogue of Notable Middle Templars, p. 69. His entry in the record reads: ‘D. ROBERTUS WOOD Hibernus, D. Alexandri filius, lauream in Philosophia et Medicina consecutus est’. See E. Morpurgo, English physicians—’doctorati’—at the University of Padua in the ‘Collegio Veneto Artista’ (1617–1771), Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, Vol. 20, Issue 9 (1927), 1369-1380, at p. 1379, No. 138. 34 A curious tradition of the university was that any Jewish person graduating was obliged to provide every non-Jewish graduate with a box of sweetmeats, though the English, Scottish and German groups received two. See B. Kisch, Cervo Conigliano: a Jewish graduate of Padua in 1743, Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Vol. 4, No. 4 (Autumn 1949), pp. 450-459, at p. 458. 35 Morpurgo, English physicians, p. 1379. 36 See Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, p. 932, under the entry for John Templeton. 32 33

Biographical Account of Robert Wood

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his earlier voyage of Italy and the east, sometimes in one or two sentences, or even failed to mention it at all. There are two exceptions to this, which have already been noted: Chapter 1 of Moncur’s PhD dissertation, which reconstructs the tour from volume 23 of the Wood Collection, but because it is unpublished, has never had a place in the Wood bibliography; and Butterworth’s very concise, two-page summary of the same source (see Chapter 2).37 Ingamells lists Wood as being in Padua ‘by 27 Jun. – 17 Jul. 1738’.38 However, as argued above, he must have been there from at least seven months earlier, to have enrolled in the college and presumably to have studied for his doctorate. We have very few details of his movements from his graduation until May 1742, when he is recorded as being in Venice,39 although one biographical source locates him in Paris in October 1741.40 As a man of very modest means, whose family income was unlikely to have financed this extravagant voyage, it is possible that during this period (as in his final grand tour) he may have earned a living as a travelling tutor – an occupation noted by Sir Horace Walpole in his memoirs,41 and one that has been mentioned in several of the secondary sources. The same memoir also refers to Wood, his exact contemporary, as an ‘excellent classic scholar’,42 which would have been one of the main criteria for obtaining work as a bear-leader (tutor). We know, from his surviving notebook for this period,43 that in May 1742 Wood embarked on his eastern voyage from Venice, a voyage lasting precisely 12 months. It was presumably in Venice that he obtained his firman (Ottoman passport),44 which would have been a lengthy process that involved applying to the English ambassador in Constantinople, who in turn had to apply on his behalf to the Ottoman imperial chancery;45 and this might help to explain why he remained in this region so long, after graduating from Padua. Wood gives further details of his voyage from Venice to Corfu, which he describes in his third printed book as being made ‘in a Venetian

37 See Moncur, The life and work of ‘Palmyra Wood’, pp. 9-31; and Butterworth, Library supplement: the Wood collection, pp. 199-200. 38 Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, p. 1015. 39 Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, p. 1015. 40 See D.M. White, Wood, Robert (1716/17-1771), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004). Available at: https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb9780198614128-e-29891 41 D. Le Marchant (ed.), Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third by Horace Walpole, Youngest Son of Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford, Vol. 1 (London, 1845), p. 364. Hereafter, this source is referred to as Walpole’s Memoirs, with the corresponding volume number. 42 Walpole’s Memoirs, Vol. 1, p. 364. 43 Wood collection No. 23. 44 This is where Richard Pococke obtained his official papers. In a letter to his uncle, Bishop Thomas Milles, dated Venice, 19/30 August 1737, he declared: ‘But when I came here I met a Firman or Passport from the Ottoman Porte sent to us by Sr Everard Falkener [Fawkener] the English Ambassador at Constantinople, which encouraged me to undertake the Eastern voyage being well prepared for it in pursuance of our first design.’ See British Library, Add MS. 15774. He made the same point to his mother, Elizabeth Pococke, in a letter from Leghorn dated 6/17 September 1737, when he stated ‘[I met] at Venice a Firman or Passport from the Ottoman porte, which will make me entire Master of the East.’ See British Library, Add MS. 22997. 45 See Finnegan, English Explorers in the East, pp. 74-75.

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

ship, the Ercole e Rosa, commanded by Captain Rota, a skilful seaman and a good pilot, who had forty years constant experience of that navigation’.46 He travelled on this ship as far as Rovigno (Rovinj) and from there took another to Pola (Pula) and Faesano (Fasano), and from there went to Corfu and Lemnos, which he reached on 25 June, after experiencing continual bad weather. In early July, he visited Troy and from there sailed to Constantinople, after which, according to an account he gives in The Original Genius of Homer,47 he sailed on the British warship HMS Chatham, which was being used at the time to escort ships in the Turkey trade to Scanderoon (İskenderun), via Mytilene, Scio and Cyprus.48 From Scanderoon, he journeyed through Beylan (Belen) and Antioch, to Aleppo, where he based himself for several months. Aleppo was a thriving centre of the Turkey trade, especially for the merchants, factors and officials of the Levant Company, and a city often praised for the kindness which its Franks (of Britain and of other nations) bestowed on visitors. Pococke, for example, who had stayed there twice during his recent voyage of the east, publicly thanked Arthur Pullinger ‘for the many extraordinary civilities [he] received at Aleppo’.49 This city was soon to become known to Europeans through the publication of Alexander Russell’s The Natural History of Aleppo (1756).50 Russell was Physician to the Levant Company factory in Aleppo for 13 years, from 1740 until he resigned in 1753, and it is possible that he and Wood were acquainted, especially with the latter’s interest in medicine. Much has recently been written about the city during this period,51 which was described by Russell as the third largest metropolis in the Ottoman Empire.52 It is clear that Wood also formed a friendship with Alexander Drummond during his sojourn in Aleppo, as reflected in later correspondence (see below). A copy of his Travels through Different Cities of Germany, Italy, Greece, and several parts of Asia … (London, 1754) is listed as Lot 619 in his Library Sale Catalogue (1772). Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 55. Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 40. The Chatham had a chequered career: launched in 1691, this 50-gun ship of the line of the Royal Navy captured the French 60-gun Auguste in 1705, was rebuilt in 1721, and shortly after Wood’s voyage, was one of the British ships-of-the-line at the Battle of Toulon (1744), before being sunk as a breakwater five years later. See B. Lavery, The Ship of the Line, Vol. 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650-1850 (London, 2003), pp. 164, 170. 49 See Pococke, Description of the East, Vol. 2, p. v. Pullinger was an intellectual and epigrapher, who served in Aleppo between 1725 and 1739 and again later, and from whom Pococke obtained a manuscript of geographical notes on the east (dated around 1740), which is now in the Pococke collection in the British Museum. See Geographical and Antiquarian Notes Relating to Greece and Asia Minor, Compiled by Arthur Pullinger, an English Merchant in Aleppo, British Library, Add MS. 4824. 50 The full title of this volume, which was printed in London by A. Millar is: The Natural History of Aleppo, and Parts Adjacent. Containing a Description of the City, and the Principal Natural Productions in its Neighbourhood; together with an Account of the Climate, Inhabitants, and Diseases; Particularly of the Plague, with the Methods Used by the Europeans for Their Preservation. 51 See, for example, van den Boogert: Freemasonry in eighteenth-century Izmir?, pp. 104-121; J. Mather, Pashas: Traders and Travellers in the Islamic World (New Haven and London, 2009), Part One: Aleppo, pp. 17-177; M.H. van den Boogert, Ottoman Syria through the Eyes of Two Scottish Doctors, Alexander and Patrick Russell (The Arcadian Library in Association with Oxford University Press, 2010); and J. Starkey, The Scottish Enlightenment Abroad: The Russells of Braidshaw in Aleppo and on the Coast of Coromandel (Leiden, 2018). 52 See Starkey, The Scottish Enlightenment Abroad, p. 40. 46 47 48

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From October to November of 1742, Wood made a 20-day excursion from Aleppo to Bir, Orphala, Romuncola and Antab, in which he was accompanied by three members of the French factory. According to his journal, the journey was at least 300 miles and involved 81 hours of travel. On leaving Aleppo, on 24 November, Wood travelled to Laodicea (Latakia), where he spent several days viewing the antiquities. We do not know how he spent the next couple of months, but he confirms, on page 109 of The Original Genius of Homer, that he embarked on a French ship to Damietta, in Egypt, on 5 February 1743, but failed to land, due to bad weather, and was forced to spend three weeks in Cyprus. When the weather had improved, he got back on course to Damietta; and in the March, made a voyage to Alexandria and Cairo. As with other eighteenth-century travellers to Egypt, he made a trip to Saqqara, to explore the pyramids and the catacombs, picking up some mummies, and then journeyed to Rosetta and Alexandria. Finally, in late February/early March, he set sail from Alexandria, with his collection of mummies, which had to be thrown overboard during a ferocious storm; and the journey from there to Toulon took 51 days, compared to the usual 20.53 It was his experience of this voyage, together with his education and scholarly spirit, that led Dawkins and Bouverie to invite him to join forces seven years later on a more organised expedition. Secretary to Joseph Leeson There follows a period of another year and a half in which we cannot precisely pinpoint the whereabouts of Wood, though we can place him in Rome from January 1745, where he found a patron in Joseph Leeson, future 1st Earl of Milltown, for whom he had been acting for some time as private secretary. In 1741, Leeson’s father (also Joseph Leeson) died and left him a fortune of £5000 and an income of £6000 per annum,54 which he had accumulated from his profitable brewing company in Dublin and from his success in buying and selling property. Leeson (junior) travelled to Italy shortly after succeeding to his family fortune, clearly with the intention of acquiring works of art for his new Palladian-style mansion, Russelltown, better known today as Russborough, in Blessington, County Wicklow. At almost 30, Leeson was considerably older than typical grand tourists who, like Wood, generally undertook a tour of Europe immediately after completing their formal studies. He is depicted in the portrait by Anthony Lee (Figure 8) as a tall and elegant gentleman in his early twenties and the scene has been identified with St Stephen’s Green, Dublin, where he had a house.55 Without a university education, Leeson must have realised that to succeed in his quest for antiquities, he would need assistance. Therefore, his meeting with the highly educated and dependable Wood, who was also a fellow countryman, was a stroke of luck; and the fact that See Butterworth, Library supplement: the Wood collection, p. 200. See S. Benedetti, The Milltowns: A Family Reunion (Dublin, 1997), p. 2. 55 Benedetti, The Milltowns, p. 14. 53 54

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood

Figure 8: Portrait of Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown, by Anthony Lee, c. 1730; oil on canvas; 52 x 33.5cm (formerly in the collection of Sir Roy Strong, image courtesy of The Weiss Gallery, London)

Wood was a gentleman of modest means, who was in need of a steady income to remain abroad, made their relationship a perfect match. Although we do not know where or how they met, though it was probably at Rome, it must have been some time in 1744, as from at least early January of 1745, Wood was already acting on Leeson’s behalf in negotiations regarding the purchase of works of art. This is confirmed in the following account, which relates to Leeson’s desire to travel to the Kingdom of Naples – an important centre of the grand tour and a place rich in collections of antiquities, coins, inscriptions, marble fragments, etc. An added attraction for scholars and connoisseurs was the fact that in 1738, only five years before Leeson’s visit, the excavation of the buried city of Herculaneum had been systematically resumed under court control. However, they could not hope to

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acquire any antiquities from this site, as it was jealously guarded by the Charles VII (King of Naples and pretender to the throne of Spain), who permitted no sales.56 In January 1745, Sir Horace Mann (1706-1786), British representative at Florence for nearly 50 years, and whose ‘most serious business was that of entertaining the English at his hospitable table’,57 introduced Leeson (who in turn had been recommended to him by Walpole) to Cardinal Allesandro Albani (1692-1779), in Rome.58 Albani was a collector and art patron and a major figure in the art world of Rome for half a century. Though a churchman and from a distinguished family, he led a worldly life and was notorious for his lucrative dealings in the art market, even alleged to have had antique sculptures heavily restored, to make them sell better.59 He has been described as ‘the most enthusiastic and spendthrift of eighteenthcentury Roman art patrons’, who sold much of his own collection of ‘statues, busts, heads, bas-reliefs, herms, urns with bas-reliefs, Egyptian antiquities, decorated vases, lions and columns’ to foreign buyers (particularly the British) and then urged the directors of Italian museums to acquire plaster casts of such antiquities, to in some way compensate for the depletion of their national heritage!60 Correspondence between Mann and Albani from 1745, which the former summarised in a letter to Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, describes how Albani, in his customary way of using ‘all means at Rome … to engage the English Gentlemen travellers’,61 advised Leeson to apply for a passport from Cardinal Troiano Acquaviva (1696-1747), in the latter’s role as Minister to Charles VII. Leeson duly made the application but was informed by Acquaviva that, ‘unless he produced a certificate from Murray, commonly called at Rome Lord Dunbar he could not have it [a passport]’.62 On learning of this response, Albani advised Leeson to go directly to Acquaviva’s office and ‘protest that he demanded a Passport of him’.63 However, instead of going himself, Leeson: accordingly sent his companion Mr: Wood with directions in case of a second refusal to take the answer in writing, and to declare that an account of it would be sent to His Majesty, he was told that he might do what he pleased but that their orders were not to give passports to any English without a

56 See F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique: The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900 (New Haven and London, 1982), pp. 74-75. 57 This was according to Edward Gibbon, as cited in the entry for Horace Mann, Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, p. 635. 58 See Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, p. 593, under the entry for Joseph Leeson. 59 See I. Chilvers (ed.), The Oxford Dictionary of Art, 3rd edition (Oxford, 2004). Available at: https://www. oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198604761.001. 0001/acref-9780198604761-e-55 60 See Haskell and Penny, Taste and the Antique, p. 63. 61 Letter from Sir Horace Mann to the Duke of Newcastle, Florence, 26 January 1745, PRO London, State Papers Ms 98/50, f. 33r. The author of this chapter is grateful to Jeff Kattenhorn, Manuscripts and Maps, British Library, for his assistance in providing her with a copy of this and other letters in the collection. 62 This was the Jacobite James Murray, Earl of Dunbar (1670-1770), who had gone to the Jacobite court of Rome in 1719 and served as Secretary of State to James Francis Edward Stuart the ‘Old Pretender’. 63 Letter from Sir Horace Mann to the Duke of Newcastle, Florence, 26 January 1745.

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood certificate from Murray, Mr: Wood accordingly wrote down the answer and consigned it to Cardinal Albani.64

This ‘affair’, which was eventually resolved, was taken very seriously, especially as Mann had recommended Leeson to Albani in the first place, but what is interesting is that while Mann describes Leeson as ‘an Irish Gentleman’,65 Albani refers to him as a ‘Gentilhomme Anglois’.66 Wood’s nationality is not discussed in either letter, but his ill-scrawled and rather hurried note (the ‘answer in writing’ mentioned above) is enclosed in Mann’s letter to the duke. Clearly, with the aid of Wood’s services, Leeson had some measure of success in acquiring pieces for his collection, though less success in shipping them home. As noted in a letter from Mann to Walpole, concerning the dangers of conveying antiquities: I am vastly sorry for the accident of your statues. I hope the marble one [the Sleeping Cupid] arrived safe. I am convinced now, more than ever, that a man of war is the worst vehicle for such things in the world. One can never be sure that the ship on which they are loaded will carry them home. Then, they are shifted so often with such little care! Tell me if you will have any new ones by a merchant ship, though the best of those that frequented these parts was lately taken by the French. Her name the Augustus Caesar, with £60,000 worth of goods, and many statutes, pictures, etc., of one Mr Leeson, a rich Irishman.67 This shipload of antiquities, which was being transported from Leghorn to London, was taken in the Straits by five French men of war. Also on board were 160 bales of silk and other valuables. Ten months later, on 24 October 1745, Leeson was still in Rome and is recorded as having dined with John Bouverie.68 As Wood was Leeson’s secretary during this period, it is possible that this is when he also made his first contact with Bouverie, who was to become his travelling companion four years later. However, it cannot be confirmed. This is the last record we have of Leeson’s presence in Italy until 1750, so it is possible that he may have returned to Ireland for some time to attend to his domestic affairs.

Letter from Sir Horace Mann to the Duke of Newcastle, Florence, 26 January 1745. Letter from Sir Horace Mann to the Duke of Newcastle, Florence, 26 January 1745. 66 Letter from Cardinal Albani to Sir Horace Mann, Rome 15 January 1745, PRO London, State Papers Ms 98/50, f. 67 Letter from Sir Horace Mann to Sir Horace Walpole, Florence, 9 March 1745. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 19, p.13. 68 See Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, p. 593. 64 65

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Return Home from First Grand Tour (1746) At some point in late 1745/6, Wood went back home, probably for the first time since 1737/8, and it is possible that his return was prompted by that of his patron: without a regular income, his lifestyle in Italy would have been seriously compromised. Although we do not know Wood’s precise movements from this point, we can place him in London in the summer of 1746. As mentioned earlier, on 20 April 1744, he was proposed as a member of the Divan Club. His nominator was the Marquess of Granby, who had made his grand tour after leaving Cambridge and is recorded as being in Venice between December 1739 and April 1740. This is precisely the same time at which Wood was in Venice, so it is likely that they became acquainted during this period. Lord Granby visited Constantinople in April 1740, in company with his tutor and fellow Divan member William Hewett (1693-1766), and while it is not known how long they spent there, this voyage qualified them both for membership of the club.69 Though a colonel in the Leicester Volunteers in 1745, Hewett is more famous for his travels, and has been described as ‘traveller and eccentric’.70 He was proposed as a member of the Divan Club by Lord Granby on 20 April 1744, and was elected and signed up at the same meeting. His attendance record was good, his name appearing in the minutes of a further 14 meetings; and he served once as Reis Effendi and four times as Vizir. In contrast, the only meeting Wood attended was the penultimate Divan, held more than two years after his election, on 11 May 1746. His protracted absence from the club can of course be explained by the fact that for much of this time he was on his travels.71 Another factor that may have kept Wood in the British Isles for a year or two was the death of his father, which took place on 8 February 1747, and would undoubtedly have required him to spend some time in Ireland to sort out his affairs.

Second Grand Tour and Eastern Voyage (1749-1751) Back in Rome with Leeson Wood was back in Rome in December 1749, though a letter he sent to Joseph Spence two days earlier pinpoints his departure from London to 27 September 1749. According to this source, which is discussed in the present volume, he was about to set out for Paris two days later, and from there to Rome, to meet with Bouverie and Dawkins.72 Wood remained in Rome until March 1750 (see below), after which he spent three months in Naples (March to May),73 before travelling to the east. This part of his travels was to extend until 1751 and he was back in England by September of that 69 For further details of Mr Hewett, whose name is often spelt Hewitt, see Finnegan, The Divan Club, 174446, pp. 56-57. 70 See Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, p. 495, under the entry for William Hewett. 71 See Finnegan, The Divan Club, 1744-46, p. 36. 72 See Weller Singer, Anecdotes, Observations, and Characters, of Books and Men, p. 429 73 Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, p. 1016.

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year, when he began to prepare his first book for publication. Leeson is also recorded as being in Rome from Easter 1750 until January 1751 and it is clear that their former working arrangement continued to some extent, as there is proof that Wood acted as his agent in the commission of four oval coastal scenes by Joseph Vernet.74 Records show that the artist promised to deliver the canvases by the middle of 1751, for the sum of 300 Roman ducats.75 It has also been suggested that Wood may have acted as Leeson’s agent for the purchase of four pastel portraits by the Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera, representing Diana, Venus, Autumn and Winter. This theory is based on the fact that in 1742, when Wood was in Venice, he had acquired works from her on his own behalf.76 While much is known about Leeson’s second sojourn in Rome, it is not directly relevant to Wood, so is not discussed here. Bouverie, Dawkins and Borra: Invitation and Preparations for the Eastern Voyage The circumstances surrounding the invitation for Wood to travel to the east with Bouverie and Dawkins are unclear, in terms of how or where or why they may have previously met, or whether indeed they had met at all. Although there is no mention of any previous encounter in the primary sources, such as letters or the surviving diaries of the three men, one modern source states that they met during their travels in France and Italy.77 While it is possible that Wood may have met Bouverie during or after the dinner attended by Leeson (24 October 1745), and feasible that he could have come across either of the men in or in England between 1746 and 1749, both scenarios are unsubstantiated, and it is more likely that the idea of their collaboration was one communicated solely by letter. This is also implied in most secondary sources (apart from an unsubstantiated claim by T.J.B. Spencer),78 which are presumably guided by the wording of the preface (or ‘The Publisher to the Reader’) to Wood’s first book, Ruins of Palmyra (see Chapter 4).79 Before considering the next stage of the proceedings, it may be useful to give some background information on the three gentlemen with whom Wood was to collaborate on the proposed expedition to the east: Bouverie, Dawkins and Borra. Bouverie John Bouverie (1722-1750) of East Betchworth, Surrey, inherited his father’s property in 1737, the year in which he matriculated at New College Oxford, aged See Benedetti, The Milltowns, pp. 2, 26, note 4. See Benedetti, The Milltowns, p. 90, note 3. 76 See Benedetti, The Milltowns, p. 82. 77 See White, Wood, Robert (1716/17–1771). 78 Spencer says: ‘In 1749 he [Wood] met James Dawkins … and John Bouverie … and the three agreed on an expedition to the Levant together’, as though their decision came after their meeting. Robert Wood and the problem of Troy in the eighteenth century, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 20 (1957), pp. 75-105, at p. 75. 79 See Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. i 74 75

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15 (1737) and five years later obtained his MA.80 He made three grand tours of Italy over the course of five years: October 1740 to June 1742; March 1745 to January 1747, when he travelled with Richard Phelps (1720-1721), who was in his employ, presumably as a guide81 and Dawkins; and May 1749 to May 1750, during which time he amassed a notable collection of old master drawings (including 800 Guercinos) that rivalled those of the 2nd Duke of Devonshire and the 1st Earl of Leicester.82 He must also have been acquiring a collection of classical statuary, as is evident from a letter from Revd Richard Russel to his son in Rome. The recipient of the letter, James Russel (c. 1720-1763), was an English artist who lived in Rome from 1740 until his death, and who kept up a lively correspondence with many of his fellow countrymen at home. He was a central figure in the grand tour community in Italy and was a staunch Jacobite sympathiser. His father includes in his letter a message from the executor to Bouverie’s will (John Hervey, who was married to Bouverie’s sister Anne), reminding him that Bouverie has left a statue in his custody and asking him to ‘get it pack’d up very safely, and to send it hither [to London] the first opportunity’.83 As Bouverie was a guest of Sir Horace Mann during his time in Florence on his first grand tour, his name appeared in several letters from his host to Horace Walpole, where he was described as a generous yet silent young man. His Jacobite sympathies did not go unnoticed then, or during his second grand tour, and Mann, who was a staunch Whig and a supporter of the Hanoverian monarchy, duly reported his ‘scandalous Behaviour’ to the authorities in England, including Walpole and the Duke of Newcastle.84 Contrary to the claim that he died of fatigue85 or exhaustion on 8 September 1750,86 his death, which actually took place ten days later, on 18 September, at Güzelhisar, was caused by a violent and virulent fever accompanied by a severe nasal haemorrhage. The harrowing account of his short illness and death, together with the arrangements for his burial in Smyrna, is recorded in the diary of his friend Dawkins and transcribed below. He was only 28 when he died and was unmarried; and the executor to his will, as noted above, was his sister’s husband, John Hervey. Dawkins’s diary entry for Tuesday, 15 September 1750 describes how the group arrived at Güzelhisar and notes that Bouverie ‘was indisposed’.87 They had hired a Greek house and after dinner, and ‘(though he had ate nothing but a little Cabbage), 80 See Foster, Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886, A-D, Vol. 1 (London, 1888), p. 353. 81 See J. Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle in Edinburgh & Rome (London, 1962), p. 361 and Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, p. 765. 82 See N. Turner, John Bouverie as a collector of drawings, The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 136, No. 1091 (February 1994), pp. 90-91. 83 Letter from Revd Richard Russel to James Russel, London, 24 October 1751, British Library, Add MS. 41169, f54v, reproduced in Kelly, Letters from a young painter abroad, p. 131. 84 See Turner, John Bouverie as a collector of drawings, pp. 93-94. 85 See A. Webb, Wood, Robert. 86 Richey, Wood, Robert. The error in the date of his death is common and seems have first been made in Foster, Alumni Oxonienses, Vol. 1, p. 353. 87 Wood collection No. 6, p. 31. While the page numbers cited here follow the Bookmark function of the digitised source, the pagination for this volume of Dawkins’s diary is a little awkward to follow, as there is writing on both pages (right and left), with some of the text on the left pages being upside down.

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he thought himself so well as not to want a Physician and walk’d out for above an hour; he went to Bed a little tired, but seemingly tolerably well.’88 The entry for the following day (Wednesday, 16 September) describes how ‘we’ (presumably Wood and possibly some servants) had set out early in the morning to examine the ruins of Tralles/Magnesia, with no mention of Bouverie. However, the story unfolds from the point of their return home, where: we found Mr Bouverie had been blooded, for having had an attack of the Fever we had sent to consult the Pacha’s Physician who is a Greek regularly educated at Padua, Bologna &c. The Fever abated at Night. [The next day] Mr Bouveries’ fever considerably abated, having rested pretty well the night before, so he took a walk. [Later the same day] Mr Bouverie continued to recover, and in the Evening appeared so cheerful, his Physician gave so good an account of him, that we congratulated ourselves on his recovery; but alas! Friday 18th ditto before Daybreak we were alarm’d by the return of his Fever, upon which we immediately dispatch’d a Messenger to fetch the English Physician, who blooded him &c, about 3 o Clock in the morning the Fever was extremely high attended with a very violent bleeding at the Nose that rather exacerbated than diminish’d after he had been let blood: about ten o Clock he was blooded again, (at his own Instigation in the Foot,) his Nose continued to bleed till about two o Clock, being in great danger (as even he himself apprehended) all the time; he was excessively restless and even miserable, and I quite dispair’d of his Life, however between two and three being extremely weak, reduced, restless & in a desperate way, the Physician gave him a Pill to compose him, which so far succeeded that he dozed at Intervals between frequent & violent attacks of Pain in his left side; however he mended, drank plentifully of Barley Water, began to talk, & to drink himself better … & frequently was cheerful, spoke of his own Recovery, & about nine was attended with all favourable Symptoms: but about half an hour before Midnight, his Fit return’d with all its violence except the bleeding at the Nose, it soon render’d him speechless, but could not alter that happy composure & serenity of Mind by which he was ever distinguish’d! It carry’d him off by one o Clock after Midnight, when I enter’d his Room, I found him breathing his last, but with all the tranquility with which Shakespear [sic] paints in his description of Patience on a Monument & ----- With great expedition we got a Coffin made, & with everything ready to transport his corpse to Smirna [sic] --Saturday 19th ditto By the assistance of his Physician & with no small difficulty we got the Corpse of our dear departed Friend Mr Bouverie convey’d out of Guzelhissar & sent it with Bobbit89 & towards Smirna. 88 89

Wood collection No. 6, pp. 31-32. Possibly Henry Bobbitt, an English merchant in Smyrna, who died prior to 1759. See Marjorie Rear,

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As soon as the Corpse of our dear Friend was set out we immediately left our Lodgings & went to lodge with the Physician, where we must wait till we hear of the arrival of his Corpse at Smyrna. Monday 21st ditto Bobbit return’d to Guzelhissar, having conducted the Corpse within six Hours of Smyrna where he met the English Physician & consign’d it to him who was so far advanced on his Road in coming to assist Mr Bouverie at Guzelhissar.90 Precisely what caused his illness is not known, but clearly it was not contagious, as his travelling companions were not affected by it. As he mentioned the unappetising meal given to the party only three days before he became ill, which contained ‘bad Curd yt [that] they call Cheese’ (see Chapter 2),91 one cannot help wondering if he suffered a severe form of food poisoning. Whatever the case, this is the last we hear of his death, after which the diary entries continue as they had beforehand. There are no known portraits of Bouverie. Dawkins James Dawkins (1722-1757) was born in Jamaica, the eldest son and heir of wealthy slave-owner and sugar planter Henry Dawkins (1698-1744) of Clarendon, Jamaica, but was educated at Abingdon School in Berkshire. He matriculated at St John’s College Oxford in 1739, aged 16,92 and, as noted earlier, was admitted to the Middle Temple, London, in 1741, later obtaining a DCL (1749). He succeeded to his father’s property in 1744 and in the same year embarked on his first grand tour in the company of Thomas Townson (1715-1792), who had graduated from Oxford with an MA in 1735. Dawkins’s first grand tour lasted two years (September 1744 to August 1745), during which he spent the first five months in Florence. Departing from England again in September 1749, he arrived at Rome at the end of December and remained there until moving on to Naples the following March, where he is recorded as staying for a further two months (this was just before departing on the eastern voyage). As with Bouverie, Dawkins was known for mixing in Jacobite circles in Paris and Rome; and was nicknamed ‘Jamaica Dawkins’ by Samuel Johnson.93 He is also described as ‘discoverer of the ruins of Palmyra and Balbek’.94 Clearly, this was untrue, as both sites had already been ‘discovered’ and detailed descriptions and fine engravings of the temples had been published in several works. Abednego Seller, for example, had described (but not drawn) the monuments in his The Antiquities of Palmyra … (1696), which was in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772) as Lot 472 (1705 edition); French William Barker Member of the Right Worshipful Levant Company 1731-1825: A Life in Smyrna (2015). Available at: http://www.levantineheritage.com/pdf/Biography-of-William-Barker-Levant-Company-MerchantMarjorie-Rear.pdf 90 Wood collection No. 6, pp. 36-40. 91 See Wood collection No. 6, p. 89. 92 Foster, Alumni Oxonienses, Vol. 1, p. 140. 93 See Hutton, The Travels of ‘Palmyra’ Wood in 1750-51, p. 102. 94 Foster, Alumni Oxonienses, Vol. 1, p. 140.

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Figure 9: Engraved portrait of James Dawkins, by James McArdall, 1760s, after James Stuart; 32.5 x 22.3cm (image courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. D34830)

architect and engraver Jean Marot (1619-1679), had produced line engravings of the temples at Baalbek in his 1670 production L’Architecture Française, otherwise known as ‘Grand Marot’; and Richard Pococke had presented a magnificent series of plates depicting the temples from the same site in the second volume of his eastern travels (1745). However, as discussed by the present author elsewhere, it is not clear who did the original drawings for these..95 As well as financing Wood’s two books (Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec), Dawkins went on to fund the expeditions of James ‘Athenian’ Stuart (1713-1788) and Nicholas Revett (1720-1804), through the Dilettantti Society, to which he was elected a member in 1755.96 This expedition resulted in the publication of The Antiquities of Athens (1762).97 As with Bouverie, he died young, at the age of 35, unmarried. His death took place on 6 September 1757, on the slave plantation which his brother However, it is not clear who did the original drawings for these. See Finnegan, English Explorers in the East, pp. 134-135. 96 On this society, see Cust and Colvin, History of the Society of Dilettanti. See also J.M. Kelly, The Society of Dilettanti: Archaeology and Identity in the British Enlightenment (New Haven and London, 2009). 97 The full title of the volume is The Antiquities of Athens Measured and Delineated by James Stuart F.R.S. and F.S.A. and Nicholas Revett Painters and Architects (London, 1762). Three copies of this book were in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772) as Lots 413, 441 and 418. 95

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Henry had inherited from John Sutton of Clarendon, Jamaica, in 1750. The estate comprised 25,000 acres of land and 348 slaves.98 Interestingly, he made his will shortly before departing for Jamaica (dated 5 June 1755), in which he bequeathed ‘to [his] friend Robert Wood now abroad with the Duke of Bridgewater one hundred pounds a year’.99 The probate for his will was granted on 7 January 1758 and was signed by Stuart and Revett. James Stuart took his portrait, for which the original has never been identified. However, two versions of this painting exist in the form of a sketch and an engraving. The pastel sketch is in the collection of the Dawkins’s descendants and the engraving (Figure 9) was executed by the eminent Irish artist James MacArdell (c. 1728-1765), who was recognised as being the founder of mezzotint.100 Borra Giovanni Battista Borra (1713-1770), who came from Piedmont, was a trained architect and engineer with an interest in cartography.101 That Borra was receptive of the required historical and geographical attitude, together with his ability to draw architecture and detail accurately, is clear from the large collection of wash drawings in ink – rendered for Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec – now in the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), London. As discussed in Chapters 4 and 5, Borra created long perspectival views which featured sweeping viewpoints of the colonnades of Palmyra and the great temples at Baalbek. His representations of different viewpoints and elements of architecture and ornament greatly enhanced the publications, while other aspects, such as infusing topographical elements with geographical relief, enriched the volume. Furthermore, as noted in Chapter 7, the methods he applied served neoclassical architecture as well as establishing an empirical attitude to cater for the meticulous copying of classical orders in the eighteenth century, with a view to informing early modern design. To return to the proposed eastern voyage, in the preface to Ruins of Palmyra (see Chapter 4) Wood gives further details of the plan, as well as the character of his travelling companions. His use of language in the first page shows that, while he may not yet have met Bouverie or Dawkins, he was already aware of them. This is not surprising, since they clearly mixed in the same circles and all were known to Sir Horace Mann, who referred to them in his correspondence with friends and associates back home. See John Sutton, Legacies of British Slavery database. Available at: http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/ person/view/2146655371 [accessed 27 July 2022]. 99 Will of James Dawkins of Clarendon Island of Jamaica, West Indies, 27 January 1758, The National Archives PROB 11/835/259. See J. Harris and C. Hind, ‘A Greek revival detective story, The Georgian Group Journal, Vol. 20 (2002), pp. 141-150, at p. 141 and note 3. 100 See J.M. Kelly, James ‘Athenian’ Stuart’s portrait of James Dawkins, The British Art Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2 (2007), pp. 24-25, at p. 24. 101 His biography has been written by Olga Zoller. See Zoller, Der Architekt und der Ingenieur Giovanni Battista Borra (1713-1770) (Bamberg, 1996). See also G. Dardanello, Giovanni Battista Borra da Palmira a Racconigi (Torino, 2013). 98

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The plan to invite Borra was made before the three gentlemen met in Rome, as is clear from the previously cited letter from Wood to Spence, as well as from the preface to Ruins of Palmyra. Olga Zoller claims that the Piedmontese architect ‘had announced himself as the right person, with all the skills needed to translate Wood’s ideas in to a visual sensation’.102 However, the wording of the letter suggests that the idea was at the very least agreed by Wood, if not suggested by himself: ‘we take from Italy a Person who draws well; I could not think of any body fitter than Boura at Turin who us’d to teach in the Academy; as he takes views pretty well, is an Architect and Engineer …’103 The Turin connection would have been of interest to Spence, who had resided in that city for a year (October 1739 to September 1740), when his charge, the youthful Henry Fiennes Clinton, attended what was probably the same academy. Preparations for the Eastern Voyage As the diaries of Bouverie, Dawkins and Wood start at, or some way into, the eastern voyage, details of the preparations the group made for the tour, when they eventually met up in Rome, are scanty and can be gleaned only from the letter already cited above (Wood to Spence) and from the text of Ruins of Palmyra. While Bouverie is recorded as having been in Rome since May 1749, Wood and Dawkins are documented as arriving in December. However, this does not correspond with Wood’s letter to Spence, dated late September, which says he was about to set out for Paris and then Rome, ‘to overtake [anticipate] there two gentlemen (Mr. Bouvry [sic] and Mr. Dawkins)’.104 Nor does it tally with Hutton’s claim that the travellers met in Rome in the autumn of 1749.105 Nevertheless, as noted in the preface: We passed the winter together at Rome, and employed most of that time in refreshing our memories with regard to the antient history and geography of the countries we proposed to see.106 One aspect of their preparations not mentioned in the sources is their application for a firman. As with the first one obtained by Wood, probably in Venice, this would have been a protracted process involving the English ambassador in Constantinople and the Ottoman imperial chancery. However, it may have been easier to arrange the second time around and Wood may have set this in motion when he was in England, to speed up the process. A decade later, he offered to help James Adam, in any way he could from London, in applying for the various permits required to visit the east.107 O. Zoller, Giovanni Battista Borra and Robert Wood: Arguments for the revival of a mid-eighteenth century book project, in Mulvin, A Culture of Translation (2012), pp. 61-70, at p. 63. 103 Weller Singer, Anecdotes, Observations, and Characters, of Books and Men, pp. 429-430. 104 Weller Singer, Anecdotes, Observations, and Characters, of Books and Men, p. 429. 105 Hutton, The travels of ‘Palmyra’ Wood in 1750-51, p. 103. 106 Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. i. 107 See Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle, p. 288. 102

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Summary of the Eastern Voyage Dawkins’s diary starts abruptly with the party’s departure from Naples, as follows: Our Ship the Matilda of about 160 Ton Richard Puddie Commander joyn’d Us at Naples the latter end of Naples. We judg’d it necessary to make some additional Accommodations in her which detayn’d Us there till Tuesday May 5th N.S. 1750. When in company with Messrs Bouverie Wood, & Borra, We set sail from thence at seven o’ clock in the Evening ditto with a fair Breeze.108 The places the party visited on the eastern voyage are summarised in the preface to Ruins of Palmyra. However, this does not indicate the actual route they took, details of which can be found, with dates, in Dawkins’s diary (see Chapter 2). The three sites are of particular interest to the volumes emanating from this voyage are the Troad area, Palmyra and Baalbek, which are briefly described at this point, though are dealt with in more detail in Chapters 4-6. The Troad The Troad was the historical name of the Biga Peninsula (Biga Yarımadası) in northwestern Anatolia, now part of the Çanakkale province of Turkey. It is bounded by the Dardanelles to the north-west and the Aegean Sea to the west and separated from the rest of Anatolia by Mount Ida. The area is drained by two main rivers: the Scamander (Karamenderes) and the Simois, which join at the area containing the ruins of Troy. With his book on Homeric geography in mind, Wood was keen to explore this area for a second time and, after doing so, he and the party proceeded to Güzelhisar where, as already described, the death of Bouverie took place in the September. Having arranged for the transfer of their friend’s corpse to the English authorities, Wood and Dawkins made their way to Egypt, which they reached on 4 November 1750, and where they spent nearly six weeks in measuring the pyramids and drawing plans. From there, they set out for Athens by ship but were blown off course and arrived at Haifa, on the slopes of Mount Carmel. It was while they were in Palestine that Alexander Drummond wrote the following letter to his friend Samuel Crawley, English consul at Smyrna. This source illustrates that Crawley was already acquainted with both Dawkins and Wood, though it is not clear where or when they had previously met: My old acquaintances Mr. Dawkins & Mr. Wood are at present in the holy land, but I hope Mr. Fitzhugh109 & I shall join them in two three weeks for some Wood collection No. 1, p. 8. William Fitzhugh, son of Captain William Fitzhugh of the East India Company, went out to Aleppo in 1735, aged 18, to work for David Bosanquet, a member of the Levant Company’s factory there. He later became factor to a relative newcomer to Aleppo, Jacob Chitty. See Ralph Davis, Aleppo and Devonshire Square: English Traders in the Levant in the Eighteenth Century (London, 1967), p. 245. Mr Fitzhugh is recorded

108 109

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood more pleasurable jaunt, Mr. Dawkins does me the honour to write me with great politeness ibimus ubitunq: praibis, te duce, et auspice nil desperandum. But alas, he does not know this Hellish country, however we will attempt to give both them & our selves some satisfaction, for many places in Syria are worth seeing tho we mayn’t be able to reach Palmyra.110

We do not know if Drummond managed to join the travelling party in Syria, but by late February 1751, Wood, Dawkins and Borra had arrived in Damascus, and from there proceeded, in early March, to Palmyra, which they reached on 14 March. Palmyra Palmyra (Palmyrene), also known as Tadmor (Tedmur), is an ancient Semitic city in the modern Homs Governorate, Syria, and is famous for its spectacular Roman antiquities. Situated at a strategic location at a crossroads of desert routes across Syria and Mesopotamia, with its natural springs and sheltered valleys, and direct lines to the Euphrates and trades routes east west, it was geographically located as a natural point for the city to develop as a gateway to the east.111 According to Dawkins’s diary, the travelling party spent five days in exploring, drawing and measuring the ancient, classical buildings of Palmyra, as well as copying inscriptions. Baalbek From there, they set out for Baalbek, the ancient Heliopolis, home to the famous temple complex that includes two of the largest and grandest Roman temple ruins. It is located east of the Litani River in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, approximately 42 miles north-east of Beirut. Here, the party spent a further five days (24 to 29 March) in exploring, measuring, drawing, and making plans of the classical buildings, and recording the inscriptions. Following this, they began their homeward journey, which involved sailing to Athens. While the primary sources say little about their time there, two of the manuscripts describe a lengthy excursion they took between 16 May and 3 June 1751, when they visited several important sites, including Marathon, Corinth, Megara (where there were no antiquities), Thermopylae and the Bay of Salamis, by Alexander Drummond as accompanying him and William Hemming, in 1747, on a ‘journey into the desarts of Arabia, and other countries inhabited by savages’. See Laidlaw, The British in the Levant: pp. 99100. He left Aleppo in 1751, a wealthy man, at the age of 33. He was licensed to trade at Aleppo in 1742 and admitted to the Company in 1754. London directories list him as a Turkey merchant at Garroway’s Coffee. House, Exchange Alley (1759, 1763, 1765, 1767) and at the Sword Blade Coffee House, Birchin Lane (1760, 1763). 110 Letter from Alexander Drummond to Samuel Crawley [Smyrna], Alexandretta, 14 February 1751, British Library, Add MS. 45.933: Alexander Drummond’s Letter Books (Vol. 2): p. 117: [Alexander Drummond] To Samuel Crawley [Smirna], Alexandretta 14 February 1751. The author of this chapter is grateful to Maurits van den Boogert for bringing this letter to her attention. 111 See G. Astengo, The rediscovery of Palmyra and its dissemination in Philosophical Transactions, Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science, Vol. 70, Issue 3 (2016), no page numbers. Available at: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsnr.2015.0059

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arriving back at Athens, after a ‘delightful ride from Eleusis’.112 Dawkins’s diary entries from 3 June give only the dates at which they remained in Athens after this trip: from Friday, 4 to Monday, 6 June, until, on the following day, ‘We took our leave of Athens’.113 Wood’s published description of their time in Athens is relegated to a footnote in the preface, where he states that on their arrival, they met Stuart and Revett: two English painters, successfully employed in taking measures of all the architecture there, and making drawings of all the bas reliefs, with a view to publish them, according to a scheme they had communicated to us at Rome.114 Not wishing to duplicate this good work, or perhaps reluctant to step on their toes, Wood’s party ‘did no more than satisfy [their] curiosity, leaving it to Mr. STEWART and Mr. REVET to satisfy that of the publick’.115 The assertion by Anita Damiani that the two groups ‘met and explored Asia Minor together’ is unsubstantiated, though they did remain in contact with each other on their return to London.116 Return to England There are no precise details of their homeward journey from the eastern voyage, or where they performed their quarantine. However, by an Act of 1751, all ships from the Levant without a clean bill of health were obliged to quarantine at Malta or one of the six designated quarantine stations in southern Europe before entering Britain.117 A letter from Revd Richard Russel to his son James (the art dealer at Rome and Jacobite sympathiser already noted above), dated London 24 October 1751, confirms: ‘Mr Dawkins has been here about three months, and intends to set out for Paris in a few days’ and that ‘Mr Wood, who came with him, went to Dublin a month ago, and is expected back in six weeks or more.’118 The writer then goes on to say that Wood ‘desired me to present his compliments, and to let you know, that he wrote both to Dr [James] Irwyn and you from Malta; and hopes that the commissions sent from thence will be punctually executed’.119 The above passage raises a number of interesting points and settles some otherwise unconfirmed facts, namely, that Wood and Dawkins travelled back together and arrived late July, making their return journey approximately six See Wood collection No. 10; and for the quote, see Wood collection No. 8, p. 35. Wood Collection No. 8, p. 35. 114 Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. iii, footnote. 115 Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. iii, footnote. 116 Damiani, Enlightened Explorers, p. 110. 117 See J.C. McDonald, The history of quarantine in Britain during the nineteenth century, Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Vol. 25, No. 1 (1951), p. 23. 118 Letter from Revd Richard Russel to James Russel, London, 24 October 1751, British Library, Add MS. 41169, f54v, reproduced in Kelly, Letters from a young painter abroad, p. 131. 119 Letter from Revd Richard Russel to James Russel, London, 24 October 1751, British Library, Add MS. 41169, f54v, reproduced in Kelly, Letters from a young painter abroad, p. 131. 112 113

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weeks in length; that they travelled home via Malta, which suggests they were quarantined in the lazaretto there; that Wood had further business both with James Russel (presumably artistic) and Dr Irwin (c. 1687-1759), one of the most celebrated physicians in Rome and an active member of the Jacobite Lodge;120 and that he had continued to retain his Irish connections. On this last point, it is possible that he was visiting Joseph Leeson, who had been back in Ireland for several months. However, we cannot infer from his relationship with Dr Irwin (or indeed with Bouverie and Dawkins) that Wood was a Jacobite sympathiser, any more than we can assume from his friendship with Alexander Drummond (see above) that he was a Freemason. While there was a strong connection between the two movements, especially in the Irish context,121 there is no evidence that Wood belonged to either. If he had leanings towards Freemasonry, he could feasibly have joined the Irish Grand Lodge in Dublin, which was established around 1723/24 to 1730 (though would have been very young),122 but narrowly missed any potential involvement in the Glasgow Province, which originated with the appointment of Drummond on 7 February 1739.123 Publication of Ruins of Palmyra Clearly, Wood was settled in London by July 1752, as Revd Russel informed his son James, in another letter that he had visited him and delivered his (the latter’s) letter by hand.124 It was during this period, from late 1751 to 1753, that Wood composed the text of Ruins of Palmyra, in which he gave a historical account of the city and discussed the ruins and inscriptions they had seen on their voyage. Meanwhile, Dawkins ‘supervised the etchings and engravings of Giovani Battista Borra’s drawings, striving for an ideal combination of precision and vigor, accuracy and legibility’.125 While both had a role in overseeing the printing and publicising of this volume, most of the work seems to have been undertaken by Wood (see Chapter 4). There are five lots in his Library Sale Catalogue (1772) described as ‘Cuts of the Ruins of Palmyra’ (Lots 557-581) but all were withdrawn, presumably by his family. Incidentally, there is no mention of Ruins of Balbec in this source, which suggests that his wife excluded it from the sale, but intriguingly, another volume described as ‘A Book of sixty three views’ (Lot 774), with no date or author, was withdrawn.

120 See W.J. Hughan, The Jacobite Lodge at Rome, 1735-7 (Torquay, 1910), where he is listed as an ordinary member and described as ‘senior Physician to the Chevalier St. George (James III)’, p. 16. 121 See S. Murphy, Irish Jacobinism and freemasonry, Eighteenth-Century Ireland / Iris an dá chultúr, Vol. 9 (1994), pp. 75-82. 122 While Murphy, Irish Jacobitism and freemasonry, gives the earlier date, W.A. Laurie, The History of Free Masonry and the Grand Lodge of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1859), p. 61, puts it slightly later. 123 See Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow, ‘History of The Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow. Available at: https://www.pglglasgow.org.uk/index.php/about-the-%20province/4-pglg-history 124 Letter from Revd Richard Russel to James Russel, London, 9 July 1752, British Library, Add MS. 41169, f60v, reproduced in Kelly, Letters from a Letters from a young painter abroad, p. 37. 125 See B. Redford, Dilettanti: The Antic and the Antique in Eighteenth-Century England (Los Angeles, 2008), p. 51.

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Third Grand Tour as Tutor to the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (1754-1755) Wood was still in London in early 1753, as can be established from a letter he received from James Stuart, which starts: ‘We received in this place [Smyrna] your Letter dated London Janry 30 …’126 Having successfully published his first book, to great acclaim (see Chapter 4), Wood returned to Italy for the third time. On this, occasion, which was his last, his patron was Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, for whom he was appointed to act as bear-leader on his grand tour. This was at the invitation of two of the young duke’s uncles: Granville Levison-Gower (1721-1803), known as Earl Gower from 1754,127 and his (Gower’s) brother-in-law John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford (17101771),128 who considered Wood perfect for the role. Not only was he regarded as ‘the most civilized man available’ and ‘a polished man’, but he was also ‘kindly, tolerant and persevering’.129 Part of his job as tutor was to keep in touch with these two gentlemen and appraise them of their nephew’s progress. The duke had succeeded to the family estate at the age of 12, in 1748, along with the titles 3rd Marquess of Brackley and 6th Earl of Bridgewater. He was the youngest son of Scroop Egerton, 4th Earl of Bridgewater (1681-1744), who died of tuberculosis and whose three older sons, John, Charles and a second John had also died young in 1718/19, 1731 and 1748, respectively. After the marriage of his widowed mother, Lady Rachael Russell (1700-1777) to Sir Richard Lyttelton of Hagley in 1745 (she was 50 and he was 26), the young duke, who already suffered from ill health and was considered ignorant, became ‘a neglected, embittered child, starved of affection and driven almost insane by the persecutions of his young stepfather’.130 He chose to live with the Duke of Bedford, in his school holidays, and in October 1748 the latter brought a case in the Court of Chancery, accusing the Lytteltons of misappropriating the personal estate of the young duke’s father.131 Two years later, the Duke of Bedford wrote to his sister (Lady Rachael) and threatened to intervene on the boy’s behalf, if he ‘saw him improperly treated or used at [her] house’, even threatening go to law again.132 This he clearly did, as the case of Bridgewater versus Egerton was heard on 29 January 1751, in which the plaintiff, who was only 14 or 15 at the time and therefore had to be represented by a relative, sued his guardian (his cousin, Samuel Egerton of Tatton) in the Court of Chancery on three questions: books claimed by the plaintiff as heirlooms (which he lost); a house (which he won, Letter from James Stuart to Robert Wood, Smyrna, 30 May 1753, Sheffield City Archives, WWM/R/1/42. The author of this chapter is grateful to Graeme Siddall, Archive and Heritage Assistant at Sheffield Archives, for kindly supplying her with a digital image of this and other letters from the collection. 127 Lord Gower had married the young duke’s sister, Lady Louisa Egerton, in 1748. 128 Lord Bedford’s second marriage, in 1737, was to Lord Gower’s sister, the Hon. Gertrude Leveson-Gower (1715-1794), eldest daughter of John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower (1694-1754). 129 See H. Malet, Bridgewater the Canal Duke, 1736-1803 (Nelson, 1990, revised edition), p. 9. 130 See Malet, Bridgewater the Canal Duke, p. 6. 131 See Malet, Bridgewater the Canal Duke, p. 6. 132 See Malet, Bridgewater the Canal Duke, p. 7. 126

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the judgement being that he, and not his widowed mother, was entitled to it on reaching 21); and a sum of £5000 relating to his sisters’ dowries (which he also won, as it was judged that his sisters had already been provided for).133 This second court case has significance for the Duke of Bridgewater’s later dealings with the Wood family, when two decades later he was to act on behalf of Wood’s infant son (also Robert Wood) against his widow, Ann Wood (see below). France To return to the subject of the grand tour, Wood and his young charge set out for France in the spring of 1753. There is a small collection of letters in the Duke of Bridgewater Archive relating directly to the earlier part of the grand tour, when they were in Paris and Lyons: five are from Wood to Earl Gower, in the form of reports about the young duke; and three are from the duke himself to the earl.134 The letters are worth considering here, as they provide an insight into the serious and sensible character of Wood, particularly in his insistence on his pupil answering letters to those who have taken the trouble to write to him – a recurring theme in much of the correspondence – and to a somewhat fiery and insistent nature evident in in his fourth letter, which was consistent with charges of arrogance in his later political life. In the first letter from this collection, sent from Paris,135 Wood confirms that the young duke has endured ‘the fatigues of a rough passage & a very cold Journey’ better than could have been expected; and he describes their daily routine, which includes ‘some very serious application to reading’, although he cannot promise that this will come to anything. The second of Wood’s letters to Gower was sent from Paris just over a week later.136 It is a very frank and honest assessment of the duke, as he thinks it is his duty to give him ‘as exact an account of his progress as possible to prevent disappointments’. He notes that, although the duke ‘attends his exercises constantly, keeps the best company, & constantly answers all letters’, this is more a result of his (Wood’s) ‘stratagem and contrivance’ than ‘the effect of any relish he [the duke] has acquired for this way of life’. His account of the attention he has paid to ensuring that his charge mixes in good company, and to encouraging his friends keep him occupied with parties, etc., shows how seriously Wood took his role of acting in loco parentis. The same is true of his attempts to improve the duke’s writing skills, including how 133 See F. Vesey, Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery: In the Time of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, from the Year 1746-7, to 1755, Vol. 2, 3rd edition (Dublin, 1788), Case 49, pp/sections 122-124. 134 Duke of Bridgewater Archive, University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, Ref: DBA/1/6b-i. The author of this chapter is grateful to Alexandra Mitchell, Archivist at the University of Salford, for providing her with digital images of the letters. 135 Letter from Wood to Lord Gower, 19 March 1753, Paris, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/b. 136 Letter from Wood to Lord Gower, 29 March 1753, Paris, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/c.

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to structure a letter. He assures Gower that ‘he [Bridgewater] may do extremely well, if kept within a proper sphere & in good hands’. The next three letters are from the young duke to Earl Gower. While all these documents are very polite and solicitous of the correspondent’s family and friends,137 the second makes a criticism of Wood, whom he says was ‘in the wrong’ for writing to Mr Egerton. The duke ends all his missives with an enquiry about his special pet, ‘ye Little Monkey’, and the second requests that his sisters ‘would always Mention her always in there [sic] Letters’.138 In the third, he expresses his gratitude to Gower for ‘having taken so much care of [his] Brown Mare’.139 Wood’s third letter to Gower, sent from Lyons towards the end of May, confirms that, so far, all is going well with the duke: ‘we have so good a prospect of continuing the same sort of life, which I have described to you, in a former letter, while we stay at Lyons, that my letters can afford very little variety’.140 Wood also states, encouragingly: every time he goes into good company he feels the effects of his former Indolence so strongly that I doubt but his application will daily increase, & as he knows very well what is expected from his rank I am sure he has too much spirit to submit to the insignificance & contempt which longer negligence must have brought on.141 In this letter, Wood refers to one of his own brothers, when he says: ‘We have generally company at table; the Duke does my brother the honour of making him his constant Guest’. This brother is mentioned in a further letter (see below), but it is not clear whether this is James Wood (who was already deceased by 1772, according to Ann Wood’s first will)142 or Alexander Wood. The remainder of the letter concerns some advice to Gower about caring for his apricot and peach trees and offers to send any of his orders ‘from Paris packt up in pots by the persons who sell them’.143 The fourth letter from Wood to Gower, sent from Lyons five days later, is rather an astounding one, particularly in light of the financial proposal contained within it.144 As a transcript of this letter has already been published more or less in its full 137 These sources, which are all in The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, are: Letter from Duke of Bridgewater to Lord Gower, 29 March 1753, Paris, DBA/1/6/d; Letter from Duke of Bridgewater to Lord Gower, 16 April 1753, Lyons, DBA/1/6/e; and Letter from Duke of Bridgewater to Lord Gower, 11 May 1753, Lyons, DBA/1/6/f. 138 Letter from Duke of Bridgewater to Lord Gower, 16 April 1753, Lyons, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/e. 139 Letter from Duke of Bridgewater to Lord Gower, 11 May 1753, Lyons, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/f. 140 Letter from Wood to Lord Gower, 25 May 1753, Lyons, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/g. 141 Letter from Wood to Lord Gower, 25 May 1753, Lyons, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/g. 142 Will of Ann Wood of Stanhope Street, p. 6. 143 Letter from Wood to Lord Gower, 25 May 1753, Lyons, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/g. 144 Letter from Wood to Lord Gower, 30 May 1753, Lyons, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/h.

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form,145 there is no need to quote from it here. However, the gist is that Wood is suddenly seeking his lordship’s permission to return to England: though he and his pupil are still on good terms, the former is now keeping bad company and Wood is afraid that this will jeopardise their relationship, as well as tarnish his own reputation. The proposal is that, if the Gowers insist on his remaining abroad for longer than the six months required to arrange a replacement tutor, he will reluctantly oblige, but will expect to receive (out of justice rather than generosity) the sum of £300 per year for the rest of his life, from the time at which he relinquishes the role. This extreme demand was presumably to shock his employers into releasing him, as he did not want to continue in this position. However, it also gives some insight into Wood’s somewhat uncompromising and Figure 10: Engraved portrait of Frances Egerton, 3rd perhaps acquisitive nature. Duke and 6th Earl of Bridgewater, after unknown The fifth and final letter in this artist, published 1766; 23.3 x 12.8cm (image collection, sent a week later from courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. June,146 explains Wood’s original NPG D1100) complaint in more detail, namely, that the duke had deceitfully hired a house and taken a mistress, and was consorting with an unscrupulous set of people who were corrupting him. He makes the further complaint that the duke had ‘quite neglected Sr. Charles Hotham147 & [his, Wood’s] brother, whom he did not care to trust’.148 However, as there had been a reconciliation between the tutor and his pupil, and the tranquillity described in the earlier letters See Malet, Bridgewater the Canal Duke, pp. 11-12. Letter from Wood to Lord Gower, 7 June 1753, Lyons, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/i. 147 Hotham (1735-1767) was the eldest son of Sir Charles Hotham of Scarborough, Yorkshire, and died shortly after returning from his five-year grand tour. See Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, p. 524. 148 Letter from Wood to Lord Gower, 7 June 1753, Lyons, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/i. 145 146

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had now been restored, Wood went on to remain in the duke’s employ for another two years, during which time he occasionally updated the Duke of Bedford on the progress of his young charge.149 It is unclear whether Wood’s financial demands of a lifelong pension of £300 a year were accepted or even required after this point. During the summer of 1753, Wood and the duke made a trip from Lyons to the Alps and were back in Lyons in the September. This is verified in a letter from Wood to Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (1730-1782), in which he mentions that he has made ‘a little tour with the Duke of Bridgewater thro’ part of Savoy & Switzerland’.150 In January 1754, with the permission of the Duke of Bedford, they began a year-long tour of France, which took them to Languedoc, where the young duke was interested in seeing the docks and canals that undoubtedly inspired him to later build the Bridgewater Canal in Manchester – a navigable canal to transport coal from his estates. For this project, the first such great undertaking in Britain (apart from the Sankey Canal), he was styled ‘the father of British inland navigation’ – an accolade reflected in an engraved portrait (Figure 10) published in 1766. From there, they travelled along the coast to Montpelier, Toulon and Nice, which they reached in the October. Italy The pair sailed from Nice to Italy and are recorded as departing from Florence by 9 November 1755 and arriving at Rome shortly afterwards, where they remained for the next nine months, apart from a trip they made to Naples in the July of 1756.151 Art historian Peter Humfrey believes that it was patently Wood, with his ‘excellent contacts with the artistic community in Rome’, who ‘prevailed upon his indifferent protégé to lodge a number of commissions of works of art during their stay’.152 He engaged on the duke’s behalf three non-Italian painters, including the German (Saxon) artist Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779), who painted a Judgement of Paris that was never sent to England to the duke’s newly created picture gallery, but was eventually acquired from the studio of the deceased artist by Catherine the Great of Russia.153 Mengs also took Wood’s portrait, which is reproduced in the present volume (see Figure 30 and Chapter 7). We can glean more of Wood’s time in Rome through other sources, particularly those relating to the Scottish architect Robert Adam (1728-1792). While in Rome, Wood and the young duke lodged at Casa Guarnieri, a palazzo long patronised by the English gentry, and where they overlapped for a couple of months (24 February to April 1755) with Adam, who had been invited to Italy to accompany Charles HopeThese letters are cited in Malet’s account of the duke’s grand tour. See Malet, Bridgewater the Canal Duke, pp. 14-19. 150 Letter from Robert Wood to the Marquess of Rockingham, Lyons, 26 September 1753, Sheffield City Archives, WWM/R/1/41. 151 See Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, p. 125. 152 See P. Humfrey, The Stafford Gallery: The Greatest Art Collection of Regency London (Norwich, 2019), p. 34. 153 See Humfrey, The Stafford Gallery, pp. 34-35. See also S. Roettgan, Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779) and His British Patrons (London, 1993). 149

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Weir (1710-1791), youngest brother of the 2nd Earl of Hopetoun, on his grand tour. A third member of the group was the French architect and antiquary Charles-Louis Clérisseau (1721-1780), whom Adam had met in Florence. Wood, who occupied the apartment below Adam,154 proved to be a useful neighbour, though their relationship allegedly cooled off towards the end. They may have been introduced by Peter (Abbé) Grant (1708-1784), a Scottish Jesuit priest who spent almost 50 years in Rome and was an important liaison for British visitors to the city. Adam was initially wary of going into society in Rome, in case it should affect his studies, especially as one of the reasons why he had accepted the invitation as governor to Hope-Weir was to improve his own architectural profession. The following conversation between Wood and Adam, as relayed by the latter to his sister Jenny, sheds light on the nature and extent of Wood’s contacts in Rome, as well as his good sense in such matters, prompted, no doubt, by his own experience of trying to keep the Duke of Bridgewater out of trouble (the original errors have been reproduced here): When I came to Rome first I was quite undetermin’d as to the Course I was to take, & the plan I was to lay down, in going into Company or in declining it as Hurtful to my Studys. The whole affair I communicated to Mr Grant My good Abbé, Who thought that if I pleased I might do it a little, as he did not think it coud prevent my Studying, as the Conversations or Card Playings did not begin till 7 at Night, & especially as he Said I might go only once or twice in a Week, However he advised me to wait to see if Mr Hope woud introduce me alongst with him & if he offer’d, that it woud be one work for all. This H-e [Hope] was so far from offering or doing that he shun’d it, declined it, & Showed that he did not want I shoud go any where alongst with him, when Abbé Grant saw this as well as I, he told me he woud get me introduced by others to every one of the Houses, & that Since Mr Hope woud not their was no Matter. However before I woud yeild to this, I proposd that Mr Grant shou’d speak to some folks, such as Mr Wood a very clever man (one of the authors of Palmyra) and tell him the Story, My station, & his oppinion as to my introduction Mr Wood after hearing all, Said that it depended intirely on my own desire, & that if I was anxious or inclined to be introduced he woud do it with all his heart, and accordingly came, & offerd himself to me. At the same time I ask’d his own private oppinion of the Matter, which was this, Says he, I realy do think that it will rather be a loss to you as an advantage, as You dont know the Language, and As it will surely consume your time in Some degree, as it will draw you in to gaming which You dont know & must lose at, & as I dont think it will be of the least service to you with Your own Countrymen who will rather regard You more, as a Gentleman who despises these things & applys to Study. Besides Says he, the way I must introduce you is this, I must go to the Dutchess of Borghese & tell her that I beg leave 154

See Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle, p. 158.

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to introduce to her a young Gentleman who is Come to stay in Rome, has a taste for Architecture & Studys it, but as he is a Gentleman of Good Family & Circumstances I hope Youl allow me to present him, & then says he the Answer will be that Any body that I bring will be extreamly welcome. But says he again their are some of our own Countrymen here who woud be the Readyest of any to put You out as they did to a gentleman of above 5000 pounds a Year, because his Father, who was dead had been a Brewer in London, & that only the Year before. And says he you may be lyable to meet with the same affront. But still he told me he was as ready as ever to do it.155 Wood also encouraged Adam in his scheme to reprint the famous book of Antoine Babuty Desgodetz (1653-1728), Les Èdifices Antiques de Rome (Paris, 1682),156 which had long been out of print, and which Adam imagined he could accomplish while in Rome. (This volume was undoubtedly the main inspiration for Wood’s later Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec. See Chapter 4, below.) While the plan never materialised, Adam still acknowledged Wood’s help and support.157 On the other hand, Wood’s attempt to ‘snatch Clérisseau away from him’,158 by inviting him to accompany him on an expedition to Sicily as his draughtsman, apparently caused tension between him and Adam. Clérisseau’s refusal is verified in a letter from Robert Adam to his brother John, in which he declares: There are at present very few people in Rome as they are all gone to Frescati & Tivoli, to the Villigiatura where they will stay for a Month - & then the Heat come on & they return to Town which is reckond much wholesomer than the Countrey though both are hot as hell. But if any one person is coolly lodge’d in Rome it is me & my fellow companion Clerisseau. This poor Divil has such affection for me that Though he had an offer to go with Mr Wood to Sicily to make Views of the Antiquities their, which woud both be honourable & profitable for him, He told me that if they woud give him all the money they were worth he woud not leave me unless I turn’d him out o Doors. But says he if You will go to Egypt Greece or Sicily I will sett out with you to morrow morning, He is the best natur’d & the Cleverest Body I ever saw, with an unalterable turn for friendship, despises all mercenary views & only desires to live quietly, & happily with a real friend, which with the pursuit of his Studys & Catholick Religion are all his desires.159 Letter from Robert Adam to his sister Jenny Adam, 14 March 1755, National Records of Scotland, Papers of Clerk Family of Penicuik, Midlothian, GD18/4767, folios 1v-2r. The author of this chapter is grateful to Colin Thom and Adriano Aymonino, of Enfilade, Digital Project | Adam Grand Tour, Letters and Other Writings, for supplying her with a digital image of this and other letters and for their draft transcripts of same. 156 The full title of this work is: Les Èdifices Antiques de Rome Dessinés et Mesurés Très Exactement (Paris, 1682). 157 See Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle, p. 170. 158 Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle, p. 176. 159 Letter from Robert Adam to his brother John Adam, 31 May 1755, National Records of Scotland, Papers of Clerk Family of Penicuik, Midlothian, GD18/4774, folio 1 v. His refusal is verified in a letter from Robert Adam to his brother John Adam, 31 May 1775, National Records of Scotland, Papers of Clerk family of 155

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According to Adam’s biographer, he never forgave Wood and professed to be uneasy in his company: ‘Though he was free and easy himself in company I never could bring myself to be so with him … His superiority in every way rather struck me with awe than infected me with ease.’160 Nevertheless, it may be no coincidence that Adam’s earliest Irish work was the remodelling of Langford House, Dublin, for the Rt. Hon. Hercules Rowley, MP, in 1765: the reader will recall that this family’s main seat was Summerhill House, County Meath and that the landlord was the patron of Wood’s father, Revd Alexander Wood.161 However, the relationship that Adam had formed with the young Duke of Bridgewater was not affected by this alleged cooling off: not only did he act as artistic adviser to the youth in Italy, but he also made it known that he hoped he would one day be his patron.162 Nor did this situation seem to have coloured Wood’s view of Adam. Wood continued to speak highly of him to their mutual acquaintance in Rome – the Scottish painter Allan Ramsay,163 who took his (Wood’s) portrait (see Figure 32 and Chapter 7) in the same year (1755). Though Ramsay was very productive during his Italian sojourn, Adam claimed that the only paintings he had finished were those of his wife, Mrs Ramsay, and Robert Wood, the latter of which is on the cover of the present volume. In the August of 1755, after only nine months in Italy, the young Bridgewater was suddenly recalled to England, apparently leaving Adam to arrange orders for more than £1000 for pictures and antiquities, which he allegedly failed to unpack when they arrived.164 Wood returned to London with his charge and, though he was to encounter Adam a few years later, when he was in politics, he proved not to have been as helpful as he had been in Rome, prompting Adam to further criticise him for his pretensions.165 Given this apparently negative attitude towards Wood, it is surprising that Adam – or a member of his architectural practice – designed an albeit unexecuted funerary monument for him (see below).

Wood Settles in London Marriage and Family Finding himself once again without a patron or a profession, and perhaps weary of foreign travel, Wood must have decided that, approaching forty years of age, it was now time to settle down in London and pursue not only a career in politics but also Penicuik, Midlothian, GD18/4774. 160 This is quoted in Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle, p. 176, but no reference is given for the quote. 161 See Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720-1940, online. Available at: https://www.dia.ie/architects/view/299/ ADAM%2C+ROBERT+%23 162 This hope is expressed in a letter from Robert Adam to Betty Adam, 24 August 1755, on the departure of Wood and Bridgewater from Italy. See National Records of Scotland, Papers of Clerk family of Penicuik, Midlothian, GD18/4785. 163 See Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle, p. 176. 164 Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle, p. 1777 and Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, p. 125, under the entry for Bridgewater. 165 See Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle, p. 248.

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matrimony. On 16 February 1757, he married Ann Skottowe (1732-1803) at St James’s Church, Westminster.166 Ann was the eldest daughter of Thomas Skottowe (16951771), originally of Little Melton Manor, Norfolk, but who, on inheriting Ayton Hall in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, took up residence there in 1729, where he lived with his wife Anne née Casup (1701-1755) until his death.167 While we do not know the circumstances surrounding their courtship, it is possible that the couple may have met through one of Ann’s brothers, the most likely being Nicholas Skottowe (1729-1798). Nicholas was a naval captain involved in the East India Company, for which he was later to command the Royal George in what was to be the Company’s last dedicated slaving voyage (1764-1766). For this voyage, he was ordered to procure 250 slaves at Cabinda in Angola and then sail on to St Helena, in the Atlantic Ocean (where his brother John Skottowe was Governor of the island) and Bengkulu, before heading to Bombay.168 The consignment of commodities he was given to exchange for the slaves included weapons and gunpowder.169 The same brother was later to have commercial dealings with the Woods involving a shipping enterprise and was appointed as guardian to the Wood children after Robert’s death (see below).170 The Woods had at least three children: Thomas, who died at the age of nine, on 25 August 1772 (a year after his father), and was buried in the family tomb; Robert, the heir (c. 1762-1842),171 who entered the army in 1778 but continued in his father’s political profession (he was returned as MP for Minehead, 1786-1790, and for East See R.C. Simmons, Colonial patronage: two letters from William Franklin to the Earl of Bute, 1762, The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 59, No. 1 (2002), pp. 123-134, at p. 127. While here name is spelt Ann and Anne in the sources, the author of this chapter has standardised it to Ann, which is how she signed her first will of 1772. 167 For these dates, see D. O’Sullivan, Thomas Skottowe (2011). Available at: http://greatayton.wdfiles. com/local--files/family-histories/Thomas-Skottowe.pdf 168 See J.L. Geber, The East India Company and Southern Africa: A Guide to the Archives of the East India Company and the Board of Control, 1600-1858, Appendix to Vol. 2: Catalogue of Archival Descriptions. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University College London (1998), p. 187, where this figure is specified in the context of a general letter (dated 12 December 1764) outlining the appointment of Captain Nicholas Skottowe to this mission and his role. Captain Skottowe sent a letter with accounts from this voyage dated 18 April 1766 (see p. 334); and a day later he forwarded his journal and diaries from St Helena (see p. 334), where he had presumably been staying with his brother John. 169 See H. Bowen, The East India Company slaving voyage of Nicholas Skottowe, British Library, Untold Lives Blog (2012). Available at: https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2012/01/the-east-india-companyslaving-voyage-of-nicholas-skottowe.html 170 As for the other three brothers, John Skottowe (1725-1786) was a retired army officer who was appointed Governor of St Helena, in the East Indies, in 1764; Thomas (1735-1788) was a diplomat who was appointed in 1763 as Clerk for the Commons House and Assembly of the British colony of South Carolina, as well as being recommended to the king as a member of the South Carolina Council. He went on to serve as Register of the Court of Ordinary and Secretary to the province until he was banished in 1777. See D. Swain, David Library of the American Revolution Finding Aid on South Carolina Including the British Colonial Office Papers (CO5)—South Carolina David Library Microfilm Set 550b (2019), pp. 122, 124 and 468. Available at: https://www.amphilsoc.org/sites/default/files/2020-01/attachments/CO5South%20Carolina.pdf See also D.R. Chesnutt, C.J. Taylor, P.J. Clark and D. Fischer (eds), The Papers of Henry Laurens, Vol. 12, Nov. 1, 1777–March 15, 1778 (University of South Carolina Press, 1990), p. 86, note 12, which confirms the date of his banishment. 171 See the Obituary for Lieut.-Col. Robert Wood, who died on 20 December 1842, in S. Urban, The Gentleman’s Magazine, Vol. 17. New Series. For the Year MDCCCXLII. January to June. Inclusive (London, 1842), p. 222. 166

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Looe, 1790-1796); and Elizabeth, who was instrumental in preserving the manuscript sources for her father’s travels (see Chapter 2). The pursuit of a political career and a growing family would have required a respectable London address and we know of three such addresses over a 14-year period. We can see from letters sent by Wood between 1757 and 1762 that he first lived in Cleveland Row, in the St James’s area of London.172 It is probable, given Wood’s recent dealings with the Egerton family, that this was number 14 Cleveland Row, then called Cleveland House and now known as Bridgewater House. The property had been in the Egerton family since 1700 and in the 1750/1760s would been part of the estate of the same Duke of Bridgewater whom he had accompanied in France and Italy. Whether the Wood family leased or rented this property, or even lived there free, is unknown, but the fact that they resided there for at least five years is an indication of the duke’s continued patronage of his former tutor. Other sources show that from September 1763, Robert and Ann Wood had an address in Stanhope Street, in St. George’s, Hanover Square.173 It is clear that they owned this property, as Wood is included in a list of freeholders who voted for Colonel Luttrell, on 13 April 1769.174 Furthermore, the same address is stated in his wife’s will, made in 1772 (a year after his death), though a codicil notes that the property had been sold and another bought in South Street.175 As is well known, Wood eventually bought Lime Grove, Putney, from the father of the classical historian Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), but this must have been shortly before his own death (1771), since Gibbon returned to his father’s house in June 1765 and lived there until his father died in 1770.176 A brief description of the house is given by Daniel Lysons, whose Environs of London (Vol. 1, Surrey) was first published in 1792: The house in which [Wood] lived in Putney is situated between the roads which lead to Wandsworth and Wimbledon, and is now the residence of his widow. Mr. Wood purchased it of the executors of Edward Gibbon, Esq. whose son, the celebrated historian, was born there. The farm and pleasure grounds which adjoin the house are very spacious, containing near fourscore acres, and surrounded by a gravel walk, which commands a beautiful prospect of London and the adjacent country.177 172 See, for example, Letter from Robert Wood to Sir William Chambers, London, 22 August 1757, Royal Academy of Arts Archive, CHA/1/5. The back of this letter is covered in scribbles, doodles of architectural features and lists of dimensions and calculations. 173 See, for example, Letter from Wood to William Pitt, London, 6 September 1763, reproduced in W.S. Taylor and J.H. Pringle (eds), Correspondence of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham (London, 1838), pp. 246. 174 See A Society of gentlemen, members of the University of Oxford, The Oxford Magazine, or, University Museum. Calculated for General Instruction and Amusement, on a Plan Entirely New, Vol. 3 (London, 1769), p. 95. 175 Will of Ann Wood of Stanhope Street, p. 10. 176 See A. Cecil, Six Oxford Thinkers: Edward Gibbon, John Henry Newman, R.W. Church, James Anthony Froude, Walter Pater, Lord Morley of Blackburn (London, 1909), p. 59. 177 D. Lysons, The Environs of London Being an Historical Account of the Towns, Villages, and Hamlets, within Twelve Miles of that Capital; Interspersed with Biographical Anecdotes, Vol. 1, Part 1, County of Surrey, 2nd edition (London, 1811), p. 308.

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Political Life: Under Secretary to Lord Chatham (1756-1759) Wood’s classical and legal training, together with his literary talents, his recent fame, and his large circle of influential acquaintances, proved to be a natural fit for a profession in politics. In December 1756, when the Duke of Newcastle was Prime Minister, he was appointed as one of the two Under Secretaries of State to Pitt, alongside J. Rivers. Walpole claimed that ‘His [Wood’s] taste and ingenuity had recommended him to Mr. Pitt for his private secretary when Minister; but the observance required by Pitt and the pride, though dormant, of Wood, had been far from cementing their connexion.’178 However, Richard Rigby (1722-1788), who was Chief Secretary for Ireland for this period (1757-1761), claimed: ‘He had no acquaintance in the world with Pitt, and I guess was recommended by Dick [Sir Richard] Lyttelton’,179 who, as the reader may recall, was the young Duke of Bridgewater’s stepfather. Whatever the case, this appointment ran until 1761 and, while we do not know the extent of his salary, there is an application from the period 10 October 1758 to 10 October 1759 for him to be reimbursed for expenses to the tune of £533, 14s.180 Publication of Ruins of Balbec While Wood was busy in his new life of family and politics, there remained the matter of fulfilling his collaboration with Dawkins, which culminated in the Ruins of Balbec. As this was published in 1757, he had a year or so to accomplish this, though admittedly, his role must have been slightly less onerous than that of the first volume, as the essay preceding the ‘Explanation of the Plates’ was only half the length (16 pages compared to 35). This book is further discussed in Chapter 5. As already noted, no copies of the book or of any cuts appeared in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772), which suggests his family excluded them from the sale. Political Life: Under Secretary to Lord Egremont (1761-1763) and MP for Brackley As note earlier, Walpole believed that it was Wood’s ‘taste and ingenuity’ that had recommended him to Pitt. However, Wood: then attached himself to the Duke of Bridgewater, and through him to the Bedford faction; but remaining in office when Mr. Pitt quitted, had, with too much readiness, complied with the orders of his new masters. His general Walpole’s Memoirs, Vol. 1, p. 213. See M.M. Drummond, Wood, Robert (?1717-71), of Putney, Surr., in L. Namier and J. Brooke (eds), The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, Vol. 3, Members K-Y (London, 1985), p. 655. Available at: https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/wood-robert-1717-71 180 See Gifts, rewards, and extraordinaries, Journals of the House of Commons. From May the 10th, 1768, In the Eighth Year of the Reign of King George the Third, to September the 25th, 1770, In the Tenth Year of the Reign of King George the Third, Vol. 32 (London, 1803), p. 517. 178 179

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood behaviour was decent, as became his dependent situation; but his nature was hot, and veering to despotic.181

This was the same duke (Francis Egerton) whom he had accompanied to Italy between 1754 and 1755, and who was to champion the cause of his heir in a chancery case after his death (see below). At the general election held in 1761, Wood was also returned for the duke’s borough of Brackley and retained this constituency until his death, a decade later. In October 1761, Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont (1710-1763), appointed Wood as one of his two Under Secretaries of State, the second again being J. Rivers. The appointment ran until Egremont’s death in 1763. However, this period of Wood’s career was marred by a scandal in which he was embroiled, when he and Philip Carteret Webb (1702-1770), at the time joint solicitor to the Treasury, and described by Walpole as ‘a most villainous tool and agent in any iniquity’,182 seized the papers of the radical author of a political newspaper John Wilkes (1725-1797), who was accused of inciting anti-ministerial feeling against the ministry of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713-1792). The seizure of these papers, which took place in April 1763, was considered illegal and in December of that year, Wilkes successfully sued Wood for trespass. He was fined £1000 and defended himself vigorously the following year, demanding acquittal. However, when this did not happen, he resigned his post.183 For the next two years (1764-1766), Wood held the rather less onerous office of Groom Porter in the royal household, which, among other duties, involved inspecting the King’s Lodgings. Political Life: Under Secretary to Viscount Weymouth (1768-1770) and Shipping Venture In January 1768, Wood was appointed Under Secretary to Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath (1734-1796), more commonly known as 3rd Viscount Weymouth. Wood managed Weymouth’s affairs as best he could, given the latter’s apparent negligence and dissipation. However, he was also accused by his contemporaries of ‘dabbling heavily in the stocks, and attempting to conduct foreign affairs to suit his own jobbing interests’; and his behaviour was allegedly condemned by the king, who described his conduct as outrageous and ‘every day more unbecoming his station’.184 Wood held this position until December 1770, when Weymouth resigned his post. The charge of Wood conducting foreign affairs for his own jobbing interests undoubtedly relates to his attempt to use his position as Under Secretary to promote a family shipping venture with the East India Company. According to Georgiana Green, in 1769 he was ‘involved in discussions with the Court about sending a ship and nominating a commander and officers for establishing a settlement at Walpole’s Memoirs, Vol. 1, p. 364. Walpole’s Memoirs, Vol. 1, p. 277. 183 Walpole describes this event in great detail. See Walpole’s Memoirs, Vol. 1. 184 See Drummond, Wood, Robert (?1717-71), of Putney, Surr., p. 656. 181 182

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Balambangan’, an island located off the northern tip of Borneo.185 While this scheme did not go ahead, later that year he signed a charterparty agreement (maritime contract) as Principal Managing Owner (PMO) of the Bridgewater, for her maiden voyage to Madras and China. The ship was commanded by none other than his brother-in-law Captain Nicholas Skottowe who, it will be recalled, had recently (17641766) commanded the last slaving voyage for the East India Company. Incidentally, the next voyage of the Bridgewater occurred shortly after Wood’s death, when his widow undertook the role of PMO for a voyage to Madras and Bengal (1772-1773), making her the first and possibly the only woman to have undertaken such a role.186 Dilettanti Society, 1763 While 1763 was an unfortunate year for Wood in one respect, it was also promising, as it was then that he was at last elected as a member of the Society of Dilettanti, along with Richard Phelps (former travelling companion of Bouverie), Sir William Boothby (1721-1787), Hon. Thomas Robinson (1738-1786), Haughton James (c. 1738-1813), Thomas Pitt (nephew of the Earl of Chatham) and Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock (1739-1767).187 Wood’s election was beneficial not only to him personally, but also to the society, since he proved to be a very active member. He is acknowledged as being the moving force behind the society’s expedition to Ionia, and the subsequent publication of Ionian Antiquities (1769) by Richard Chandler (1738-1810) and Revett, for which he wrote an address to the reader. This fourpage preface is an encomium not only to the authors of the book and the volume itself, but also to the Dilettanti Society, its origins, and its purpose. Furthermore, it provides interesting details about the conditions of the expedition, which required Chandler, Revett and William Pars (1742-1782), ‘a young Painter of promising Talents’, to follow the instructions drawn up by the committee, whereby ‘they were all strictly enjoined to keep a regular Journal, and hold a constant Correspondence with the Society’.188 Three copies of the book are in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772), as Lots 410-412. Wood continued to work, throughout this period, on his book on Homer (see below and Chapter 6).

185 G. Green, Mrs Ann Wood: an exceptional woman. British Library, Untold Lives Blog (2016). Available at: https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2016/04/mrs-ann-wood-an-exceptional-woman.html 186 See Green, Mrs Ann Wood: an exceptional woman. The author of this chapter is grateful to the author of this article for kindly providing her with details of the East India Court Book records relating to the signing of the charterparties for the two voyages, especially that related to Wood, in which he is confirmed as being the owner of the Bridgewater. This was signed on 3 November 1769, in his house in Stanhope Street, Mayfair. 187 See Cust and Colvin, History of the Society of Dilettanti, p. 260. 188 R. Chandler, N. Revett and W. Pars, Ionian Antiquities, Published with Permission of the Society of Dilettanti (London, 1769), p. ii.

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Death and Posthumous Matters Death, Will and Chancery Court Case On 9 September 1771, aged only 54, Robert Wood died following ‘a very short indisposition’.189 A notice in a ‘List of Deaths for 1771’ suggests that he died at home, as it states: ‘Robert Wood, Esq; at Putney; member for Brackley, Northamptonshire.’190 While the cause of his death is not stated in any of the sources, it is perhaps significant that he had made a new will only seven months earlier, indicating that he may have been suffering from poor health at the time. Other than that, the only hint of ill health is from a letter eight years earlier, in which he complained of a bad leg, which prevented him from visiting Mr Pitt.191 Wood’s will, which is very concise, states: I do hereby give and bequeath to my Wife Ann Wood my Real and Personal Estate to Her and her Heirs for [this] to be disposed of among our Children and for her own use as she shall judge proper. And I do declare this to be my last Will and Testament revoking my former Will a copy of which I sent my late ffather in Law Thos. Skottowe Esq. Witness my hand and Seal this twenty second day of ffeb. one thousand seven hundred and seventy one. Robt. Wood. Witnesses present Stephn Gibson, Joseph Prosser, William Hayward. Executed in Stanhope Street London this 22 ffeb. one thousand seven hundred and seventy one.192 The second paragraph of the legal document notes that a week later, on 16 September: Administration with the Will annexed of the Goods, Chattels and Credits of Robert Wood … was granted to Ann Wood, Widow the Relict of the said deceased and universal Legatee named in the said Will for that no Executor is named therein having been first sworn duly only to administer.193 While the will gives no indication of the extent of his wealth, it is clear that Wood had become very rich since returning from his travels. This is not surprising, considering his various sources of income: the salary and expenses from his government post; profits made from what must have been a very lucrative voyage to Madras and China in his ship the Bridgewater; profits from the sale of Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec (see Chapters 4 and 5); the sum of £100 per year bequeathed to Walpole’s Memoirs, Vol. 4, p. 229. See S. Urban, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, Vol.41. For the Year M.DCCLXXI (London, 1771), p. 426, No. 9. 191 See letter from Robert Wood to William Pitt, London, 3 September 1763, Taylor and Pringle, Correspondence of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, p. 246. 192 Will of Robert Wood of Saint George Hanover Square, Middlesex, 22 February 1771, The National Archives, PROB 11/971/109. 193 Will of Robert Wood. 189 190

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him by his friend Dawkins; and a further possible annuity of £300 per year for life from the Bridgewater family, dating back to his time as tutor to the young duke. Wood’s failure to name an executor is surprising but did not go unnoticed by his former patron the Duke of Bridgewater, who had clearly retained some level of patronage in the intervening years (including the fact that he may have provided the family with a house between 1757 and 1762, see above). He proceeded to take the matter to the Court of Chancery, on 29 June 1772, where he represented Wood’s infant children. The case in question, full details of which are recorded in the surviving Chancery rolls, is: ‘Thomas Wood and Elizabeth Wood the two younger children of Robert Wood esq. deceased infants by Francis, duke of Bridgewater v. Ann Wood widow of the said Robert Wood and Robert Wood an infant oldest son and heir at law of said Robert Wood by Nicholas Skottowe esq his guardian’.194 What this basically means is that the duke took a case against the children’s mother (Ann) and her brother (Nicholas), the legal guardians of the Wood children. The situation and the document, which are mentioned in no other source, provide a fascinating insight into the family dynamics, as well as illustrating the extremes to which the duke went to defend the rights of his deceased friend’s heirs. The reader will remember that he had been through a similar experience as a boy, when his uncle, the Duke of Bedford, took a case against his mother and stepfather, in order to protect his property (see above). The court roll for the case against Ann Wood and Nicholas Skottowe is a very long and detailed document, which describes the Duke of Bridgewater (the complainant) as the young children’s ‘next ffriend’, and notes that at his death, Robert Wood ‘possessed a very large and considerable Estate both real and personal’ to the ‘amount of several thousand pounds’. The complainant stated that the testator (Wood) had not intended his widow to have his estate for her own personal use, ‘to dispose of the capital therefore as she should think proper to the prejudice of her children either in her life time or by her will’, but that she should use the proceeds ‘only for the purpose of her own maintenance and the maintenance of her children and that after her death the capital both of his real and personal estate should be divided amongst his and her children equally’. Furthermore, ‘she should at proper times and in a proper manner during her life time apply such parts of the capital for the use of the said children for their advancement as should be proper and requisite for that purpose and the said Testator [Wood]’.195 While the Court proved the will in favour of the widow, which means the duke lost his case, it also ordered that an accountant should be engaged to oversee the establishment of a trust fund for the two children and that two trustees should be appointed to manage it.196 194 The National Archives, C79/282, in Chancery Final Decrees for 1772, AALT image 0179ff. Available at: http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT7/C78/C79no282/IMG_0179.htm The author of this chapter is grateful to Professor Robert C. Palmer for his assistance and advice relating to the sources for this case, in his role as administrator and developer of the AALT/WAALT (Wiki for the Anglo-American Legal Tradition) Project website (University of Houston) in which this document is reproduced. 195 The National Archives, C79/282, in Chancery Final Decrees for 1772, AALT image 0179 (p. 1 of the document). 196 The author of the present chapter is grateful to Martin Kearns for advice on interpreting this legal

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Although the present author has not managed to trace the master’s report mentioned in the Court record, it is clear that Mrs Wood lost no time in drawing up her own will, in which she appointed the Duke of Bridgewater and her brother Nicholas Skottowe as trustees. This was done only a couple of months later, on 12 September 1772. The terms of the will, which were favourable to her children, stated that her freehold, copyhold and leasehold estate (which included properties in Putney, Wandsworth ‘and elsewhere in England’),197 had been put in trust for her son Robert for when he reached 21 or made a suitable marriage, to be used for his education, ‘Advancement in the World’, etc.,198 together with any rents accruing in the meantime, as well as the sum of £6000. The will also stipulated that £18,000 was to be raised for the maintenance and education of her daughter Elizabeth, from various means, including the sale of their house in Stanhope Street, but not from the sources linked to her son Robert, or from the sale or assignment or her interest in the Ship the Bridgewater or any of her ‘pensions on the Irish Establishment’.199 This sum was to be put in trust until Elizabeth reached 21 or married ‘with the consent and approbation’ of her trustees.200 Elizabeth was also to receive, immediately after her mother’s decease, £200, ‘to dispose of as she shall think proper’.201 As for Ann’s other personal effects, she left all her ornaments and jewellery (including a pair of earrings she had inherited from her own aunt) to her daughter and all her pictures and her late husband’s gold watch and seals to her son. In a codicil to this will, she bequeathed all her plate and books to her two children, to be divided equally between them, ‘Share and share alike’.202 However, the books cannot have referred to her husband’s library, as she had already sold this five months earlier, unless she means the handful of volumes withdrawn from the sale. Shortly before her own death, Ann made another will, dated 23 December 1803, by which time she was 71 and living in Glamorganshire; and from this it appears that she had never remarried.203 Tomb and Inscription According to the entry in the church Register, which was transcribed by Lysons, Wood was buried six days after his death in a new vault in the ‘New Burial Ground’. The land for this cemetery, which is located on the Upper Richmond Road, Putney (now known as Putney Old Burial Ground), was donated to the parish by Revd Roger Pettiwand in 1763 and was consecrated on 2 November.204 The Woods’ young son document. 197 Will of Ann Wood of Stanhope Street, p. 1. 198 Will of Ann Wood of Stanhope Street, p. 2. 199 Will of Ann Wood of Stanhope Street, p. 4. 200 See Will of Ann Wood of Stanhope Street, p. 3. 201 Will of Ann Wood of Stanhope Street, p. 4. 202 Will of Ann Wood of Stanhope Street, p. 11. 203 Will of Ann Wood, Widow of Saint Nicholas, Glamorganshire, The National Archives, 23 December 1803, PROB 11/1402/279. 204 Lysons, Environs of London, Vol. 1, p. 302.

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Thomas was also interred in the vault in 1772, aged nine, but his cause of death is not known. While there is no record of the funeral itself, there is documentary evidence concerning how Wood came to have such a magnificent tomb and epitaph, which took several years to arrange. In a letter to Walpole, dated 13 May 1773, Ann Wood addressed him (presumably through his secretary) as follows: Mrs Wood presents her compliments to Mr Walpole and begs leave to address herself to him for assistance on a melancholy subject of attention which she cannot which she cannot turn her thoughts upon without feeling the keenest grief, and also the greatest delicacy as to the mode of paying it; nobody can so well judge of what will be exactly right in all respects as Mr Walpole; therefore, this application to him is natural, and his goodness has induced Mrs Wood to make it; but yet with perfect submission to his own inclination should he for any reason decline giving his directions, as she wishes he would, about the inscription, tombstone, etc., and desires he will employ whom he pleases, not sparing any expense he judges proper: it is in the open air.205 Walpole replied to Mrs Wood three days later, at length, stating that he was honoured to have been consulted on such a matter, and admitting that he dared not ‘decline the task entirely, lest [he] should seem wanting in respect to his [Wood’s] memory or to in gratitude to [her]’. However, he said he would honour this request only on the condition that she would ‘reject [his] ideas either for the inscription or the tomb … if [he] did not fully answer to [her] expectation, or fail in the execution of what [he] should be very proud of performing in the manner the subject deserve[d]’.206 On his plan for the tomb, he said: I am no draughtsman, Madam, and therefore must not pretend to give a design for the tomb. All I can presume to do, is to hint to you the kind of monument I should think proper; or choose a form agreeable to the turn of Mr Wood’s pursuits. His affection for the pure antique arts seems to point out the proper kind; and I think some pattern taken from an ancient sarcophagus or urn would be the most suitable, on which there should be only so much richness employed as is consistent with simplicity. If you do not disapprove this idea, Madam, and will allow me a little time, I will look over my books, and submit some different designs to your option. Either a sarcophagus or an upright altar-tomb will be the more proper, as more durable, since it is to be placed in the open air; and will at the same time have a classic air, so characteristic of Mr Wood’s talents.207 Letter from Ann Wood to Sir Horace Walpole, London, 13 May 1773. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, p. 245. Letter from Sir Horace Walpole to Ann Wood, London, 16 May 1773. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, p. 246. 207 Letter from Sir Horace Walpole to Ann Wood, London, 16 May 1773. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale 205 206

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On the subject of the inscription, he declared: As I was never a good poet, and have long disused metre, it is very natural for me not to adopt that kind of inscription. But I have a better reason: an epitaph in rhyme is a barbarous mode; and to make it excusable, ought to be much happier than it would be, if I composed it. Simplicity and brevity are the master beauties of Roman epitaphs. Some one great peculiarity stamps an inscription with dignity, and appropriates it to the person; and it effaces, or renders unnecessary a thousand little circumstances that might be related of many other men. For this reason I should choose to single out an illustrious point of Mr Wood’s life, and which certainly distinguishes him from all other men. I mean his editions of Palmyra and Balbec. Others have visited those renowned spots: Mr Dawkins even partook of the journey: but nobody rivals Mr Wood in that part in which genius alone was concerned, the dissertations. That part becomes by his art a sublime circumstance; though by my want of equal art I have not done justice to it. The fact however is true, and thence dignifies itself.208 Ann Wood replied to Walpole’s letter the next day, this time more informally, in the first person, thanking him for ‘the very handsome and most satisfactory manner’ in which he had given her proof of his regard to the memory of a friend, and confirming that she was ‘perfectly content, indeed very much flattered, to feel [her] own desires so entirely correspond[ed] with [his].’ However, she asked him to mention in his inscription her husband’s ‘leading virtue, supreme benevolence’,209 signing the letter as Ann Wood, in response to his previous letter, where he confessed that he did not even know her name! It was ten days later that Walpole replied to Mrs Wood, owing to the ill health of his nephew George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford (1730-1791), who had suffered his first attack, and his response to her request was brief: What you desire should be added to the inscription, Madam, will be very proper, and just. I have considered in what manner to introduce it best; and I can find in the epitaph you are pleased to approve, no place where it can be introduced without lameness or confusion but immediately after Mr Wood’s name, and in your own words, which cannot be improved. They breathe that pathetic expression that surpasses eloquence, and is preferable. It will run thus,

Edition, Vol. 41, pp. 246-247. 208 Letter from Sir Horace Walpole to Ann Wood, London, 16 May 1773. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, p. 247. 209 Letter from Ann Wood to Sir Horace Walpole, London, 17 May 1773. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, p. 249.

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To the Beloved Memory of Robert Wood, A Man of Supreme Benevolence, Who etc. I am extremely happy, Madam, to have in the least satisfied your intention: and yet I fear I must have fallen short of it. Your good nature, I fear, has a little accepted the inclination for the deed. I shall go to Strawberry Hill in a few days, and then will submit different designs for the tomb to your consideration.210 Whether they engaged in further deliberations on this matter in the meantime is unclear, but it is not documented in this source; and there is no further correspondence for two years, until Mrs Wood took the opportunity of raising it in a note in which she thanked Walpole for accepting a copy of her late husband’s book (see below). She said: I am unhappy that I cannot address myself to you, Sir, without renewing the subject of a melancholy debt yet unpaid, which is heavy upon my mind, and the more so, as my great delicacy in every circumstance that concerns it, will not permit me to decide without troubling you, as I think your direction about the form, whether a sarcophagus, or an urn, absolutely necessary in order to its being perfect; I entreat then, Sir, that you will determine this point also, which will complete your kindness; when you have fixed, it shall be ordered directly, that it may be done while the days are long.211 Four months later, on 17 July 1775, Mrs Wood wrote once again to Walpole, this time confirming that she had seen the design for the tomb, and thanking him for ‘this proof of [his] extreme goodness’ and assuring him that he has given her ‘in every particular the utmost gratification’.212 A footnote to this edition of the letter states that a detailed pen-and-ink drawing is preserved with the manuscript and is labelled ‘Mr Wilton’s design for the monument and the epitaph by Mr Walpole’.213 While the correspondence and the drawing were in the possession of Mr Robert W. Wood of Lyme Regis in 1980, their present whereabouts are not known. Letter from Sir Horace Walpole to Ann Wood, London, 27 May 1773. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, p. 254-255. 211 Letter from Ann Wood to Sir Horace Walpole, London, 7 July 1775. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, pp. 307-308. 212 Letter from Ann Wood to Sir Horace Walpole, London, 17 November 1775. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, pp. 317-318. 213 Letter from Ann Wood to Sir Horace Walpole, London, 17 November 1775. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, p. 317, note 1. 210

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Figure 11: Tomb of Robert Wood, St Mary’s Burial Ground, Putney, London (photo Nick Blackburn, http:// greented.co.uk/pages/ london_25may18.php)

The matter is closed two days later, when Walpole makes a brief reply as follows: I am extremely happy, Madam, that you are contented; but I must take very little merit to myself beyond that of zeal for your satisfaction. I merely chose what Mr Wilton’s taste designed. The monument, I think, will be simple, graceful and new; but it is Mr Wood’s name that will make it respectable.214 The sculptor Joseph Wilton (1722-1803) had lived for many years in Italy, especially in Florence, where he had reputedly guided Robert Adam through the great collections.215 On his return to London, he had become a founder member of the Royal Academy (1768), forming what has been described as ‘the sculpture– architecture–painting triumvirate of British art’ with Sir Richard Chambers (1722-1796) and Sir Joshua Reynolds 1723-1792).216 The final design for Wood’s 214 Letter from Sir Horace Walpole to Ann Wood, London, 17 November 1775. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, p. 318. 215 See Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, p. 1009, under the entry for Joseph Wilton. 216 See J. Coutu, Wilton, Joseph (1722-1803), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004). Available

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Figure 12: View of Robert Wood’s tomb, by Frederick, 3rd Earl of Bessborough, Stansted Park Library, Hampshire; watercolour (image courtesy the Trustees of the Stansted Park Foundation)

magnificent tomb can be seen in the photograph (Figure 11) above, as well as in the rather curious painting by Frederick, 3rd Earl of Bessborough, who was an amateur painter and a collector of art, particularly prints (Figure 12).217 The earl’s original painting is included in a collection of prints and paintings bound into a copy of Lysons, in the Library of Stansted Park, alongside a corresponding biographical note about Robert Wood. As noted earlier, Frederick’s father, the 2nd Earl of Bessborough, was a near contemporary of Wood’s, as well as a fellow countryman, who had also travelled in the east in the late 1730s. His Greek and Egyptian collections, which were largely sold after his death to pay for his son’s debts, helped to shape the cultural taste of the period.218 As a final point, it is interesting that Robert Adam, who had allegedly been so scathing of Wood after the deterioration of their friendship in Rome, made a set of unexecuted drawings for his funerary monument, or perhaps had his Italian draughtsman Joseph Bonomi (1739-1838) do this for him. The collection, at:https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128e-29706?rskey=esKWHC&result=1 217 On these aspects of his life, see Finnegan, Frederick, 3rd Earl of Bessborough, collector and artist, pp. 64-83. 218 See Finnegan, The classical taste of William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough, pp. 12-43. See also Finnegan, The library of William Ponsonby, pp. 149-87.

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which is housed in Sir John Soane’s Museum, comprises a preliminary drawing, a design, and a finished drawing, dated 1775 – the very year in which Walpole finally sent Wilton’s design to Mrs Wood. It is not clear how this came about, but it is possible that Walpole engaged him to design Wood’s tomb and then rejected it in preference to Wilton’s.219 The wording of the inscription, transcribed by Lysons, is still visible on the otherwise weathered monument and reads as follows: To the beloved memory of Robert Wood, a man of supreme benevolence, who was born at the castle of Riverstown near Trim, in the county of Meath, and died Sept. 9th, 1771, in the fifty-fifth year of his age; and of Thomas Wood his son, who died Aug. 25th, 1772, in his ninth year; Ann, their once happy wife and mother, now dedicates this melancholy and inadequate memorial of her affection and grief. The beautiful editions of Balbec and Palmyra, illustrated by the classic pen of Robert Wood, supply a nobler and more lasting monument, and will survive those august remains.220 Posthumous Publication of The Original Genius of Homer (1775) As noted in Chapter 2, Wood admitted, in the preface to his third book, that the Pitt appointment had fixed his whole attention ‘upon objects of so very different a nature, that it became necessary to lay Homer aside, and to reserve the further consideration of such matters for times of more leisure’.221 It is clear from this and other sources that his Homeric study was very close to his heart; and it is perhaps for this reason, too (since he was a perfectionist), that he delayed its completion and publication until it was too late. It is documented that Wood worked on this book right up until 1769, after which he distributed a limited number of printed copies to close friends and associates, wanting their responses. This included Sir Horace Walpole, who was flattered to receive a copy in November of that year, and who replied at great length four days later with several suggestions for its improvement.222 However, it was Mrs Wood who eventually put her husband’s plan into action, in the year of his death, when she arranged to have it edited and prepared for the press by the scholar and mythographer Jacob Bryant (1715-1804), whom Spencer describes as a ‘vigorous and disputatious scholar, somewhat inclined to 219 The author of this chapter is grateful to Dr Frances Sands, Curator of Drawings and Books, Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, for her assistance in looking into this matter. It seems, however, that there is no documentary evidence to explain this. An article and image of the drawings can be viewed here: http://collections.soane.org/drawings?ci_search_type=ARCI&mi_search_ type=adv&sort=7&tn=Drawings&t=SCHEME1200 [accessed 27 July 2022]. 220 Lysons, Environs of London, Vol. 1, p. 308. 221 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. v. 222 See Letter from Sir Horace Walpole to Robert Wood, London, 19 November 1769. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, pp. 175-176 and Letter from Sir Horace Walpole to Robert Wood, London, 23 November 1769, Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, pp. 176-179,

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unusual opinions’.223 She then had it published jointly by the London booksellers and publishers Peter Elmsly (1736-1802) and Thomas Payne (1718-1799), on 7 July 1775. This subject is further discussed in Chapter 6. (Rachel Finnegan)

223

Spencer, Robert Wood and the problem of Troy, p. 79.

Chapter 4

Ruins of Palmyra (1753) Physical Description, Structure, Publication and Price of the Book As with other travel writers of the period, such as Perry and Pococke, Wood printed his eastern travels privately, rather than using a university press. This costly production involved printing on large imperial folio sheets (53 x 37cm, with some variations) and included 57 full-page engraved plates.1 The distribution work was shared by Wood and the Scottish publisher Andrew Millar (1705-1768), who had lived in London since the early 1720s and whose successful retail and publishing business in the Strand boasted more than 100 titles by 1752,2 and went on to include Russell’s The Natural History of Aleppo (1756). As the son of a Presbyterian minister, Millar had much in common with Wood and it was perhaps this connection that made him a suitable candidate for the production of his first volume. The entire cost of both the expedition and the production of the book was borne by Dawkins. As the owner of a Jamaican slave plantation, obviously he was extremely rich. However, he was also a very generous sponsor of this literary project and allowed any profits from the sales of the book to go directly to Wood. This is stated quite clearly at the end of the preface (see below) and emphasised by Dr Matthew Maty (1718-1776), who wrote a review/preview of Ruins of Palmyra in the Journal Britannique, in which he mentioned that Dawkins ‘à cedé a Mr. Wood le soin [care] & le profit de la publication’.3 Maty was a Dutch physician who had moved to London in 1741, was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1751, and held important positions, including those of Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society and principal Librarian of the British Museum. He edited this journal, which was a French version of the English Monthly Review, from 1750 to 1755.4 Ruins of Palmyra sold very well, and this may partly account for how Wood, who had come from such a modest background, was so wealthy at the time of his death (see Chapter 3). The title page bears the full title of the book: The Ruins of Palmyra, Otherwise Tedmor, in the Desart. The length of the main text in the first edition of the book is 35 pages and is in the form of an introductory essay setting the historical context for the 57 illustrations that form the main part of the book. For further details, see P.W. Nash, N. Savage, G. Beasley, J. Meriton and A. Shell, (eds), Early Printed Books, 1478-1840: Catalogue of the British Architectural Library Early Imprints Collection (Munich, 1994-2003), Vol. 5, pp. 2443-2444. The author of this section of the chapter is grateful to Colm O’Riordan, CEO of the Irish Architectural Archive, Dublin, for kindly supplying her with scans of the relevant pages from this source. 2 See H. Amory, Millar, Andrew (1705-1768), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/18714 3 See Article I. The ruins of Palmyra, Journal Britannique, par M. Maty, Vol. 12 (The Hague, 1753), pp. 3-40, at p. 8. 4 See The Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature, and the Arts, Vol. 3 (London, 1822), pp. 308-309. 1

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The preliminary pages comprise a four-page notice entitled ‘The Publisher to the Reader’, which is unpaginated and is signed ‘Robert Wood’ (see below, under Preface). The volume contains no dedication, frontispiece, decorative headpieces or tailpieces; nor does it have a contents page, a conclusion or an index. The main essay is divided into three sections: ‘An Enquiry into the Antient State of Palmyra’ (pp. 1-23); ‘The Inscriptions’ (pp. 24-32); and ‘A Journey through the Desart’ (pp. 33-35). Following this is a brief introduction to Plate I – a series of three copper plates forming a panoramic view of the ruins – and followed by a curious note on the travelling party’s reception in the city. After this comes Plate II, a geometrical plan of the ruined city of Palmyra, which is accompanied by four pages of explanatory text with notes (pp. 38-41). This is followed by a section entitled ‘Explication of the Plates’, which presents a series of very brief notes (sometimes giving only the title) on the remaining 55 engraved plates (III-LVII) in order of their appearance (pp. 43-50). The section of notes ends with the word ‘Finis’ and is followed by Errata. The signature ‘Borra Archt Delin:’ is found on all but 15 of the plates (left-hand side); four engravers can be identified from the signatures on the right-hand side of the plates: Paul (or Peter) Fourdrinier (1698-1758), T.M. Müller junior (fl. 1749), Thomas Major (1720-1799) and J. Gibson (fl. 1750-1792); and two of the plates are unsigned.5 As noted in Chapter 3, on his return from the expedition in the east, Wood began to compile the text describing the ruins and the inscriptions they had seen on their voyage, based both on his own notes from his two tours and on the official account supplied by Dawkins, which took the form of a diary. At the same time, Borra began to prepare the engravings, a selection of which is discussed below. The volume was proposed and advertised in advance (January 1752) and examples of the plates were made available for potential subscribers to view at Wood’s house and at the shops of various booksellers in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin. Just over a year later (February 1753), a further opportunity was given for potential subscribers to view the plates, this time at the premises of two of the engravers (Fourdrinier and Major), and in both instances subscription copies were offered for 3 guineas, with a 50 percent down payment.6 The exact date at which Ruins of Palmyra was released is not known, but it is thought that the French translation appeared at around the same time. While Dr Maty’s article appears in a section of the journal entitled ‘Pour les Mois de Septembre & d’Octobre 1753’,7 The Gentleman’s Magazine includes it in a listing of books published in November of that year.8 It may therefore be the case that Maty’s article was a preview and that the book was not officially published until November. Having a 5 Fourdrinier came from Groningen, the Netherlands, and was responsible for the majority of the plates in both Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec; Müller was originally from Nuremberg; and Major was responsible for the site views in Ruins of Balbec. Three copies of Major’s Ruins of Paestum are in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772) as Lots 418-420, the first of which was withdrawn. 6 Nash et al., Early Printed Books, 1478-1840, p. 2444. 7 See Maty, Article I. The ruins of Palmyra, p. 3. 8 S. Urban, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, Vol. 23, for the Year M.DCC.LIII (London, 1753), p. 542.

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preview of a book was not an unusual practice and was done, for example, with the first volume of Pococke’s A Description of the East, whereby The Gentleman’s Magazine carried a detailed preview that even included a copy of one of the engravings.9 As with other examples of highly illustrated eastern travels of the period, especially folio volumes like this, first editions of this book are extremely valuable today, fetching thousands of pounds, euros, or dollars, and rarely come up for sale. There is no record of the print run, but it was probably quite small, which might help to explain the relative scarcity of copies in circulation now. While we know how much it cost new (3 guineas), we can also get an idea of its value second hand from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century sale and booksellers’ catalogues, though it is often listed as a set, with Ruins of Balbec. In 1764, for example, the London bookseller Thomas Payne (who was later to publish The Original Genius of Homer with Peter Elmsly), advertised a copy ‘with cuts, neat’, for £3, 5s.10 Just less than a decade later, the same bookseller offered three copies of the book, the most expensive described as ‘eleg. bound in russ.’ and priced £3, 3s.11 Four years later, in 1777, Payne offered several copies of Wood’s books, including one of Ruins of Palmyra ‘half bound’, but with no price, and another described as ‘very fine impressions, bound in russia’, for £6, 6s.12 In 1799, the bookseller’s son Thomas Payne junior (1752-1831), who had taken over the business in 1790, offered a copy half bound, for £5, 5s.13 Two years later (1781), he advertised a volume of the same description (perhaps the same one that had never sold) for £3, 13s, 6d;14 and, moving into the next century, in 1801 he had a copy for sale at £5, 5s;15 and in 1840, a copy described as ‘plates, neat’ was on sale for slightly less, at £4, 14s, 6d.16 It must be noted here that the more scholarly travel accounts discussed in this volume would have appealed to an intellectual readership, to collectors and connoisseurs, as well as those belonging to exclusive professions such as architecture. By definition, then, these readers would have been of the wealthier classes and could therefore afford to buy such books. It is also important to put the above figures (and those for Wood’s other works) in context with income levels during the period. This subject has been widely debated with a range of statistics being proposed.17 See Finnegan, English Explorers in the East, p. 185. T. Payne, A Catalogue of Twenty Thousand Volumes ... (London, 1764), Lot 167, p. 6. 11 T. Payne, A Catalogue of a Very Large and Curious Collection of Books; in Which Are Included the Libraries of T. Whately, J. Wallace [&c.]. Which Will Be Sold This Day 1773 (London, 1773), Lot 940, p. 30. 12 T. Payne, A Catalogue of Near Thirty Thousand Volumes of Curious and Rare Books … (London, 1777), Lot 1095, p. 33; and Lot 7623, p. 202, respectively. 13 T. Payne, A Catalogue of Valuable Books, in Various Languages, and in Every Class of Literature ... (London, 1799), Lot 1129, p. 45. 14 T. Payne: A Catalogue of Near Forty Thousand Volumes of Curious And Rare Books; Containing the Library of the late Rev. Montague North, D.D.... (London, 1781), Lot 1143, p. 35. 15 T. Payne, A Catalogue of Books to be Sold at the Prices Affixed to Each Article (London, 1801), Lot 648, p. 23. 16 T. Payne, A Catalogue of Books in Various Languages, on Sale by Payne and Foss (London, 1840), Lot 6884, p. 368. 17 See R.D. Hume, The value of money in eighteenth-century England: Incomes, prices, buying power – and some problems in cultural economics, Huntington Library Quarterly, Vol. 77, No. 4 (2014), pp. 373-416. 9

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Preface The preface is entitled ‘The Publisher to the Reader’, the publisher being Robert Wood, rather than Dawkins, who, as we have seen, had ceded to him both ‘le soin & le profit de la publication’. The stated aim of the preface is to give an account of the way in which the book was undertaken and executed, in order to give the reader an opportunity to judge what credit it deserves. According to Wood’s account: Two gentlemen, whose curiosity had carried them more than once to the continent, particularly to Italy, thought, that a voyage, properly conducted, to the most remarkable places of antiquity, on the coast of the Mediterranean, might produce amusement and improvement to themselves, as well as some advantage to the publick. As I had already seen most of the places they intended to visit, they did me the honour of communicating to me their thoughts upon that head, and I with great pleasure accepted their kind invitation to be of so agreeable a party. The knowledge I had of those gentlemen, in different tours through France and Italy, promised all the success we could wish from such a voyage; their friendship for one another, their love of antiquities, and the fine arts, and their being well accustomed for several years to travelling, were circumstances very requisite to our scheme, but rarely to be met with in two persons, who with taste and leisure for such enquiries, are equal both to the expence and fatigue of them.18 He then continues to describe how Borra came to be included in the eastern voyage: It was agreed, that a fourth person in Italy, whose abilities, as an architect and draftsman we were acquainted with, would be absolutely necessary. We accordingly wrote to him, and fixed him for the voyage. The drawings he made, have convinced all those who have seen them, that we could not have employed any body more fit for our purpose.19 Following this, he describes their meeting, how they prepared for their voyage, and the route they took: We met our ship at Naples in the spring. She brought from London a library, consisting chiefly of all the Greek historians and poets, some books of antiquities, and the best voyage writers, what mathematical instruments we thought necessary, and such things as might be proper presents for the 18 19

Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. i Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. i

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood Turkish Grandees, or others, to whom, in the course of our voyage, we should be obliged to address our selves. We visited most of the islands of the Archipelago, part of Greece in Europe; the Asiatick and European coasts of the Hellespont, Propontis and Bosphorus, as far as the Black-sea, most of the inland parts of Asia Minor, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine and Egypt.20

Wood emphasises the fact that, despite the variety of the experiences they had in the different countries, what engaged their greatest attention was ‘rather the antient than the present state’. He also acknowledges that it was impossible to separate the prevailing situation ‘from that connection with great men, and great actions, which history and poetry have given them’.21 He thus makes it clear from the outset that the book has a predominantly classical ancient historical theme; and where it was possible to show how ‘the present state of the country was the best comment on an antient author’,22 they had their draughtsman (Borra) take a view or a plan of it. In particular, he notes: This sort of entertainment we extended to poetical geography, and spent a fortnight, with great pleasure, in making a map of the Scamandrian plain, with Homer in our hands.23 With regard to inscriptions, he explains that they copied as many as they could as they came across them ‘and carried off the marbles whenever it was possible’, but this was difficult on account of (understandable) local attitudes. Likewise, with Greek, Syriac and Arabic manuscripts, which they procured wherever they could. This interest in epigraphy is borne out by the titles of several related books in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772) and the associated topic of numismatics. However, Wood admits that it was architecture that took up their chief attention; and that their plan had been to apply the same method used by Desgodetz24 for antiquities in Rome, to those in the countries in which architecture originated, particularly Asia Minor. This meant that they would supply measurement as well as some commentary. They were not disappointed in this plan, as most of the ruins they visited had very valuable fragments, ‘especially as [they] had provided [themselves] with tools for digging, and sometimes employed the peasants in that way, for several days, to good purpose’.25 An indication that further volumes were being contemplated is given in a passage relating to the success they had in using examples of the three Greek orders Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, pp. i-ii. Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. ii. Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. ii. 23 Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. ii. 24 Desgodetz, Les Edifices Antiques de Rome. 25 Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. iii. 20 21 22

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of architecture to ‘furnish a tolerable history of the rise and progress of that art [architecture]’. Wood notes: We thought it would be proper to give Palmyra first, as that part about which the curiosity of the publick seems most pressing: the success which this work meets, will determine the fate of the rest.26 The next section of the preface describes the happiness, success and spirit of the travelling party, which was broken by the tragic death of Bouverie, only to be restored by ‘the uncommon activity and resolution of [their] surviving friend [Dawkins]’, who ‘was so indefatigable in his attention to see every thing done so accurately, that there [was] scarcely a measure in this work that he did not take himself ’.27 Wood ends the preface by explaining that he owed the fact that he was ‘the publisher of these sheets’ to Dawkins’s friendship to him, and by praising the latter’s extreme generosity, ‘who while he enjoys the pleasure of contributing to the advancement of arts in this manner, declines the profits which arise from this publication’.28

Immediate Reception of the Book Those who saw examples of the artwork before the publication of the book were very impressed. In a letter to James Stuart dated 30 January 1753, for instance, Wood enclosed what appears have been a version of Plate I of his book – the general view of Palmyra. He did so presumably to seek Stuart’s approval, which the latter duly gave, in glowing terms, in his reply four months later from Smyrna: Capt. Priddie brought with him [to Smyrna] your general view of Palmyra which gives me the highest satisfaction tis in every respect well executed & what makes me view it with the greater content Masons name at the bottom of it assures me, I was not deceived in his ability, when I recommended him to you.29 It is likely that the ‘Mason’ in question is the British engraver James Mason (17101780), who was associated with Chandler and Revett’s later Ionian Antiquities, published by the Society of Dilettanti. Wood was to have considerable influence on this book, not only drawing up instructions for the authors and illustrators, but also writing the preface. Likewise, other close associates of Wood praised the work in letters to their friends. Walpole, for example, wrote to Richard Bentley in December 1753, and declared: Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. iii. Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. iv. 28 Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. iv. 29 Letter from James Stuart to Robert Wood, Smyrna, 30 May 1753, Sheffield City Archives, WWM/R/1/42. 26 27

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood Palmyra is come forth, and is a noble book; the prints finely engraved, and an admirable dissertation before it. My wonder is abated: the Palmyrene empire which I had figured, shrunk to a small trading city with some magnificent buildings out of proportion to the dignity of the place.30

Ruins of Palmyra received a considerable amount of advance publicity, due largely to the efforts of Robert Wood; and by the time the book was imminent, the subscribers must have been eagerly awaiting its arrival. As we have seen, interest in this volume was not confined to the British Isles. Dr Maty, presumably to correspond with the publication of the French translation, issued a 40-page preview in the Journal Britannique, in which he summarised all aspects of the work, with particular reference to the section on the inscriptions. A similar, though shorter, article appeared in the Gentleman’s Magazine the following March (1754). The opening paragraph of the review emphasises the financial aspects of the work, stating that it ‘was the product of a journey … undertaken by two gentlemen of fortune, without any view of pecuniary advantage’.31 As with Maty’s account, the review is descriptive rather than analytical, but ends by commending the artwork (the 57 copper plates), admitting: ‘they are finely executed, the drawing is correct and masterly, and the graving highly finished’.32 Furthermore, the author states: the plans are geometrically laid down, and the several parts of the columns, doors, windows, pediments, ceilings, and bas reliefs, are delineated, with a scale by which they may be measured and compared.33 As discussed by Eileen Harris and Nicholas Savage,34 while Ruins of Palmyra was a highly successful book and commanded great respect, it generated some dissatisfaction, especially from members of the architectural profession, who were to later compare it with Julien-David Le Roy’s Ruins of the Most Beautiful Monuments of Greece (1758).35 In their view, Wood’s books lacked the practical observations and the many lessons for easy and perfect imitation that were present in Le Roy’s work. One such detractor was Robert Adam, whom Wood had known in Rome. He expressed scepticism about the merit of Ruins of Palmyra, when comparing the amount of time

30 Letter from Sir Horace Walpole to Richard Bentley, London, 19 December 1753. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 35, p. 160. 31 S. Urban, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, Vol. 24, for the Year M.DCC.LIIV (London, 1754), pp. 78-81, at p. 78. 32 The Gentleman’s Magazine (1754), p. 81. 33 The Gentleman’s Magazine (1754), p. 81. 34 See E. Harris and N. Savage, British Architectural Books And Writers, 1556-1785 (Cambridge and New York, 1990), pp. 51-52. 35 The full title of this work is: Les Ruines des Plus Beaux Monuments de la Grece: Ouvrage Divisé en Deux Parties, où l’on Considere, dans la Première, Ces Monuments du Côté de l’Histoire, et dans la Seconde, du Côté de l’Architecture (Paris, 1758). Two editions of this work are listed in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue, Lots 575 and 576 (the second withdrawn).

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Wood had spent in the area to that of his own more extensive stay in Dalmatia, for his Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro:36 so that you see, we were just five weeks at Spalatro and [during] that time four people were constantly at work, which is equal to twenty weeks of one person. Mr Wood was but 15 days at Palmyra and had but one man to work for him – judge then of the accuracy of such a work!37

Narrative An Enquiry into the Antient State of Palmyra The narrative starts with a statement to confirm that the present account is ‘confined merely to that state of decay in which [Wood’s party] found those ruins in the year 1751’, and that this section (Enquiry) has been included to satisfy the curiosity of the average reader concerning the general history of Palmyra.38 The author observes that while there are few ancient sources relating to this site, he will add to this historical basis from ‘the taste of the architecture, and from the inscriptions’.39 Using ancient (biblical and classical) and modern sources, Wood then gives an account of the history of Palmyra, which includes a colourful and lengthy report on the third-century queen, Septimia Zenobia. He regrets that while modern Arabian writers have virtually ignored this city, even the best of the modern geographers have remained ignorant of its ruins. In fact, the only two accounts available to him and his party (though not listed in his Library Sale Catalogue (1772)) were (1) that of ‘some English merchants from Aleppo’, who visited the city in 1678 and again in 1691 and published their findings in the Philosophical Transactions;40 and (2) a further work by Edmund Halley (see below). The former study, which has been described as ‘the first publicly documented archaeological journey to the city, made with the sole intention of studying its remains’,41 took the form of a letter and an extract of two travel journals, written by Revd William Halifax (chaplain of Aleppo from 16881695) and delivered to the Royal Society. The report contained a lengthy engraving copied from a sketch taken on the spot, depicting a view of the city. As Wood admits, the latter study: R. Adam, Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia By R. Adam F.R.S. F.S.A. Architect to the King and to the Queen (London, 1764). This is listed as Lot 574 in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (withdrawn). 37 Cited in Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle, p. 240. See also p. 248, where Fleming cites further instances of Adam’s inclination to scoff at Wood. 38 Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. 1. Damiani, provides an interesting analysis of Wood’s history of Palmyra. See Enlightened Observers, pp. 113-120. 39 Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. 2. 40 The work was entitled: An extract of the journals of two several voyages of the English merchants of the factory of Aleppo, to Tadmor, anciently call’d Palmyra, Philosophical Transactions, Vol. 19 (1695), pp. 129160. 41 See Astengo, The rediscovery of Palmyra, no page numbers. 36

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood is wrote with so much candour and regard to truth, that some errors occasioned by haste, and their [the authors] not being much acquainted with architecture and sculpture, deserve indulgence.42

While he duly acknowledges their discovery of the site, he admits that the errors in the account are understandable and that that a ‘more inquisitive examination’43 is required, especially as it has been subjected to ‘an unjust imputation’ from men of letters, who have denied the existence of ‘such vast ruins in such an odd place’.44 The report prompted Halley to publish an account of the state of Palmyra in the same journal,45 in which he included ‘some ingenious remarks on inscriptions’.46 The next section of this Enquiry relates to the taste of the architecture and the readers are invited to judge for themselves, from the engravings in the book, whether it can shed light on the age that produced it. Wood confirms that there seemed to be two distinct sets of ruins: ‘the decay of the oldest, which are meer [sic] rubbish and incapable of measurement, looked like the gradual work of time; but the later seemed to bear the marks of violence’.47 He discusses the ‘sameness’ of the architecture; the fact that all the buildings are ornamented inside and are mostly of the Corinthian order; and that it was evident from this site that architecture outlived sculpture. Then, using the evidence of the inscriptions, which he and his travelling party diligently sought out, he suggests that the buildings can be dated to ‘after the happiest age of the fine arts’.48 The next section deals with the early inhabitants of Palmyra; the lack of change in the desert; the area’s riches from the East-India trade; its connection with the Romans; the reason why it fell into decay so quickly; and its current state of neglect. It also covers the possible dates and origins of the ruins, as well as the state of the religion, government, literature, manners and customs, skills in horsemanship and archery; the lack of places for games and exercise; and sepulchres and embalming in Palmyra. It concludes with the author’s regret that ‘we do not know more of a country, which has left such monuments of its magnificence’.49 The Inscriptions This nine-page section deals the ancient inscriptions (mostly Greek and Palmyrene) which Wood took from the buildings and is clearly informed by the material in his manuscripts (especially volume 13 of the Wood collection). He notes that most of the Greek inscriptions had already been published by the English merchants of Aleppo, Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. 14. Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. 14. 44 Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. 14. 45 E. Halley, Some account of the ancient state of the city of Palmyra, with short remarks upon the inscriptions found there, Philosophical Transactions, Vol. 19 (1695), pp. 160-175. 46 Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. 15. 47 Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. 15. 48 Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, pp. 16-17. 49 Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. 23. 42 43

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often with errors, and it was such errors that he wished to correct. Twenty-seven Greek inscriptions are represented in tables spanning two full-page plates entitled ‘Marmora Palmyrena’ (pp. 27 and 29) and are annotated, sometimes in relation to Halley’s previous work of 1695 (see above). We learn interesting snippets from this account, including the fact that inscription XIII was on an altar which Wood and his party brought back to England.50 Following this is a table of 13 inscriptions in Palmyrene (p. 30) and accompanying notes. The first three belonged to Dawkins, who had brought the three associated marbles back from Palmyra to England. A Journey through the Desart The final section of text is a ‘short sketch’ of the manner of travelling which his party had made ‘in a country, which nobody has described’ – not really an accurate statement, as this journey had been described in by Pococke only eight years earlier (1745). The text is interesting as it reads like a travelogue, with comments about their concerns for their personal safety, and the customs surrounding permission to enter different places, and gives dates and times of their departure from one place and arrival at another. It is likely that this was the type of detail that Wood envisaged for a more detailed account of his eastern travels, but which never came to fruition on account of his early death. On the last page of text, he gives an amusing account of how the Arab horsemen entertained them by engaging in mock fights with each other; and how, when the business of the day had finished, they relaxed over coffee and pipes, while one member of the company sang or told stories. The final paragraph confirms that the remainder of the book gives the measurements of the architecture as well as the views from which they are taken and justifies this method. (Rachel Finnegan)

Explanation of the Plates The record of Palmyra and (later) Baalbek (see Chapter 6) represented in Wood’s first two books established the physical nature of these historic sites, whose magnificent temple complexes Borra depicted with scientific accuracy. The monuments were explored with a view to uncovering the religious aspect of the authority of the sacred, as well as the might of Rome. As discussed in Chapter 7, the engravings in these architectural volumes presented new information which infused architectural design in the 18th and 19th centuries. This section provides a brief account of the historic monuments at Palmyra to set the context for the discussion of a small selection of images from Ruins of Palmyra.

50

Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. 28.

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Historic Monuments of Palmyra in Context Palmyra was a thriving city from its establishment, with the Hellenistic settlement clustered along the Wadi-al-Suraysir from north-west to south-east stopping at the oasis. The longstanding Assyrian occupation was superseded by Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Seleucid presence in the region, resulting in a gridplanned town which was later subsumed into the Roman empire. From c. 20 BC, inland under Rome, regional economic development was fostered and concentrated under Augustus with a watchful eye to the Parthian kingdom further east. Building works under Tiberius and Germanicus, with the additions to the grid plan and to the Temple of Bel, began c. 17 AD with statues raised in the temple, inscribed by Legio X Fretensis. The temple was dedicated in 32 AD, as can be seen from a dedication plaque situated on the site of the earlier temple of the same name. The Hellenistic city was augmented, and the orthogonal plan increased by 64 AD. As Rome ceded Antioch and the coast, the Roman Senate became the governing body in Palmyra. The annexation of Palmyra is dated to c. 75 AD, as detailed by Pliny the Elder, as a buffer state between Rome and Parthia. The city expanded east to link the Temple of Bel to the main entrance, with an intersecting street marked by the tetrapylon (a structure with four gates) and a smaller temple also recorded. Trajan annexed the Nabataean kingdom further north and formed the Palmyrene army unit ala dromedariorum Palmyrenorum. Hadrian visited in 129 AD and Septimius Severus and Julia Domna would frame the city as part of Syria Phoenicia governed from Homs, when legal privileges were placed on the citizens and raised to the status of Colonia. During the 3rd century AD, Palmyra was a flourishing cosmopolitan centre at a desert oasis crossroads, where Persian and Graeco-Roman worlds merged in complex ways. Palmyra constantly strengthened defences and latently Odenathus and his wife Zenobia seized control over the province in the mid-3rd century AD, challenging the might of Rome and the Emperor Aurelian. This enduring idea fired romantic sensibilities, with Aurelian taking Zenobia to Rome, in 271 AD, when Rome was a walled city. Diocletian built new defences in Palmyra in 284 AD, altering the focus of the city, with his camp dominating the west side. Decline during the post-Roman period was adjusted as the city expanded beyond the camp and took its ancient name Tadmor and, by the 12th century AD, it had been fortified by Abdul ibn Fairouz as an Arab fortress. Selection of Plates The engraved plates discussed here have been selected to demonstrate the range of images of Palmyra presented in the book, starting with a panoramic view as an overarching stage set, and following on with plans, elevations and sections drawn under the skilful eye of Borra. The two plates in Figure 13 (a view of the ruined city of Palmyra taken from the north-east) are joined together as one great panorama which stretches as far as the

Figure 13: View of the Ruined City of Palmyra Taken from the North-East, Plate I, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)

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eye can see, across the valley to the mountain castle. As an essential index for the image, Wood refers to the plates as containing ‘the parts of each building, at large’.51 The drawings are inscribed, and the English translation of the Latin inscription reads: Palmyra is a city famous for its surroundings, rich in soil and water, vast surrounding it covers the surrounding countryside three hundred and thirty seven miles to the Tigris to the two hundred and three miles from the Syrian littoral and neighbouring Damascus. The panoramic scene is set within the local topography of low-lying hills in the distance, with the city laid out in a sweeping vista in the middle of the picture plane. The main colonnaded street is intersected with a tetrapylon, leading to the monumental arch and Temple of Bel to the east, which itself is aligned northsouth. The main focus on the east side of the city is the great Temple of Bel, which dominates with its prominent towers and colonnaded precinct walls. The eye is drawn to an honorific column and the tetrapylon with monumental arch masking the junction of colonnaded streets, as the colonnades intersect beyond, leading to the city limits under the castle. The second part of the panorama depicts the foreground and a broad view of the city underlying the surrounding hills. Staffage (additional, ornamental) figures and ruins strewn in the foreground of the picture plane create depth to the cityscape, with a distant profile of the ruins outlined, receding in the distance. The small Temple of Nabu marks the foreground, as the colonnades stretch over towards the castle on the hilltop. The monuments are individually marked with letters A to Z in a key that describes the different edifices, from the Turkish Castle on the hill, to the remains of Turkish fortifications in the ruined city, to the Valley of the Tombs, which are also noted. The depiction represents an attempt to analyse and present a dramatic, sweeping, ruinous ancient landscape, as the remains are aggrandised. This rationalising of ruins is intended to serve as a guide for travellers and scientists alike.52 The Hellenistic grid plan was extended eastwards during the 1st century AD under Tiberias (42BC-37AD), with the monumental tetrapylon as a focal point and the intersection as a large armature angled to the east towards the Temple of Bel. The colonnaded street links the major monuments from the triumphal arched entrance, concealing an axial turn in the streetscape to the tetrapylon crossroads, to the Temple of Bel.53 This prompted the perspectival view of the colonnaded streets, which later informed Gavin Hamilton’s (1758) view painting of this moment of rediscovery (see Figure 33). The Decapolis cities (a group of ten cities in the Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. 36. See M. Bergstein, Palmyra and Palmyra: Look on these stones, ye mighty, and despair, Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Fall 2016), pp. 13-38. 53 See W.L. MacDonald, The Architecture of the Roman Empire: An Appraisal (New Haven and London, 1986), pp. 109-10. 51 52

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Figure 14a: Upright of the Portico within the Court of the Temple, Plate XIV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) ( image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin) Figure 14b: Capital and Entablatures of the Order in the Foregoing Place, with the Plan of the Capital, Plate I, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)

Levant) provided a Hellenised environment beyond the Euphrates, with a strong continuity of certain forms and conformity to the ruling authority evident in the city plan. In this instance, at Palmyra, the town planning was more like a sum of its parts rather than a strict town plan. The monumental Temple of Bel had Hellenistic foundations that were built over during the early 1st century AD. The temple plan was situated on a Hellenistic foundation on a north-south axis. The cella (body of the temple) measured 80 x 120m and was enlarged, surrounded by a double colonnaded portico on the north, east and south. By the late 2nd century AD, the west propylaeum (monumental gateway) was raised.54 This originally carried eight columns and a huge central arch level with flanking walls and was a vast compound with a surrounding peristyle (continuous porch) and a smaller central cella. The plate in Figure 14a depicts an upright of the portico within the court of the Temple of Bel. The propylaeum to the enclosure had been converted into a defensive citadel by Abū al-FidāʾAbulfeda (1273-1331),55 an Arab historian and geographer who was born at Damascus.56 As noted by Wood: See R. Burns, Monuments of Syria: An Historical Guide (New York, 1992), pp. 156-161. See Abū al-Fidā (1273–1331), An Abridgment of the History of the Human Race, 2 vols (Constantinople, 1869). 56 See Baird and Kamash, Remembering Tadmor-Palmyra, Appendix 1, which reflects the documents and information gathered by Wood and criticises his inability to expand on the Arab connections to the city in his published volume. The comparison between Wood’s diary entries and excerpts from his book, on the subject of the approach to Palmyra, is helpful, as it demonstrates his openness as an explorer and geographer. For a focus on the diaries, see also L. Mulvin, Travels of neoclassical artists and ‘imitation’ of the antique: Robert Wood (1717-71) and approaches to the ruins of Palmyra and Baalbek as journeys through space and time, Proceedings SAHANZ Distance Looks Back (July 10 to July 13, 2019), pp. 287-300. Of his time, Wood’s references to Athens were relevant as part of the circle in Rome (see Chapter 3). 54 55

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Figure 15: Two Soffits, of One Piece of Marble Each, Plate XIX, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)

The solidity and height of the wall of its court tempted the Turks to convert it into a place of strength.57 The broad flight of stairs leading up to a massive portico was reconstructed by Borra. The frontal viewpoint shows a reconstructed pediment with octastyle entrance (of eight columns), 35m wide leading to a striking temenos (consecrated area) peristyle wall which frames the north, east and south sides with a higher, single colonnade along the west side.58 Within the precinct the cella chamber of 10 x 30m has two focal points: two shrines for the worship of multiple deities – Yarhibol (a solar god) and Aglibol (a lunar god). The considerable religious imagery equates to Bel – a Semitic god with multiple manifestations. Ugarit Baal-Shamin equates to the Greek Zeus, as well as the Palmyrene sun god Yarihibol.59 The cell shrine is located in the Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. 46. MacDonald, The Architecture of the Roman Empire, pp. 209-210. 59 Burns, Monuments of Syria, pp. 156-161. 57 58

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Figure 16a: Plan and Upright of the Arch Marked H, Plate XXII, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin) Figure 16b: View of the Arch from the West, Plate XXXV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)

north, with the adyton (innermost sanctuary or shrine) in an enclosed chamber; and the ceiling in the niche is a single stone carved with images of seven planetary deities encircled by the zodiac.60 Figure 14b depicts the Corinthian order with an entablature and a carved frieze with an elaborated voluted capital. Deeply carved acanthus leaves are depicted with the diameter presented in section, indicating the measurements from the diameter of the column shaft to the entablature. The rich carving of the frieze is celebrated by the casting of deep shadows in the lined engraving. Figure 15 depicts the decoration of the interior panelling of the soffit of the cella of the Temple of Bel. It is a broad, rectangular building with large, fluted columns, 18m high, constructed on a colossal scale. The sculpted interior ceiling panels are depicted as two massive, well-preserved slabs of carved stone; and the decorative detail is beautifully illustrated. The single slab of these richly carved soffits (preserved, broad bands of octagonal shapes) contains rosettes interspaced with complex patterns of squares and triangles. The second rectangular slab has a central rosette decorated with figures of the zodiac. Such clarity of detail in the sculpture reflects the lesser-known Palmyrene pantheon of deities connected to the zodiac: a measure of time in a form of synthesis of Graeco-Roman, Palmyrene and Phoenician gods.61 The iconic monument in Figure 16a is depicted in a frontal view comprising a central arch with a flanking smaller opening on either side. It is a reflection of a Burns, Monuments of Syria, pp. 156-161. See I. Richmond, Palmyra under the aegis of Rome, The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 53, Parts 1 and 2 (1963), pp. 43-54. A zodiacal circular temple of note is also found at Side, Antalya, recorded by C.R. Cockerell in 1810. See L. Mulvin, Charles Robert Cockerell and Ionian antiquities, in Mulvin A Culture of Translation (2012), pp. 95-109. 60 61

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planned, ordered Roman city. The monumental triple arch, which was constructed during the reign of Septimius Severus (c. 193-211 AD), was built back to back with another similar arch, masking a bend in the colonnaded street.62 The arch incorporated two facades, which was uncommon in arch construction, and served as a gateway between the central sections of the Great Colonnaded Street.63 The wedge-shaped detail is demonstrated in the plan.64 The monument links the main colonnaded street and the Temple of Bel. The arch integrates the southern and central parts of the city, linking the civic centre to the Temple of Bel quarter, as the street changes in orientation. It is reconstructed, in the drawing by Borra, with a deep attic storey and pediment and is a reflection of the triumph of Rome over the Parthians. The arch is decorated with ornate stone carvings, including reliefs of vegetal mouldings and geometrical patterns of ornament. Figure 16b represents a perspectival view of the colonnaded street to the monumental arch. This is a spectacular streetscape by Borra (and engraved by Müller), who created the long-angled view with the arch as a focal point, emphasising the drama of these ruins and leading the eye, in perspective, into the centre of the city. It also highlights the rhythmical flow of the colonnaded streets.65 This street leads to the civic centre of the city with two monumental arches, wedge-shaped to mask the non-alignment of the respective streets, as seen through the streetscape. The triple arch is therefore two-sided, elaborately ornate with decorative, carved moulded detail, and with lavish vegetal motifs. It is carefully orientated at an angle to frame the streetscape, as in the long view. The colonnade has consoles bearing statues of local, munificent townsfolk of Palmyra.66 Furthermore, beyond the city in the adjoining valley lies the Valley of the Tombs. This feature particularly preoccupied travellers and led to several drawings of tower tombs. The earliest dated tower tomb at Palmyra was that of Atenaten (9 BC) and the last was that of Muqimo (c. the 3rd century AD). The tombs were connected to hypogea (underground chambers) until the late 1st century AD, in an attitude of display that demonstrated a distinct practice whereby family members were protected with an arco solia and a sarcophagus bearing a family portrait on the lid.67 Wood also expresses interest in these in his notes: In the sepulchres at Palmyra are several mummies. Perhaps Zenobia, who was proud of being descended from Cleopatra, might affect to imitate Egyptian customs … Such were the ruins of Palmyra, the most considerable remains of ancient expense and magnificence perhaps in the world; though both Rome

See MacDonald, The Architecture of the Roman Empire, p. 109. This was ingenious Roman street planning mode to create a vista, and an illusion utilising an angled, wedge-shaped arch that was two-sided. See Burns, Monuments in Syria, p. 164. 64 MacDonald, The Architecture of the Roman Empire, pp. 109-10. 65 MacDonald, The Architecture of the Roman Empire, p. 109. 66 See Burns, Monuments of Syria, pp.158-159 and 164-165. See also Zoller, Giovanni Battista Borra and Robert Wood, pp. 61-70. 67 See K. Butcher, Roman Syria and the Near East (London, 2003), pp. 300-301. 62 63

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and Athens no doubt show piece of architecture much more worth seeing for Taste and Proportion.680 Conclusion The drawings discussed above, together with the many other examples depicted in Wood’s book, served to add a new source of information for neoclassicism. These pictorial representations of Palmyra created new and original images of the ancient world, providing at once access to antiquity and a shared continuity with the past. Travel to such remote sites was acknowledged as a major achievement of the eighteenth century and this particular expedition featured sweeping perspectives of the colonnades in Palmyra and varied elements of architectural sculpture and ornament. In this way, the result – Borra’s drawings set against Wood’s historical context – treated new art historical and theoretical models for modernity from Levantine imagery, opening up vistas of visible remains. (Lynda Mulvin)

68

See Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, p. 22.

Chapter 5

Ruins of Balbec (1757) Physical Description, Structure, Publication and Price of the Book As with his first book, Wood’s Ruins of Balbec was printed privately and the production was funded by Dawkins. Wood undertook the role of publisher, while Andrew Millar again took care of the distribution. The volume was printed on imperial folio sheets (53 x 37cm, with some variations). The title page bears the full title of the book: The Ruins of Balbec, Otherwise Heliopolis in Coelosyria. The length of the main text in the first edition of the book is 16 pages and is in the form of an essay setting the general and historical context for the 47 etched and engraved plates – illustrations that form the main part of the book. The essay is signed ‘Robert Wood’. There are no preliminary pages in the form of a separate preface, although four introductory paragraphs at the start of the essay serve as a brief foreword (see below). Furthermore, the volume contains no dedication, frontispiece, decorative headpieces, or tailpieces; nor does it have a contents page, a conclusion or an index. The main essay is divided into two sections: ‘Journey from Palmyra to Balbec’ (pp. 1-6); and ‘Antient State of Balbec’ (pp. 6-16). This is followed by a section entitled ‘Explanation of the Plates’, which presents a series of very brief notes (sometimes giving only the title) on the remaining 47 engraved plates (I-XLVI, with plate III in two parts) in order of their appearance (pp. 17-28). The section of notes ends with the word ‘Finis’. The signature ‘Borra Archt Delin:’ is found on all but 13 of the plates (left-hand side); two engravers can be identified from the signatures on the righthand side of the plates (Paul Fourdrinier and Thomas Major); and two plates are unsigned. Wood compiled the brief text from notes he had made during his two eastern voyages, as well from the official account supplied by Dawkins, which took the form of a diary. At the same time, Borra prepared the engravings, a selection of which is discussed in detail below. While several critics play down Borra’s involvement and contribution, some even fail to mention his name at all. Mohamad Ali Hachicho, for example, states: From the ruins and inscriptions [Wood] gives the world the first scholarly account of the glorious Palmyra, and a magnificent set of plans and drawings, described with diligent detail, which have made his book the standard work on Palmyra ever since.1 1

Hachicho, English travel books, p. 107.

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The volume was proposed and advertised in advance (July 1754) and subscription copies were offered for 3 guineas before publication, rising to £3 10s thereafter. Sadly, we do not know the print run or the cost of printing this volume. The exact date at which Ruins of Balbec was released is not known, though it appears to have been published in the spring of 1757. The intention was for the parallel edition in French to come out at the same time, as had been the case with Ruins of Palmyra. An article entitled ‘Ruins of Balbec’ is listed as Article V in the contents page of the January-February edition of the Journal Britannique (volume 22),2 which was under the editorship of a Mr De Mauve from 1755 to 1757.3 However, the article was not published, and a piece entitled ‘Mr. Bower’s Answer to a Scurrilous Pamphlet …’ was in its place. This suggests that the publication of the book was delayed and that the original article had to be pulled at the last minute. However, the September to October edition of the journal for the same year (volume 24) runs the original article, which takes the form of a nine-page review (see below).4 As with Wood’s earlier book, first editions of this volume are extremely valuable and scarce, and it is likely that the print run was quite small. While we know that both the English and the French editions cost 3 guineas new, we can also get an idea of their value second-hand from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century sale and booksellers’ catalogues. As mentioned earlier, these prices must be put in context with income levels during the period. In 1761, for example, the London bookseller Thomas Payne advertised a copy for sale at his forthcoming auction ‘with a great number of cuts, in boards, £3, 3s’.5 Almost a decade later, in 1770, the same bookseller offered a copy of the book ‘neatly bound, marble leaves’, for £3, 10s.6 Three years later, in 1773, Payne was advertising a copy ‘half-bound’ for £3, 3s.7 Four years later, in 1777, he had several copies, as follows: Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec in two volumes, ‘very fine copy, eleg. bound, with the print of the Editors discovering Palmyra’, for £8, 8s; the French translation (again two volumes), ‘very neatly bound’, for £7, 7s; and ‘Balbec, half bound’, for £2, 12s, 6d.8 Almost two decades later, in 1796, Thomas Payne junior was selling a copy described as having ‘many plates, half bound, uncut’ for £2, 10s;9 in 1781, he was offering a copy with ‘fine Impressions of the Plates, boards’ for £2 5s;10 in 1801, he advertised this volume half bound for £2, 2s and ‘a very fine copy

See Journal Britannique, Vol. 22 (The Hague, 1757), p. 210, where the article is meant to start at p. 193. See The Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature, and the Arts, Vol. 3 (London, 1822), p. 309. 4 Journal Britannique, par Mr. de Mauve, Vol. 24 (The Hague, 1757), pp. 293-302. 5 T. Payne, A Catalogue of a Large Collection of the Best Books. Which Will be Sold Oct. 12, 1761, Volume 2 (London, 1761), Lot 134, p. 5. 6 T. Payne, A Catalogue of the Library of the Late John Grey (London, 1770), Lot 1000, p. 32. 7 Payne, A Catalogue of a Very Large and Curious Collection of Books, Lot 939, p. 30. 8 T. Payne, A Catalogue of Near Thirty Thousand Volumes of Curious and Rare Books, Lot 1093, p. 33; Lot 1094, p. 33; and Lot 1098, p. 33, respectively. 9 T. Payne, A Catalogue of Valuable Books, in Various Languages, and in Every Branch of Science and Literature ... (London, 1796), Lot 1270, p. 50. 10 A Catalogue of Near Forty Thousand Volumes of Curious And Rare Book, Lot 1141, p. 35. 2 3

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[of Palmyra and Balbec], richly bound in Russia by Roger Payne’, for £10, 10s;11 and finally, in 1840, he was selling the French edition in two volumes for £9, 9s.12

Preface As already noted, Ruins of Balbec does not have a separate preface. However, the essay or ‘preliminary discourse’ starts with a brief introduction (less than a page) which explains the author’s rationale for publishing the sequel to Ruins of Palmyra. Wood presumably decided to omit a more detailed account of the background to the expedition, imagining that the public would already be aware of this from their reading of the original volume. It is worth reproducing this mini preface in full: The Specimen of our Eastern Travels, which we have already given the publick in RUINS OF PALMYRA, has met with such a favourable reception as seems to call for the Sequel. We gratefully accept of the extraordinary indulgence shewn us upon that occasion as an invitation to proceed, and shall therefore produce, from the materials which we have been able to collect in the course of our voyage, what ever we think may in any degree promote real knowledge, or satisfy rational curiosity. We consider ourselves as engaged in the service of the Re-publick of Letters, which knows, or ought to know, neither distinction of country, nor separate interests. We shall therefore continue to publish our Work, not only in English, but also in the language of a neighbouring Kingdom, whose candid judgement of our first production, under the disadvantage of a hasty and negligent translation, deserves at least this acknowledgement. Having observed that descriptions of ruins, without accurate drawings, seldom preserve more of their subject than it’s [sic] confusion, we shall, as in the RUINS OF PALMYRA, refer our reader almost entirely to the plates; where his information will be more full and circumstantial, as well as less tedious and confused, than could be conveyed by the happiest precision of language. It shall also, in this, as in the former volume, be our principal care to produce things as we found them, leaving reflections and reasonings upon them to others. This last rule we shall scrupulously observe in describing the Buildings; where all criticism on the beauties and faults of the Architecture is left entirely to the reader. If in this preliminary discourse we intermix a few observations of our own, not so necessarily connected with the subject, it is with a view to throw a little variety into a very dry collection of facts, from which at any rate we can not promise much entertainment.13 11 T. Payne, A Catalogue of Books to be Sold at the Prices Affixed to Each Article, Lots 649 and 647, respectively, p. 23. 12 T. Payne, A Catalogue of Books in Various Languages, Lot 5491, p, 300. 13 Wood, Ruins of Balbec, p. 1.

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Immediate Reception of the Book As noted earlier, Wood’s involvement in the composition of this book must have been far less extensive than it had been for the former volume, which was undoubtedly a result of the pressure of his political work that he complained of. Not only was the text only half the length, but there were fewer engravings to consider. Furthermore, the fact that there is no evidence of him soliciting the views of his associates in advance of the publication suggests that this time around, he was more confident in securing an appreciative readership. Nevertheless, as with the earlier work, he and Andrew Millar worked hard to promote this volume among prospective subscribers. As we have seen, interest in this volume was not confined to the British Isles. Mr De Mauve, for example, published a nine-page review in which he not only commends the bravery of the authors on undertaking their eastern expedition in the first place, but also praises their book in terms of ‘l’exactitude extraordinaire des desseins, l’élegance des planchet, l’explication qu’ils donnent & les Observations judicieuses de ces Voiageurs infatigables’.14 The Gentleman’s Magazine for February 1758 carried a five-page review entitled ‘Some Account of a Work, Intitled, The Ruins of Balbec …’,15 in which the editor summarises Wood’s brief dissertation, following the travellers’ route from Palmyra to Baalbek and outlining their experiences with the locals and their analyses of the antiquities. Only at the end does he express any opinion of the book, when he states that ‘The cuts in this volume are executed upon the same plan and with the same elegant accuracy as those of Palmyra’ and refers the reader to the article in the corresponding issue of the magazine.16 By contrast, the seven-page review appearing in The Monthly Review of 1758, although consisting largely of extensive quotations from the text, starts with an effusive passage in praise of the book.17 Identifying ‘the worthy Editor’ of the volume as ‘Robert Wood Esq; now Deputy-Secretary of State’,18 it refers to the ‘stupendous magnificence’ of the ruins and the ‘extraordinary diligence of those gentlemen who have favoured the public with this view of them, and the accuracy, and elegance of the designs’; and admits: ‘We are authorised in saying thus much, by the unanimous consent of all the Literati in Europe.’19 The article then expresses the wish that this and other such accounts of ancient architecture: will improve the taste of our countrymen, and expell the littleness and ugliness of the Chinese, and the barbarity of the Goths, that we may see no more useless and expensive trifles; no more dungeons instead of summerhouses.20 Journal Britannique, par Mr. de Mauve, Vol. 24 (The Hague, 1757), pp. 294-295. The Gentleman’s Magazine (1754), pp. 51-55. 16 The Gentleman’s Magazine (1754), p. 55. 17 The Monthly Review, or, Literary Journal. By Several Hands. Vol. 18 (London, 1758), pp. 59-66. 18 The Monthly Review (1758), p. 60. 19 The Monthly Review, (1758), p. 59. 20 The Monthly Review, (1758), p. 59. Presumably a reference to Sir William Chambers’s recent or imminently 14 15

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It ends with the following words: We must take our leave of this noble work, for the present; but cannot close the book without lamenting the loss the public hath sustained by the death of Mr. Dawkins, whose name will be as much respected in future ages, as his person was dear to all who knew him.21 Finally, Walpole gives the highest praise for both Wood’s books in the preface to his Anecdotes of Painting. In a wider discussion about the importance of historic compositions in art, he deals with architecture; and, having dealt with the works of Robert Adam and William Chambers, he declares: But of all the works that distinguish this age, none perhaps excel those beautiful editions of Balbec and Palmyra – not published at the command of Louis quartorze, or at the expence of a cardinal nephew, but undertaken by private curiosity and good sense, and trusted to the taste of a polished nation. When I endeavour to do justice to the editions of Palmyra and Balbec, I would not confine the encomium to the sculptures; the books have far higher merit. The modern descriptions [by Mr. Wood] prefixed are standards of writing: the exact measure of what should and should not be said, and what was necessary to be known, was never comprehended in a more clear diction, or more elegant style. The pomp of the buildings has not a nobler air than the simplicity of the narration.22

Narrative Journey from Palmyra to Balbec This short section describes the journey the party made between the two sites, through the desert already described in Ruins of Palmyra. They departed on 27 March, arrived at the village of Ersale, where they spent the night, in seven hours, and continued in the morning for a further five and a half hours until they reached Baalbek (29 March). This section also discusses aspects of the government, their reception, the Plain of Bocat, the ancient geography of Syria, and Coelosyria. Antient State of Balbec This slightly longer section starts with an account of the perceived builder of both Palmyra and Baalbek – Solomon – whom Wood describes as a ‘wise yet a voluptuous prince’. This is followed by brief sections relating to the historical background of published Designs of Chinese Buildings, Furniture, Dresses, Machines, and Utensils ... (1757), of which there were three copies in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772), Lots 415-418. 21 The Monthly Review, (1758), p. 66. 22 The Works of Horatio Walpole, Earl of Orford ...: Anecdotes of Painting (London, 1762), p. 9.

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Baalbek, in terms of the Phoenicians and the Greeks, together with notes on its history under the Romans, from the time of Julius Caesar to Theodosius, and then under the Khalifs. Wood admits that the sources for these early periods are scarce and unreliable but uses images from ancient coins and medals as evidence for the names, etc., of the various temple structures. This section ends with a consideration of the religious/mythological aspects of the area and its natural history, which the author believes to have been connected.23 At the end of his dissertation, Wood reverts to the more standard format of the author’s preface, in which he refers to the delay in the publication of the book and acknowledges the work of Dawkins: Having finished now this Second Volume, I beg leave to separate myself a moment from my fellow-traveller, to acknowledge, as editor of this work, that I alone am accountable for the delay of it’s [sic] publication. When called from my country by other duties, my necessary absence retarded, in some measure, it’s progress. Mr. Dawkins, with the same generous spirit, which had so indefatigably surmounted the various obstacles of our voyage, continued carefully to protect the fruits of those labours which he had so cheerfully shared: he not only attended to the accuracy of the work, by having finished drawings made under his own eye by our draughtsman, from the sketches and measures he had taken on the spot, but had the engravings so far advanced as to be now ready for the public under our joint inspection. This declaration I owe in justice both to the public and my friend: for whatever, in the state of their accounts, the balance may be in his favour, I must not ungratefully conceal how much I am a debtor to both.24 Dawkins died approximately two months before the volume came to print, so this fulsome acknowledgement would have served as an appropriate and very public tribute to his deceased friend and patron. (Rachel Finnegan)

Explanation of the Plates This section provides a brief account of the historic monuments at Baalbek to set the context for the discussion of a small selection of images from Ruins of Balbec. Historic Monuments of Baalbek in Context Wood’s expedition continued west from Palmyra to Baalbek, with the express intention of recording the religious sanctuary at the latter site. The situation and site of Heliopolis were noted for their scenic beauty – in the Beka valley between Damiani, provides an interesting analysis of Wood’s account of Baalbek. See Enlightened Observers, pp. 120-126. 24 Wood, Ruins of Balbec, p. 16. 23

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Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon ranges in Roman Syria, as had already publicised by Pococke, in 1745.25 The religious sanctuary was begun in the 1st century BC and completed by c. 250 AD.26 The Temple of Jupiter Heliopolitanus at Baalbek was situated on trilithium stone. Each stone weighed approximately 800 tonnes, forming a base of gigantic proportions, with 12 columns across the front of the portico leading to the hexagonal portico entrance which, in turn, led to the great precint walls. Vertical metal clamps held the drums of the columns in place.27 The temple complex was entered from the east through a great portico gateway, the propylaeum. It was accessed by a wide set of steps rising 6m to a columnar portico of 12 columns, which had capitals gilded in antiquity, and was flanked by two towers.28 There were two tower altars opposite the Temple of Jupiter complex, with a smaller Temple of Bacchus (see below) that contained monolithic column shafts. Beyond and opposite the precinct was the round Temple of Venus (see below) with a curved profile and frontal emphasis.29 The Temple of the Sun was constructed over several decades starting in the mid-1st century AD. The temple plan type was prostyle, with six columns across the front, which is linked to Roman types such as the Temple of Apollo Sosianus at Rome. The pronaos (vestibule) was often of three columns deep, with cella walls extended one bay and with similar dimensions: 21 x 27m wide and 30-40m long.30 More commonly, the temple was situated within a large precinct whose origins were in first-century Roman AD portico planning, such as the Porticus Octaviae, which had an entrance pavilion added. In the case of Baalbek, the entrance propylaea led to a covered hexagonal ceremonial court to an inner gateway, which let onto the main temple great courtyard. This grand entrance was a sequence of successive stages of grandeur, a progressive hierarchy of spaces. The view to the Temple of Jupiter was purposefully obscured by a viewing tower and an altar. This area was depicted in plan by Borra at the outset, to make sense of the site. The temples within the precinct were orientated on a north-south axis with the propylaea linking to the great court. The frontal temple form became an imperial standard in Rome from the early 1st century AD, with Augustan examples such as the Temple of Mars Ultor. The concept developed during the 1st into the 2nd century in Rome, with the Temple of Divus Hadrianus, 139 AD, providing a model for provincial temple construction. 25 See F. Ragette, Baalbek (New Jersey, 1980) and D. Upton, Starting from Baalbek: Noah, Solomon, Saladin and the fluidity of architectural history, Journal of Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 68, No. 4 (2009), pp. 457-465. 26 See J.B. Ward-Perkins, Roman and Imperial Architecture (Harmondsworth, 1981), Fig 202. Much recent research has been carried out by French, Polish, Lebanese and German archaeological missions from the 1930s, 1950s and 1960s; and more recently the German mission led by Klaus Rheidt is in the process of surveying each building individually. See M. van Ess, Klaus Rheidt (eds) Baalbek – Heliopolis – 10 000 Jahre Stadtgeschichte (Darmstadt, 2014), pp. 158-167. 27 See van Ess and Rheidt, Baalbek, pp. 60-80. 28 See R. Taylor, Roman Builders: A study in Architectural Progress (Cambridge, 2003), pp. 92, 114, 120. 29 See J.P. Adam, Roman Building: Materials and Techniques (London, 2001), pp. 28, 29, 117, 171. 30 See J.W. Stamper, The Architecture of the Roman Temples (Cambridge, 2005), p. 124

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The precinct and temple at Baalbek constituted the largest-known built temple complex in the Roman world. It also had the biggest Temple of Jupiter, with ten columns of 20m high across the front portico and 19m down the sides. The monumentality and grandeur of these two parallel temples was heightened with the flights of marble steps and also by the elaborated walls inside the precinct. Situated adjacent to the Temple of Jupiter was the so-called Temple of Bacchus, which was also of gigantic proportions and octastyle: 8 x 15 columns. It had once acted as an oracle. The exterior colonnade of this temple was formidable in scale. The entrance was via a large, cut-stone doorway leading into the ornate elaborate cella, which had a two-storey arcade, and its walls were elaborated with engaged, fluted, Corinthian columns. The Temple of Venus was a small, curved structure based on circular temples such as the oracular Tholos of Delphi. The building may have been vaulted with a dome; its interior was also decorated with Corinthian columns. These structures appear to have been constructed before the end of the 2nd century AD, when Heliopolis was an independent city. The whole temple complex was at its height during the 3rd century AD, functioning as a religious complex by Caracalla’s reign in 211 AD. The entire area was dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus Heliopolitanus, with many dedications to the deity in evidence. Selection of Plates Wood describes the site as follows: this plain extends in length from Balbec almost to the sea; it’s direction is from N. E. b N. to S. W. by S. and it’s breadth, from Libanus to Anti-Libanus, we guessed to be in few places more than four leagues or less than two.31 The hexagonal court is presented in plan (Figure 17a) as the series of some 84 columns studded across the fold out to demonstrate the elaborate footprint of the precinct walls of this greatest of Roman religious sanctuaries. The sequence linking the entrance through a series of geometric forms to the different areas of the sanctuary is particularly innovative. Figure 17b is a view of the hexagonal court in a ruinous state. Depicted is a view of the site with the remaining six upright columns from the Temple of Jupiter in the foreground and the ruins of the smaller Temple of Bacchus to the east. The Temple of Bacchus is depicted on a smaller scale than the great Temple of Jupiter. Monumental stairs once ascended from the east to the entrance portal of the cella of the temple. The small scale of the staffage in the foreground creates an overpowering sense of scale, as the ruinous condition of the ground rolls away towards the long, elaborated precinct walls with columns used as relief. 31

Wood, Ruins of Balbec, p. 5.

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Figure 17a: Plan of the Great Temple, and of the Portico and Courts Leading to It, Plate III, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin) Figure 17b: Upright of the North Side of the Quadrangular Court, Similar to the South Side, Plate XIV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)

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Figure 18: Upright of the Front of the Entire, in Its Present State, Plate XXV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)

Figure 19a: Upright of the North Side of the Quadrangular Court, Similar to the South Side, Plate XIV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy of Marsh’s Library, Dublin) Figure 19b: View of the Inside of the Temple from the Door in Its Present State, Plate XXXV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)

The long drawing (Figure 18) is an elevation of the elaborated wall of the hexagonal court and the precinct of the Temple of Jupiter Heliopolitanus, with its great scale captured by Borra. Once through the hexagonal court, the visitor was presented with this view of a set of colonnades to the north, east and south sides of the court. The elaborated wall is a study in relief, moulded with 12 semicircular and rectangular exedra and numerous niches, which articulated the wall of this precinct on two levels, with a covered arcade supported by 84 granite columns. The drawing is breathtaking in its scale, purpose and ability to reconstruct the different elements, to recreate the sum of all the parts.32 The next drawing (Figure 19a) captures the portico of the Temple Bacchus, with a frontal emphasis that depicts a temple building raised on a plinth, measuring 167.5 x 89 x 7cm. In scale, in fact, it was a great structure which appeared smaller when placed beside the enormous Temple of Jupiter and elaborated with an octastyle 32

See MacDonald, The Architecture of the Roman Empire, p. 56.

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Figure 20: Back of the Same (Temple of Venus) in Its Present State, Plate XLIV, Robert Wood, Ruins of Balbec (1757) (image courtesy Marsh’s Library, Dublin)

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portico and triangular pediment with 15 columns along each side.33 The columns were of the Corinthian order and unfluted. The structure dates to the period of Antoninus Pius during the mid-2nd century AD. The architrave of the entrance portal was decorated with deeply carved grape vines and bacchanalian motifs, including a winged eagle and a caduceus snake symbol of Mercury concealed under the lintel. The interior view of the cella of the Temple of Bacchus (Figure 19b), with its deep perspective, was eye-opening. It showed how the interior walls of the cella were articulated and decorated with two tiers of engaged fluted Corinthian pilasters. The Corinthian supports were richly carved with ornamental detailing with geometric and floral patterns incorporated into the superstructure of this walled cella, ordered with fluted Corinthian columns.34 The small circular temple in Figure 20 is presented as it was encountered, that is, viewed in its then present state. It was called the Temple of Venus35 but was also known as the Round Temple. Its delicately proportioned cella formed threequarters of a circle and had a peristyle surround, with five concave bays, each with a niche built into the outside walls. The entrance had a large, rectangular pronaos, topped by a triangular pediment. This small temple form was unique in the region.36 Conclusion The rigid principles which determined neoclassical style required accurate models for architectural design, disseminated through public works and private patronage, in combination with new scientific methods of recording. Wood’s Ruins of Balbec was received with this frame of reference for accuracy of measurement and for an ability to reproduce details; it was therefore seen as a part of innate developments where the politics of ornament created a constant dialogue, becoming solid features of new works in European cities. As discussed in Chapter 7, this book was used as source material for buildings by some of the most significant European architects of the day in constructing the built heritage in a neoclassical paradigm. We are fortunate that Wood described the grandeur of Baalbek before the destructive earthquake of 1759 which, among other things, toppled three of the nine columns of the Temple of Jupiter drawn by Borra.37 In these reflections, he appears to literally have put the site on the map. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757), by fellow Irishman Edmund Burke, linked Baalbek and the picturesque movement and implemented a change in the history of architecture and landscape in Europe as intrinsic elements of neoclassicism. (Lynda Mulvin) See Butcher, Roman Syria and the Near East, pp. 365-366. See MacDonald, The Architecture of the Roman Empire, pp. 204-206. Ragette, Baalbek (1980), 52-63. 36 See MacDonald, The Architecture of the Roman Empire, pp. 174-176 and 232-233. 37 See N.N. Lewis, Baalbek before and after the earthquake of 1759: The drawings of James Bruce, Levant: The Journal of the Council for British Research in the Levant, Vol. 31 (1999), pp. 241-253. 33 34 35

Chapter 6

The Original Genius of Homer (1775) Development of the Book Wood compiled the text of his third and final book from a combination of notes he had made during his two eastern voyages and his detailed examination of Homer’s epic poems, both in the original Greek and in translation. We know that he owned a copy of Samuel Clarke’s (1743) edition of Homer’s Iliad,1 as the interleaved volume is among his manuscripts (volume 22 in the Wood collection). Though Clarke’s original edition was in two volumes, this was a single tome, with the original Greek and Latin translation on alternate pages. While it is clear from the annotations that this is the copy Wood had with him at Troy in 1750,2 it cannot have accompanied him on his first voyage (1742-1743), as it was barely in print. Other editions and commentaries of Homer in his Library Sale Catalogue (1772) are those of Eustathius (Rome, 1542), Lot 226, Barnes (Cambridge, 1711), Lot 199, Moschopulus (Utrecht, 1719), Lot 551, Moor and Muirhea (Glasgow, 1756), and Clarke (1759), Lot 233. On his first eastern voyage he could have taken any of the earlier titles, the seven-volume edition of Dacier’s Odysssey (1731), Lot 254, or her four-volume edition of Iliad and Odyssey (1741), Lot 281. It is also clear from his manuscript and printed sources that wood used Pope’s English translations of Iliad and Odyssey, though they are not listed in his Library Sale Catalogue (1772).3 As already noted, Wood’s book on Homer was something he had contemplated before his second trip, and which he discussed with his literary associates, including Revd Joseph Spence. We do not know how close he was to Spence, but he felt confident enough to break ‘in upon [his] retirement with [his] impertinence’, in order to tell him of his Homeric plan and to request a favour. Spence had published his Essay on Pope’s Odyssey more than 20 years earlier4 and only two years previously had brought out his highly popular book on the relationship between the art and literature of classical Greece and Rome.5 In this letter, sent from London in September 1749, Wood declares: I can’t tell you what I would trouble you about better, than by telling you of my plan of amusement; which is in general to compare the Antient with the present face of the Country; the Greece of the Poets and historians, with the Greece we S. Clarke, Homeri Operum Omnium: Quae Exstant Tomus Prior sive Ilias Graece ... (Amsterdam, 1743). See Butterworth, Library supplement: the Wood collection, p. 199. 3 A. Pope, The Iliad of Homer. Translated by Mr. Pope (London, 1715-1720) and The Odyssey of Homer. Translated from the Greek (London, 1725-1726). They were possibly excluded from the sale. However, the catalogue includes the English translations of Chapman (London, 1616), Lot 806 and Ogilby (London, 1669) plus the French translations of Bitaube (Paris, 1764), Lot 253 and Terrassion (Paris, 1715), Lot 255. 4 J. Spence, An Essay on Pope’s Odyssey: in Which Some Particular Beauties and Blemishes of that Work Are Consider’d (Oxford, 1726). This is Lot 459 in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772). 5 Polymetis Or, an Enquiry Concerning the Agreement between the Works of the Roman Poets… (London, 1747). 1 2

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shall see; when I was last in those Countries I amus’d myself, (in rambling over the Country about Ida, the Simois and Scamander, &c) in considering Homer, abstracted from his poeticall merit, as writing the Account of a Campaign; and making out a Plan of Troy and the environs from the Iliad, began to compare it, as far as I had time, with the present aspect of that Country; and found so exact a resemblance that I should be greatly tempted to pursue the same plan with more time and leisure.6 He continues with his request, the outcome of which is unknown, as follows: I mention this as to what is make my principal amusement, if your leisure from any thing more important would allow you, could you now and then look into the classicks, to give me any hints I should be much oblig’d to you; if my going into those countries, can make me understand better or have a stronger relish for some of its antient writers, I shall think my time at least innocently spent, not without pleasure; if you at your leisure could favour me with a line under Cover to Charles and Richard Selvin at Paris, and at the same time give me any particular commission for yourself you’ll much oblige …7 While we do not know what answer Spence gave to this letter, if any, it is clear from the above excerpts, and from other sources, that Wood did not regard his proposed Essay as a major, serious work of scholarship. Rather, he saw it as ‘a dilettante effort chiefly for his own satisfaction and the entertainment of his friends’.8 Nevertheless, he still sought the encouragement and approval of two learned friends in developing the work. The first was Dawkins, who read and approved the initial version, which was in the form of a letter that Wood had sent him from Rome around 1757 or earlier (Butterworth claims it was composed in Rome ‘almost certainly in 1755’).9 This lengthy letter, entitled ‘On Homer’s Plan of Troy’, is in volume 24 of the Wood collection (see Chapter 2) and a full transcript of it can be found in James Moncur’s unpublished doctoral dissertation.10 An interesting point emerges in the first page of the letter, in which Wood confirms the extent of their (his and Dawkins’s) mutual interest in the subject: ‘I must prevent your expectations of finding much more here than our joynt observations when we read Homer together on the Scamandrian plain’.11 However, Butterworth points out that this letter is ‘entirely misleading in that no details of Trojan geography are discussed at all’.12 The second friend he consulted was John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville (16901763), a statesman with whom he worked closely, and who advised him to ‘publish Weller Singer, Anecdotes, Observations, and Characters, p. 429. Weller Singer, Anecdotes, Observations, and Characters, p. 430. 8 Moncur, The life and work of ‘Palmyra Wood’, p. 212. 9 J. Butterworth, Robert Wood and Troy: a comparative failure, Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, No. 32 (1985), pp. 147-154, at p. 147. 10 Moncur, The life and work of ‘Palmyra Wood’, pp. 99-123. 11 Wood collection No. 24, p. 2. 12 Butterworth, Robert Wood and Troy: a comparative failure, p. 147.

6

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the substance of what [he] had written, changing the epistolary style and form into that of a more regular dissertation; and extending the work, from materials of the same sort (of which [he] laid a specimen before him) into a more general Commentary upon Homer’.13 Wood duly did this and in 1767 printed six copies of a slim volume entitled A Comparative View of the Antient and Present State of the Troade: to Which is Prefixed an Essay on the Original Genius of Homer. The volume was anonymous and did not state the name of the printer. A copy of this version, which is in the British Library, came from the library of Thomas Grenville (1755-1846).14 It is likely that the volume originally belonged to the owner’s father, George Grenville (1712-1770), who was prime minster from 17631765 at the time Wood was active in politics. The volume is in folio size and contains two preliminary pages and 32 pages of text. Curiously, and as pointed out by several commentators, despite the wording of the title, which was to be reversed in the final version, the content relates only to An Essay on the Original Genius of Homer, with no reference to the proposed map. This first version was praised by the antiquary and book collector Revd Charles Godwyn (1701-1770), who observed, in a letter to his friend J. Hutchins (a historian from Dorsetshire), dated 3 June 1767: Mr. Chandler’s companions have brought home some drawings of many antient temples, some of which will be publish’d next winter.15 Mr. Wood will likewise then publish his Map of the country about Troy, and a Dissertation upon it, which I have heard greatly commended.16 However, a year later, Godwyn informed the same friend, Mr Hutchins, that the map had still not appeared: ‘I hear nothing of Mr. Wood’s map, except that he is preparing it for the publick.’17 Two years after the appearance of this version, in 1769, Wood engaged the celebrated printer William Bowyer (1699-1777) to print a further six copies of another private edition of the book, this time with the shorter (and more accurate) title: An Essay on the Original Genius of Homer …. This volume was in quarto format and was 70 pages in length. Judging from the dates of the ensuing correspondence, Wood circulated copies of the volume to his associates around the middle of November. Of the seven original recipients, we know the identity of only two – his friends Sir Horace Walpole and John Pringle (Revd Spence would undoubtedly have Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. viii. R. Wood, A Comparative View of the Antient and Present State of the Troade: to Which is Prefixed and Essay on the Original Genius of Homer (London, 1767), British Library, Ref. G. 3339. 15 The Ionian Antiquities of Chandler and Revett actually came out slightly later, in 1769. 16 Letter from C. Godwyn to J. Hutchins, Balliol College, 3 June 1767, reproduced in J. Nichols, Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, Comprizing Biographical Memoirs of William Bowyer, Printer, F.S.A., and Many of His Learned Friends … Vol. 8 (London, 1814), p. 247. 17 Letter from C. Godwyn to J. Hutchins, Balliol College, 15 August 1768, reproduced in J. Nichols, Literary Anecdotes, Vol. 8, p. 256. 13 14

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been another, had he not died the previous year). Pringle immediately sent a copy of the Essay to a mutual acquaintance, J.D. Michaelis, Professor or Oriental Studies and Librarian in Göttingen, who was so impressed with the work that he published a German translation of it in 1773, two years before the official English version was brought out, and presumably without the knowledge or consent of Wood’s estate. The fascinating and complex history of the Michaelis aspect of the transmission is carefully outlined by David Constantine,18 thus correcting the rather vague and contradictory versions of earlier critics. Moncur, for example, writing in 1928, notes that a copy of the 1679 version ‘found its way into the hands of ’ the professor,19 while J.L. Myres, in 1958, claims that a copy ‘fell into the hands of Heyne at Göttingen in 1770 and delighted him … No doubt it was he who induced the son of a Göttingen colleague, Michaelis, to translate [it] into German in 1773’20 This was the eminent classical scholar Christian Gottlob Heyne (1729-1812). On the other hand, a modern critic cites a letter from Wood to Michaelis, dated 10 April 1770, which states that these private copies were: only intended to be shown to particular friends and only Six Copies were printed in that hasty and cheap manner, lest I should lose the thread of the subject during my attendance of duties upon another kind, which make it absolutely impossible to look into my Journal or papers relative to my travels.21 Yet again, we see evidence of Wood regretting the lack of time he could devote to his favourite subject; and it is clear that he relied very much on his travel manuscripts when composing the work. We also know that Bowyer, with the author’s permission, showed his own copy to a Mr Clarke. It seems likely that this was Samuel Clarke junior (1710-1778), son of the philosopher Samuel Clarke (1675-1729), whose edition of the Iliad is the interleaved copy in the Wood collection (volume 22).22 This Mr Clarke was so busy that he only managed to give it a cursory reading. However, he wrote and thanked his friend for ‘the sight of this curiosity’, which he described as being like ‘an Oriental Novel, wild and entertaining’. While admitting that Wood was ‘certainly a man of genius and diligence, and … possessed of a spirit of enthusiasm’,23 he was not particularly impressed with the dissertation, whose theories he considered to lack evidence. Bowyer either forwarded an anonymous copy of Clarke’s letter to Wood Constantine, In the Footsteps of the Gods, pp. 72-74. Moncur, The Life and work of ‘Palmyra Wood’, p. 104. Myres, Homer and His Critics, p. 71. 21 Spencer, Robert Wood and the problem of Troy, p. 78. This letter is preserved in the University Library at Göttingen. See n. 21. 22 Clarke senior had published the first 12 books of the Iliad in 1729 and, three years after his death (1732), Clarke junior brought out the remaining 12 books, the first four of which had been revised and annotated by his father. 23 Letter from Mr Clarke to W. Bowyer, 18 November 1769, quoted in J. Nichols, Literary Anecdotes, Vol. 3, p. 83. 18 19 20

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or summarised its contents and sent them to him. A day or two later (the letter is undated), Wood wrote back to Bowyer acknowledging receipt of his unidentified friend’s contribution. He declared: I like his manly freedom, especially as I see he speaks as he thinks. If my little farrago of Classical Conjectures sees the light, I shall profit of his animadversions. Upon the whole, I think he is very fair; and if he is not more attached to his old opinions than I am to my new ones, we shall meet in a point.24 Walpole, on the other hand, responded very favourably to the volume, as follows: I am extremely sorry, Sir, not to have been at home when you did me the honour to call; you would have seen how much I am flattered by the particular distinction with which your partiality has favoured me; though my vanity is not so seduced by it as to make me think myself capable of correcting one of the best and purest authors we have ever had. It is only as your admirer, Sir, that I can presume to think myself entitled to a preference in seeing your work before it is made public. I am just going out of town, and with your permission will carry it with me, that I may have time to read it as carefully as I am sure it deserves. If your Homer by a strange accident, or by other avocations, aliquando dormitat, I will take the liberty you allow me, Sir, to give him a little jog, not from self-sufficience,25 but as a proof that I think Mr Wood above flattery, that I never have flattered him.26 Four days later, on his return from Strawberry Hill, Walpole sent Wood a lengthy and detailed letter in which he gave his frank opinion of the volume, including these general points, which acknowledge the genius and originality of his friend’s work: I have read, Sir, with the greatest satisfaction, delight and information the book you was so good to send me; and I wish I could find words that had not been prostituted in compliments to authors, to tell you my real sentiments, without suspicion of flattery… Amongst others, nothing struck me more than that totally new method of criticism, by which you have ascertained Homer’s country, from considering the perspective, and proving that it was his position when he wrote. If that sagacity was happy, the knowledge with which you have illustrated it, is as great as it was necessary.27 Letter from R. Wood to W. Bowyer, London, ‘Thursday night’, 1769, quoted in J. Nichols, Literary Anecdotes, Vol. 3, p. 84. 25 Possibly an allusion to Horace’s Ars Poetica 1, 359. 26 Letter from Sir Horace Walpole to Robert Wood, London, 19 November 1769. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, pp. 175-176. 27 Letter from Sir Horace Walpole to Robert Wood, London, 23 November 1769. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, pp. 176-177. 24

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He then went on to discuss various finer points of the essay and ended by saying how he looked forward to seeing the final work in print: I cannot finish this abstract of my sentiments and content, without expressing my impatience, Sir, to see your larger work and your travels. Such observation and acute penetration must have made remarks that could not properly find a place in your dissertation on Homer… I grow old, and as my taste for poetry abates, the passion for excellent sense increases. You have opened a mine to me, and told me you have more of the ore to burrow. If begging would do, is this an age in which one should not be rich? Pray bestow your charity, for I am not young enough to expect a legacy.28 The reference to Wood’s ‘travels’ is interesting, as it suggests that he may have been contemplating a more general work on his eastern voyage that would incorporate different aspects of his two eastern voyages, apart from his observations on the antiquities of Palmyra and Baalbek and the landscape of Homer’s poetry. Such a suggestion is also made in the posthumous version of the book,29 which is evidence, perhaps, that Wood had discussed the idea with Walpole. As noted above, Godwyn regretted that the first version of the volume did not include the map of Troy. The second version of the work still lacked the muchawaited map, which was only printed in the final edition of 1775 (see below). John Butterworth attributes its prolonged absence to Wood’s reluctance to ‘expose his ideas on the geography of Troy to the criticism of even a few select friends’.30 Such a reluctance for an author to commit himself to print without the approval of his peers was not uncommon, as can be seen from the protracted correspondence between Thomas Shaw and Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) concerning the maps for Shaw’s much-delayed eastern travels.31 However, Wood was now an established and acclaimed author, so his diffidence is hard to fathom. We do not know if Wood, in the early days of his project, was in contact with the respected Scottish classicist Thomas Blackwell (1701-1757), who was famous for developing the historical approach to Homer that replaced the neoclassical criticism of the time.32 However, he was certainly familiar with his first book (1735), and possibly its sequel (1745),33 and referred to the author, albeit in a footnote, as ‘a late ingenious Writer’,34 when discussing the state of learning in Greece and Egypt. Blackwell’s original book on Homer, which was lavishly illustrated with decorative vignettes and tailpieces (see Figure 21) designed by Hubert-François Bourguignon, 28 Letter from Sir Horace Walpole to Robert Wood, London, 23 November 1769. Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Yale Edition, Vol. 41, pp. 179. 29 See Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 156. 30 J. Butterworth, Robert Wood and Troy: a comparative failure, p. 153. 31 See Finnegan, English Explorers in the East, pp. 87-96. 32 See N.R. Grobman, Blackwell’s commentary on the oral nature of epic, Western Folklore, Vol. 38, No. 9 (July 1979), pp. 186-198, at p. 190. 33 T. Blackwell, An Enquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer (London, 1736). Eleven years later, he published his Proofs of the Enquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer (London, 1747). 34 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 117, note a.

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Figure 21: Decorative headpiece, Thomas Blackwell, Enquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer (second edition, 1736) (photo David F. Kane, private collection)

commonly known as Gravelot (1699-1773), and engraved by Gerard van der Gucht (1696/97-1776), sought to answer a question that had hitherto been unsolved: By what Fate or Disposition of things it has happened, that None have equalled [Homer] in Epic-Poetry for two thousand seven hundred Years, the Time since he wrote; nor any, that we know, ever surpassed him before.35

Physical Description and Structure of the Book The final and official version of Wood’s The Original Genius and Writings of Homer was printed posthumously and privately. On his death, in 1771, his widow engaged Jacob Bryant to prepare the previous (1769) version for the press, which was apparently her late husband’s wish. It is clear from correspondence dated 1772 that Bryant was frustrated by this request, as he was very much preoccupied with his own work; and at the same time, he considered the latter part of the book to be defective.36 Bryant’s job involved incorporating the late author’s additions and corrections from the previous version, which Bowyer had made in his own copy, and adding to it the missing section on the ‘Comparative View of the Antient and Present State of the Troade’. The volume was printed in quarto format (c. 29 x 23cm) by H. Hughs, for Thomas Payne and Peter Elmsley (London, 1775) and included a frontispiece and six engraved 35 36

Blackwell, An Enquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer, p. 2. See Spencer, Robert Wood and the problem of Troy, p. 79.

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plates (see below). A pirated Dublin edition was printed the following year (1776) by William Hallhead, who operated a business from 63 Dame Street.37 This was in a smaller format, octavo (21 x 12cm), which explains the difference in the pagination, and contained the map of Troy but none of the other engravings. All quotations from the book in the current volume are taken from the original London edition. The title page bears the full title of the book: An Essay on the Original Genius and Writings of Homer: with a Comparative View of the Ancient and Present State of the Troade. Illustrated with Engravings. By the late ROBERT WOOD, Esq. Author of the Descriptions of Palmyra and Balbec. Although Wood acted as the general editor of Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec, his work on the text of these books could not have been too onerous, as the extent of the first was only around 40 pages and that of the second was a mere 16. However, the text of his third book is far longer, at 342 pages, which may partly help to explain its delayed appearance from the date at which he first decided to publish it (see below). There is also an 11-page preface (numbered pp. v-xv) entitled ‘The Publisher to the Reader’, the publisher being named as Robert Wood. This preface (see below) is followed by ‘Directions to the Binder’ concerning the position of the illustrations. Unlike Wood’s two earlier books, the volume contains a frontispiece, a title page vignette and a decorative tailpiece, the latter two being drawn by William Pars and engraved by Francesco Bartelozzi (1727-1815). However, it has no contents page, conclusion, or index. The main text is divided into two sections, as identified on the title page: the lengthy Essay (pp. 1-303) and the shorter Comparative View (pp. 307-342). These are interspersed with the five illustrations (see below). The Essay is divided into the following subsections: ‘Order and Distribution of the Subject’ (pp. 1-6); ‘Homer’s Country’ (pp. 7-33); ‘Homer’s Travels. And First His Navigation’ (pp. 34-61); ‘Homer’s Winds’ (pp. 62-71); ‘Homer’s Geography and Pope’s Translation’ (pp. 72-92); ‘Description of Pharos and Alexandria’ (pp. 93-115); ‘Homer’s Religion and Mythology’ (pp. 116-143); ‘Homer’s Manners’ (pp. 143-180); ‘Homer an Historian’ (pp. 181-209); ‘Homer’s Chronology’ (pp. 210-236); ‘Homer’s Language and Learning’ (pp. 237-292); and ‘Conclusion’ (pp. 293-303). The Comparative View starts with a short, unnamed introduction (pp. 307-309) and the remainder of the text consists of ‘The Description of the Troade’ (pp. 310-342). Detailed footnotes appear throughout the text.

Publication and Price of the Book The exact date of publication is not known, but it is likely that it was published in October, since the following note is made in the October section of the preface of The Gentleman’s Magazine for 1775: 37 Hallhead was the successor to Mrs Ann Leathley, who in turn had taken over her late husband (Joseph Leathley’s) bookselling and bookbinding business in 1757. Coincidentally, given that Wood had lived in Gibbon’s house, Hallhead was to bring out an edition of his The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire a year later, in 1776.

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood Some learned criticisms of the Works of Gray, and the Original Genius and Writings of Homer, with cursory remarks in a Tour through the northern parts of Europe, are literary compositions that will give pleasure to the learned.38

As with Wood’s earlier books, first editions of this volume are valuable and scarce, which suggests that Mrs Wood arranged a very small print run. We know from an article in The Monthly Review for November 1775 (see below) that the volume was originally available for 16s. However, in contrast with Wood’s other books, this does not seem to have come up much at auction, which is possibly a further indication of the limited number of copies made. Curiously, while it was printed by Thomas Payne, it is not listed in any of his sale catalogues from the eighteenth century. While the prices must be put in context with income levels during the period, and considering inflation, we can see how its value appreciated over time, from the price of a ‘neat’ copy advertised in 1840, at £1, 5s.39

Preface The preface is entitled ‘To the Reader’ and is signed ‘Robert Wood’. The first line assumes that the reader is familiar with the author’s first book and immediately establishes a link with it. It is therefore worth quoting the first section in full: Having, in my Preface to the Ruins of Palmyra, informed the Reader, that one of the objects of our Eastern voyages was to visit one of the most celebrated scenes of ancient story, in order to compare their present appearance with the early classical ideas, we had conceived of them; and particularly, that we proposed to read the Iliad and Odyssey in the countries, where Achilles [Greek hero] fought, where Ulysses [Odysseus] travelled, and where Homer sung; I considered myself in some sort accountable to the public, and my friends, for the result of this part of our scheme: and therefore determined to employ my first leisure in throwing together such observations, as this inquiry had furnished; confining my first Essay of this kind to what concerns the Greek Poet.40 The author’s reference to ‘throwing together such observations’ may be false modesty for his efforts; or it may reflect his genuine reluctance to commit his work to print, which has already been observed. He continues by outlining the difficulties and embarrassment he had experienced in conveying his ideas about Homer to others, in order to do the poet justice; and 38 S. Urban, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, Vol. 45. For the Year M.DCCLXXV (London, 1775), p. iv. 39 T. Payne, A Catalogue of Books in Various Languages, Lot 6885, p. 368. 40 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. v.

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he notes that the work necessitated a consideration of the times in which the poet lived. This review revealed that: the nearer we approach his country and age, the more we find him accurate in his pictures of nature, and that every species of this extensive imitation furnishes the greatest treasure of original truth to be found in any poet, antient or modern.41 However, in order to establish the validity of his idea, Wood confirms that many years earlier, it had received the approval of his great friend Dawkins, as well as Lord Granville, the latter of whom was ‘very partial to this subject’,42 and who frequently discussed the matter with him. As noted above, Lord Granville had suggested that Wood should publish the substance of what he had already written, changing the epistolary format into the style of a dissertation, and extending it to a more general commentary on Homer. However, Wood confirms, in his preface, that he decided not to follow the second part of his lordship’s advice, preferring to wait and see how the present essay was received by the public and, if necessary, further developing it along these lines at some future point. This display of diffidence in his writing is typical of Wood’s character and illustrates that he regarded this as a work in progress. He then sets out his rationale and method for the book, confirming: At present we shall confine our inquiry to Homer’s Mimetic Powers; for, whether we consider him as Geographer, Traveller, Historian, or Chronologer, whether his Religion and Mythology, his Manners and Customs, or his Language and Learning, are before us; in these several views his Imitation alone is the great object of our attention. We shall admit his ancient title of Philosopher only as he is a Painter. Nor does it come within our plan to examine his pictures, except so far, as their truth and originality are concerned.43 Wood tries to anticipate potential objections from his detractors (possibly gauged from the less enthusiastic responses to earlier versions of his book) and notes that the best way of dealing with the subject is to use details from the Odyssey as evidence for the life and times of the poet. There follows a discussion of how the Iliad has, throughout history, been judged to be superior to the Odyssey, and Wood concludes by expressing his suspicion that the latter poem: considered in its interesting character, as a picture of life, must have been most generally relished, by the age and country, to which it was addressed; and that if it has contributed less to the Author’s fame in later times, it is Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. vi. Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. vii. 43 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. viii-ix. 41 42

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood because the peculiar precision, and closeness of its minute representation, as well as in manners, as landscape, must find fewer modern judges, in proportion to our ignorance of the private characters, familiar occurrences, and domestic scenery of the heroic ages: while the Iliad, addressing itself more universally to the passions, in animated pictures of human nature, appeals more forcibly to those feelings, which are common to every age and country.44

As though to emphasise the temporary nature of his book, which he feels will undoubtedly need further work, Wood moves towards the close of the preface by referring to it as an ‘experiment’ and by acknowledging that if he has made an error of judgement by mistaking a fondness of his subject for a knowledge of it, he will stand corrected and not bother the public with it any further. He hopes that his partiality to those romantic scenes of heroic action will meet with some indulgence and excuse his enthusiasm, ‘where Homer being [his] guide, and Bouverie and Dawkins [his] fellow-travellers, the beauties of the first of the poets were enjoyed by the best of friends’.45 Finally, he ends the preface with a very strong declaration of his gratitude to Dawkins and Bouverie, both deceased. Having expressed his regret that he was unable to share with them his final thoughts on the book before going to press, he consoles himself with the knowledge that, even if he should fail to answer the expectations of public curiosity, he will at least satisfy the demands of private friendship: acting as the only survivor and trustee for the literary concerns of my late fellow-travellers, I am, to the best of my judgement, carrying into execution the purpose of men, for whose memory I shall ever retain the greatest veneration. And though I may do injustice to the honest feelings, which urge me to this pious task, by mixing an air of compliment in the act of duty, yet I must not disown a private, perhaps idle consolation, which, if it be vanity, to indulge, it would be ingratitude to suppress, viz. that as long as my imperfect descriptions shall preserve from oblivion the present state of the Troade, and the remains of Balbeck and Palmyra, so long will it be known that DAWKINS and BOUVERIE were my friends.46

Immediate Reception of the Book As this volume had been so long in coming, and Wood’s fame was even more marked after his death than in his lifetime, the reviewers were quick to comment on it in

Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. xii. Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. xiv. 46 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. xv. 44 45

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print. A ten-page review article of the book appeared in The Monthly Review for November 1775 (Article 1),47 which starts as follows: It is well known … that Aeschines took a journey to Troy, to read Homer on the scene of his immortal Iliad. The same enthusiasm led Mr. Wood and his companions, Messrs. Dawkins and Bouverie, to the banks of the Scamander; a pursuit which may possibly appear fantastic to those who never felt the powerful influences which the veneration of antient genius leaves upon select minds. That veneration is respectable always, because [it is] almost always favourable to the interest of letters. Every new votary may produce some illustration or discovery, which accidental advantages, or the ardour of investigation, or, possibly, a congeniality of soul, may strike out. Mr. Wood had many acquired advantages; he had, moreover, taste, sensibility, and enthusiasm. His reputation with respect to those kinds of erudition, so amply displayed in the ruins of Palmyra and Balbec, as well as in the present Essay, will invite the attention of persons of that turn. His finer sentiments will render his memory dear to those whom Nature has favoured with the happiness of loving and enjoying the Muses.48 The reviewer goes through the various sections of the book, which he describes as the author’s ‘ingenious conjectures and observations’.49 The article includes extensive quotations of Wood’s text, as well as footnotes; and while the reviewer is largely positive about the book, referring to some sections as abounding with ‘erudition and curious reflections’, and with ‘a variety of ingenious remarks and disquisitions’,50 he does assert that the ‘Author’s predilection in favour of the originality of the Grecian literature’51 lacks evidence. The piece ends on a curiously negative note, regarding Wood’s lack of expertise in some areas and, in particular, his production of the long-awaited map of the Troad: We do not mean, however, by this justly merited commendation, to flatter the memory of Mr. Wood. We do not mean to represent him as a man of the most profound learning. He was, rather, what his friends usually styled him, A GENTLEMANLY SCHOLAR: with taste enough to be fond of some of the polite arts in which he was not deeply conversant; particularly drawing, painting, sculpture, and architecture. – It might seem ungenerous to censure with severity the posthumous work of a gentleman who has risen to high reputation in the republic of letters, by the elegance and splendor of his publications. It must not, however, pass unobserved, that his Map of the Troade is a very defective performance. An expert draughtsman seems, The Monthly Review; July 1775, to January 1776, pp. 369-379. The Monthly Review; July 1775, to January 1776, p. 369. 49 The Monthly Review; July 1775, to January 1776, p. 370. 50 The Monthly Review; July 1775, to January 1776, p. 379. 51 The Monthly Review; July 1775, to January 1776, p. 376. 47 48

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood indeed, to have sketched a view on the spot, and to have flattered himself that he was able to exhibit a plan of the country; but, among other defects, it is remarkable that his Simois and Scamander disagree with Strabo: it is to be noted, too, that even in Strabo’s time, and, we believe, for many ages before, no diligence could discover any remains of old Troy.52

It should be noted that the arguments of the Greek geographer, philosopher and historian Strabo (63 BC-23 AD), who came from Asia Minor, go back to Demetrius of Scepsis (b. 205 BC) and have remained a persistent problem.53 The review ends on a further negative note, regarding ‘trivial mistakes’ found by the reader. The example of the ‘slip’ he gives, and which he recommends should be rectified in the second edition that was never to materialise, rather casts doubt on ‘the abilities of the learned commentator’,54 that is, Wood. The Gentleman’s Magazine for 1776 also carried a letter, from someone signing himself as ‘Fidus’, entitled ‘Homer’s Geography Examined’.55 This is not so much a review as a critique on Wood’s contribution to the scholarly dispute concerning the distance at which Homer places the island of Pharos from Egypt, or rather, the Nile, namely, about 150 miles from the shore (see below for a further discussion of this). Fidus invites the reader interested in the dispute to ‘consult one of the best and ablest of poet’s friends, the late excellent Mr. Wood’ – that ‘learned and elegant writer’, who believes that this is the true distance, ‘on account of the constant accession which the mud of the Nile makes to the continent.’ 56 The author of the letter continues: ‘And this increase of the Delta, he asserts … is so obvious and certain, that no traveller, who has been on the spot, has ever denied, or can even doubt of the fact’, and concludes: ‘It is not my intention to enquire whether his vindication of Homer’s geographical reputation in this instance is satisfactory or not. Judicet lector eruditus.’57 Fidus then makes a further observation on Wood’s book, in terms of chronological accuracy whereby, among other things, his assessment of Homer’s dates is very different from that of other scholars.58 For example, while it has been commonly agreed that Menelaus (king of Sparta and husband of the beautiful Helen, whose abduction by the Trojan Prince Paris sparked off the Trojan War) lived about 1180, Wood, who is inclined toward the Newtonian Chronology, brings his voyage at around 280 years ‘forwarder’, which poses difficulties. On the same subject, he compares Wood’s views with those of Mr Bryant’s ‘System’ – the same Bryant who The Monthly Review; July 1775, to January 1776, p. 379. See W. Leaf, Strabo and Demetrios of Skepsis, The Annual of the British School of Athens, Vol. 22 (19161919/1917-1918), pp. 23-47. 54 The Monthly Review; July 1775, to January 1776, p. 379. 55 S. Urban, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, Vol. 46. For the Year M.DCCLXXVI (London, 1776), pp. 167-168. 56 The Gentleman’s Magazine, 1776, p. 167. 57 The Gentleman’s Magazine, 1776, p. 167. 58 The chronological problems of the dates of Homer and the Trojan War are mentioned below. 52 53

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had been employed by Mrs Wood to edit the posthumous book.59 He then makes the point that when critics disagree on minor points it does not really matter; but: when two gentlemen of the very first rank in the republic of letters, adopt, each of them, an hypothesis diametrically opposite to the other, in writings – almost of the same date, and which bid fair to be transmitted to the latest posterity; every candid and inquisitive reader must surely be desirous of knowing which of them is right; or whether he himself has not mistaken their reasoning; and the error, after all, may not lie in his own misconceptions.60 Thus, the reader is invited to judge for himself on these and other matters discussed in Wood’s book.

Narrative The Essay As noted above, the first section of the book, the Essay, is divided into 12 parts or chapters. These are discussed in order, below. First, however, it is necessary to briefly consider the subject of the ‘Homeric Question’. This began in a critical sense in 1795, with the publication of the Prolegomena ad Homerum by the German classicist Friedrich August Wolf (17591824).61 However, certain theories (that alphabet writing was unknown to Homer, and that the Iliad and Odyssey owed their survival to oral transmission) had already been proposed by Wood almost 30 years earlier, in the original version of his Essay. While some scholars, such as Simon Dentith, rightly acknowledge that he set this in train,62 others (see below) have overlooked his contribution to the debate. According to Myres, the Homeric Question stands ‘with the other great questions of literature and of history, and with the greater questions of the other sciences, outside the limit of finality’.63 In his Penrose Lecture, Martin West, who incidentally fails to mention Robert Wood at all, presents a series of arguments to illustrate the ‘set of enigmas that constitute the Homeric Question’,64 and summarises these enigmas as follows: Who was Homer, if there was a Homer? When and where did he live? Did one poet produce both epics, or was there a different poet for each? Or was there This must refer to Bryant’s A New System, or, an Analysis of Ancient Mythology (London, 1775). However, while Wood may have been familiar with Bryant’s theories, he could not have read the printed version of the book, as he died four years before it was published. 60 The Gentleman’s Magazine, 1776, p. 168. 61 The full title of this volume, which was published in Halle, is given in the Bibliography. 62 See S. Dentith, Epic and Empire in Nineteenth-Century Britain (Cambridge, 2009), especially Chapter 1 (Homer, Ossian and Modernity), pp. 16-25. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511484773 63 Myres, Homer and His Critics, p. 9. 64 M. West, The Homeric question today, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 155, No. 4 (2011), pp. 383-393, at p. 393. 59

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood in each case a succession of poets, or a syndicate of poets and redactors? Are the Iliad and Odyssey unitary works of art, or the outcome of more complex or haphazard processes?65

These questions have long exercised the minds of scholars and travellers (both ancient and modern), with the most difficult examples being posed as ‘problems’ leading to heated literary debates. West concludes, in his lecture, that while all the arguments have their limitations, and none has proved unprofitable, ‘we are learning to make them work together … [and] we are getting warmer’.66 In answer to question of the poet’s identity, George L. Huxley reminds us that Homer the man remains elusive and anonymous, and deliberately refrains from talking about himself, ‘in order not to offend the Muse who inspired him to tell of the anger of Achilles and the endurance of Odysseus’. This ‘professional modesty’ ensures that we can say little about him.67 Classical scholars differ on their view of Wood’s most important contribution to this debate. To cite two Irish scholars of Homer, Stanford believes that the author’s chief personal contribution to classical archaeology was his Comparative View (the second part of his posthumous book), which ‘distinguished itself from previous descriptions of the Troad by its concentration on a fundamental problem which still strongly concerns scholars – what is the relationship between the Homeric poems and actual history and geography?’68 Luce, however, maintains that Wood’s major contribution stemmed from his firm grasp of the oral nature of Homeric Poetry – something we take for granted today, but which was then a powerfully innovating concept.69 What differentiated Wood from many others interested in this subject was that he had made two visits to the Homeric sites with Homer and the works of the ancient geographers in his hand and made first-hand comparisons between what the poet described and what he himself saw. As observed by Kirsti Simonsuuri, in doing so, he: soon arrived at a position where he was led to defend Homer’s veracity concerning geographical details and descriptions of natural phenomena, and to refute the arguments of critics … who had belittled Homer’s learning. He became convinced of the factual truth of the Homeric epics, and convinced above all that Homer’s metaphors and similes … could be used to build up a [realistic] picture of the poet’s experience.70

West, The Homeric question today, pp. 383-384. West, The Homeric question today, pp. 383-384. 67 G.L. Huxley, Homer’s perceptions of his Ionian circumstances, The Maynooth Review / Revieú Mhá Nuad, Vol. 3, No. 1 (June 1977), pp. 73-84 at pp. 73-74. 68 Stanford, Ireland and the Classical Tradition, p. 136. 69 Luce, Robert Wood and Homer, p. 81. 70 Simonsuuri, Homer’s Original Genius, p. 137. 65 66

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Order and Distribution of the Subject This short section sets the context for Wood’s idea of visiting Troy to read Homer, by noting that this was not a new phenomenon, but that even as far back as the 4th century BC, the orator Aeschines had amused himself, during his banishment in Rhodes, by making an excursion, ‘in order to examine that celebrated spot, with the Iliad in his hand’.71 In a footnote, however, Wood makes it clear that he does not necessarily vouch for the authenticity of the letters of Aeschines in which this story is contained.72 The section also usefully maps out the structure of the book, concluding that the author shall confine himself, under the various headings, to his subject, in order to ‘throw light upon [Homer’s] ORIGINAL GENIUS’.73 Homer’s Country In the opening sentence of this chapter, Wood refers to ‘that old subject of controversy, the Place of Homer’s Birth and Education’, and suggests that the poet was ‘an Asiatic, probably an Ionian or Aeolian, and perhaps of Chios or Smyrna’.74 However, he ends by inviting future travellers to carefully examine this question and judge for themselves. To illustrate his ‘conjectures’, and clearly influenced by Spence, he cites various passages (especially similes) from Homer, whom he likens to a painter and describes as a curious observer of nature. He refers to his own observations of the present landscape, as well as modern customs and practices (both of the local sand the Franks) in the region. It is in this early chapter that Wood first credits Homer ‘with the probable tradition of the wandering Bard’s chanting his compositions to his countrymen, in the manner practised today in the East’.75 This theory was famously adopted and proved by the American classicist Milman Parry (1902-1935). In his recent biography of this brilliant but short-lived scholar, Robert Kanigel observes that he concluded, in his master’s degree from Berkeley, that the Homeric poems ‘grew out of a tradition that placed scant premium on invention or originality’ and that the poet ‘was bent instead on telling old stories in the most noble, affecting—and familiar—way’.76 In other words, Homer’s style was typical of oral poetry. In his doctorate from the Sorbonne, Parry then went on to immerse himself in the real, oral epic tradition of the poetic communities of the Slavs. One result of this novel study was 700,000 lines of Slavic song, recorded and stored on more than 3000 discs, in what is now the Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature at the Widener Library 71 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 2. This point, as already observed, was raised by the author of the article in the Monthly Review, July 1775, to January 1776, p. 369 72 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 2, note a. See Z. Guo, The ostensible author of PS. Aeschines Letter 10 reconsidered, Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 139 (2019), pp. 210-221. 73 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 6. 74 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 7. 75 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, pp. 21-22. 76 See R. Kanigel, Hearing Homer’s Song: The Brief Life and Big Idea of Milman Parry (New York, 2021), p. 98. Incidentally, there is no mention of Robert Wood in this biography.

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at Harvard.77 Curiously, various examples of Parry’s extensive published work fail to mention the work of Robert Wood;78 and the same is true of other modern studies on the oral nature of Homeric poetry, which ignore the contribution of the originator of the idea.79 The subject of Homeric geography is very much reflected in one of Wood’s manuscripts. On page 142 of volume 23 of the Wood collection, following two pages of scored out text, he states: ‘Such passages in Homer as have any reference to Geography are’; and then goes through the first 11 books of the Iliad, picking out lines that relate to the landscape, the sea and journeys taken by the characters, as well as noting observations made in the scholia (notes) in the Greek text, and pointing out ‘blunders’ that Pope is guilty of in his translation, when, for example, he has Ulysses launching his ship in the morning, ‘tho’ he had told you he lay at Anchor the night before’.80 After this section of notes, which extends from pages 142-156, is an interesting analysis of Homer’s ability to translate his knowledge of his environs into his poetry (see pp. 57-61 of the manuscript source). Homer’s Travels. And First His Navigation In this chapter, Wood follows Homer abroad – on his travels – and observes that in a preliterate age, the poet ‘had only the great book of Nature to peruse, and was original from necessity, as well as by genius’.81 He points out the poet’s obvious familiarity with the various places he describes outside his own environment, including Egypt, Arabia and Libya, and notes that he was ‘no stranger to Judea and its inhabitants’.82 Interestingly, and typical of his semi-travelogue style, Wood uses an example of a dilemma he faced during his travels to illustrate one faced by Homer’s characters, on the matter of which route they should take on their return to Greece. This anecdote (pp. 39-42) is useful, as it gives the name and nature of the ship in which he travelled (the HMS Chatham), in 1742, and confirms that the pilot was Greek. Wood notes that the Homeric travellers (Menelaus; Nestor, king of Pylos; and Diomedes, the commander of 80 Argive ships and one of the most respected leaders in the Trojan War) had taken the sea route, despite its dangers, while his own crew chose it because it was the most safe, which ‘constitutes one of the great differences between ancient and modern navigation’.83 He then further pursues this idea by reproducing See N. Liney, The last words of Milman Parry, The Oxonian Review, Vol. 5 (2020), p. 3. Available at: https:// oxonianreview.com/articles/the-last-words-of-milman-parry 78 See, for example, M. Parry, Studies in the epic technique of verse-making. I. Homer and Homeric style, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 41 (1930), pp. 73-174 and M. Parry, Studies in the epic technique of verse-making. II. The Homeric language as the language of an oral poetry, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 43 (1932), pp. 1-50. 79 For example, A.B. Lord, Homer as oral poet, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 72 (1968), pp. 1-46 and E.J. Bakker, Poetry in Speech: Orality and Homeric Discourse (2018, New York) and 80 See Wood collection No. 23, pp. 142ff. 81 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 35. 82 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 50. 83 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 41. 77

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the Homeric passage (a journal of four days’ navigation) stripped of its ‘poetical dress’,84 and declaring that ‘the circumstances of time and distance correspond so exactly with one another, and bore so scrupulous an examination, when [they] made the same voyage’, that he will not trouble the reader with any further commentary on it by Madame Dacier and others, who attended more to ‘grammatical criticism’ than to ‘the genius and character of the Poet, and of the age when he wrote’.85 Wood does not confine his discussion to Homer: he also uses similar arguments for Virgil’s knowledge (or otherwise) of the differences between the Italian and Dalmatian coasts of the Adriatic (see pp. 55-61), as can be seen in Book 1 of the Aeneid . As is well known, this epic poem was written between 29 and 19 BC and tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy where he became the ancestor of the Romans. There are several editions of Virgil in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772), as well as Comte de Caylus’ Tableaux Tirés de l’Iliade, de l’Odyssée d’Homere et de l’Eneide de Virgile ... (1757), Lot 247 and Paolo Beni’s Comparison of Homer, Virgil and Torquata (Padua 1607), Lot 743. Homer’s Winds This chapter relates to the way in which Homer depicted and, in particular, personified the winds in his poetry – something in which the poet influenced later writers and artists, especially in the depiction of Boreas and Zephyrus: Their air and figure are familiar to us in the machinery of modern Poetry, as well as in the works of Painters and Sculptors, who give the character of harsh and aged severity to one, and that of youthful beauty and gentleness to the other; while Eurus and Notus, especially the latter, appear so seldom in a human shape, and are so imperfectly described, that we have no determinate idea of their dress or persons.86 Wood then discusses the Tower of the Winds in the Roman Agora in Athens. This unique building was already known to the British public from engravings both of the structure and the reliefs found in the works of Richard Pococke (1745),87 and in the following decade, Richard Dalton (1715-1791).88 The final three pages of the chapter (pp. 69-71) comprise a comparison of Homer and Virgil as navigators.

Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 42. Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 46. It should be noted here that Sappho presented a different version of this story, whereby the travellers returned via Lesbos. See D.L. Page, Sappho and Alcaeus: An Introduction to the Study of Ancient Lesbian Poetry, Vol. 10 (Oxford, 1955), pp. 59-62. 86 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, pp. 67-68. 87 Two plates (75-76) from volume 2 of A Description of the East, depicting a view and a section of the tower. 88 Four plates from Dalton’s Antiquities and Views and Greece and Egypt (London, 1751-1752), depicting the tower, a section of the tower and two basso reliefs from the frieze. 84 85

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Wood begins this chapter by stating the limitations of his book and admitting that a thorough examination of Homer’s geographical accuracy would require a much more extensive work than possible in the present Essay, a map of his movements alone being likely to take an entire volume to do it justice. He then declares how fortunate it is that Homer escaped the hands of the ‘Lawyers’ and ‘Grammarians’, and that: considering how cruelly both his compositions and the countries they describe have been tortured by barbarous treatment of various kinds, and the changes they have undergone in so great a length of time, his [Homer’s] descriptions correspond more with present appearances than could reasonably be expected.89 Following this, he lists the features that can still be seen in the places described by Homer, and which he amused himself in detecting, when enjoying ‘Homer and Strabo’s company on the spot’.90 These are the features that are noted in his travel manuscripts. However, the real purpose of the chapter is to ‘raise the attention of future Commentators and Translators’ to the matter in hand, and in doing so, to use the English translation of Alexander Pope – the only translator, in his view, who has ‘kept alive that divine spirit of the Poet, which has almost expired in other hands’, but who has failed to reflect the ‘manners and characters of Homer’s age, or the landscape and geography of his country’.91 By rendering the speech modern, instead of retaining the archaic style of language, and by removing virtually every descriptive epithet, Pope has succeeded in producing ‘a new map of his own’, and losing much of the original. Wood gives numerous examples of this regrettable fact, whereby Homeric commentators and translators have lost sight of the original and been inconsistent ‘not only with truth, but with themselves’.92 As already noted, there is no edition of Pope in Wood’s Library Sale Catalogue (1772), which suggests that his wife may have excluded it from the sale. Having dispensed with this aspect of Pope’s translation, Wood moves on to discuss the inaccuracies of the map of Troy affixed to it. He notes, in particular, the ‘capital’ error of discharging the Scamander into the Aegean Sea, instead of the Hellespont, which is sees as ‘a striking specimen of the careless and superficial manner in which this matter has been treated’.93 He concludes by making excuses for Pope, who must surely have ‘trusted this inferior part of his work to unskilful or negligent hands’: those of the draughtsmen, the designer and, more particularly, the Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, pp. 74-75. Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 76. 91 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 78. 92 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 84. 93 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 87. 89 90

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engraver, who reversed the drawing from which it was engraved and thus changed the respective situation of all the parts from left to right, ‘so that the Sigeum stands where the Rhoeteum should be, and the Scamander runs on that side of Troy which belongs to the Simois’.94 The Trojan maps of Wood and Pope attracted the attention of the French academic Jean-Baptiste Le Chevalier (also spelt LeChevalier), who had visited the Plain of Troy several times and conducted an accurate survey of the site at the behest of the French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Choiseul-Gouffier. During a sixmonth sojourn in Edinburgh, Le Chevalier discussed his travels with local scholars and produced a memoir that he read, in French, to members of the Royal Society of Edinburgh over the course of two days, in the spring of 1791. The text of the memoir was edited and translated into English by the Scottish scholar and founder member of the Society, Andrew Dalzel (1742-1786), and published in the same year. Chapters 9 and 10 of the publication are entitled ‘An Examination of Pope’s Map of the Plain of Troy’ and ‘Examination of Mr. Wood’s Map’, respectively; and they contain reproductions of the maps of both authors.95 Le Chevalier admits that he was intrigued by the ‘asperity with which MR. WOOD … censured’ Pope’s map, and that this had excited his curiosity to compare it with his own.96 While he may secretly have hoped to defend Pope’s attempt, he was forced to point out its many errors and imperfections, confessing that though he may have been ‘an eminent poet’, he was ‘an indifferent geographer’.97 Description of Pharos and Alexandria This chapter relates to what was a longstanding controversy, dating back to the times of the Ptolemies and Caesars, regarding the distance from Pharos to Egypt, as represented in the Odyssey.98 Menelaus, when relating his voyage to Telemachus (the son of Odysseus and Penelope), claimed that it was a day’s sail, but it was well known that this island was less than a mile from Alexandria. However, Wood, who had made this journey twice, with the Odyssey in his hands, was satisfied that Homer’s account was correct and that the problem lay in the fact that the passage had been misunderstood by the commentators and translators, who took Homer’s use of the word ‘Aegyptus’ to be the name of the country rather than the name of the river. To quote the disputed passage from Homer (Odyssey, iv, 351-360): It happened in Egypt. I had been anxious for some time to get home, but the gods kept me dawdling there, for I had omitted to make them the correct offerings, and they never allow one to forget their rules. There is an island Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, pp. 88-89. See Le Chevalier, Description of the Plain of Troy: with a Map of That Region, Delineated from an Actual Survey, trans. A. Dalzel (Edinburgh, 1791). 96 Le Chevalier, Description of the Plain of Troy, p. 69. 97 Le Chevalier, Description of the Plain of Troy, p. 71. 98 Homer, Odyssey iv. 354. This has already been mentioned in the context of a review appearing in the Gentleman’s Magazine (1776). See above. 94 95

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood called Pharos in the rolling seas off the mouth of the Nile, a day’s sail out for a well-found vessel with a roaring wind astern.99

This matter was something that Wood had clearly considered on his first eastern voyage, as he refers to it in a manuscript source from this period (1742-1743), when he says: It will very much encrease the pleasure you have in seeing Egypt if you make yourself acquainted with what accounts we have of that country, from the Antients, particularly Herodotus. Some of the most judicious observations of our Voyage writers are only repetitions of what ye will find in […] such as the acquisition of land made by the mud brought down by the Nile, this addition of land’s [sic] preventing the Nile to cover the Country as formerly, the ground, being so low as to be perceiv’d but at a small distance at Sea; mud of the Nile found at a great distance by [landing?] … the danger there is of the Country losing in time the benefit of the Nile …100 For the remainder of the chapter in his printed book, Wood shows how generations of scholars have denied or missed the point that the coast of Egypt, which now projects so far, formed a deep bay in Homer’s time, rendering a short journey long and difficult. In this way, he is satisfied that his own tale: may justify Homer’s account of the length and danger of Menelaus’s voyage; and vindicate him [Homer] from the charge of ignorance on this head, under which he has so long laboured.101 Homer’s Religion and Mythology As a prelude to the theory that Homer was supposed to have brought his learning from Egypt, Wood starts by arguing that the long-held belief in the knowledge and wisdom of the ancient Egyptians is without foundation, particularly when considering their taste and genius in learning and the arts. He dismisses the importance of hieroglyphics in a single paragraph and declares that architecture, sculpture, and painting owe little to Egypt: But though we are apt to trace everything back to Egypt, I believe, in those arts, the Greeks are entirely original, and took their ideas from nature alone.102 While admitting that Egypt produced some ‘stupendous and spectacular’ public works, Wood declares they are ‘most absurd and unmeaning’.103 We know from his E.V. Rieu (transl.), The Illustrated Odyssey (London, 1988), p. 59. Wood collection No. 23, pp. 112-113. 101 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 115. 102 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 120. 103 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 120. 99

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manuscript sources that he examined the pyramids in great detail,104 and therefore clearly felt qualified to comment on these and other edifices he includes in this category: obelisks, labyrinths and artificial lakes, ‘which are without art, elegance, or public utility’.105 He then ridicules the reputation for Egyptian knowledge, during the period, when the Greeks travelled to Egypt to the supposed School of Science and describes the sources for this as obscure and suspicious. He even finds scant evidence of Egyptian taste and learning from the period when the country was conquered by the Greeks, claiming that anything of merit was of Greek origin. Applying the same theory to the Roman period, he concludes: ‘Egypt, though civilized, when Greece was in a state of barbarity, never got beyond mediocrity, either in the arts of peace or war’.106 Wood then looks for signs of imitation in Homer’s religion (which he regards as one of common sense rather than mystery) and mythology (in which he detects ‘some original strokes of the Painter and of his country’),107 to prove that ‘he drew both systems from an accurate and comprehensive observation of Nature, under the direction of a fine imagination, and a sound understanding’.108 He believes that Homer’s ‘Heathen gods’ were not his own invention, but were embellishments of the popular creed of the time, ‘strongly grafted upon vulgar traditional superstitions’ of his country.109 However, he admits that the ‘portraits’ were his own. For the remainder of the chapter, Wood gives examples from his reading of Homer, as well as from his attempts to ‘follow the steps of these poetical journies’110 during his own travels, to prove that the places in which these divine beings are depicted are based on real locations: If we form to ourselves a just idea of the respective situation, distance, and perspective, of Olympus, Ida, the Grecian camp, &c. we shall find Homer’s celestial geography (if I may so call it) so happily connected with his Map of Troy, that the scene is shifted from one to the other naturally.111 As with his earlier chapters, Wood then extends his discussion to Virgil, who ‘had many obligations to Homer’,112 and shows how the Roman poet had difficulties, hitherto unobserved, ‘in adapting the beauties of the Iliad and Odyssey to a later age and a different meridian’.113 As already noted, his Library Sale Catalogue (1772) contains two French titles: Beni (1607) and Caylus (1757), which would undoubtedly have informed his work. See, for example, Wood collection No 23, pp. 115-117. Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 120. 106 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 124. 107 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 127. 108 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, pp. 125-126. 109 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 128. 110 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 135. 111 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 132. 112 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 140. 113 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 140. 104 105

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This chapter concerns the author’s attempt to prove a resemblance between the manners and customs of the present population of the east and those depicted in Homeric poetry. This subject had already become a matter for controversy among certain French scholars, who seemed to be ‘offended at certain pictures of primitive simplicity’.114 Wood begins by presenting a lengthy sketch, drawn from his personal experience, of the interior of Arabia – a region which has ‘recovered its pristine inhabitants, with their customs, manners, language, and what is more extraordinary, their traditions’.115 He then gives a character analysis of the Arab, whose life is ‘strangely divided between deeds of cruelty, violence, and injustice, on the one hand; and the most generous acts of humanity on the other’.116 This leads to a brief account of the sacred writers, in order to briefly compare the ‘Heroic, Patriarchal, and Bedouin manners’, which should properly be extended in ‘the journal of [his] Eastern travels’.117 The last point is of particular interest, as it further suggests that Wood intended to bring out a book on his travels, possibly along the lines of his contemporaries Pococke and Perry. Using examples from real life and from Homer (and occasionally Virgil), Wood then illustrates a series of six reactions he had himself, when confronted by certain situations in the east, and which are generally shared by any traveller in that region: (1) surprise at the extent of dissimulation and diffidence; (2) shock at the scenes of cruelty, etc; (3) delight over the general spirit of hospitality; (4) regret at the loss of female society; (5) distress at the lowliest of jobs undertaken by those of high rank; and (6) incredulity over what passes, in the east, for wit and humour. Homer an Historian The chapter starts with Wood’s assertion that Homer is the ‘Father of History’, without whom we could form no just ideas of the state and true character of primitive society; and his aim to show that Homer was a ‘faithful Historian, because he was a correct Painter’.118 The poet’s depiction of the Trojan War, according to Wood, was based on ‘ocular examination’ of the scene and the prevailing traditions regarding the action. Furthermore, the fact that he lived in the neighbourhood of Troy allowed him to be thoroughly acquainted with that spot and to collect accounts of the war, possibly from those who were eyewitnesses to the siege. Wood suggests that Homer was the main source for other Greek (and Roman) authors (historians, playwrights, geographers, poets and mythologists) who wrote about Troy but had never been there; and furthermore, took liberties in their presentation of the subject. Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 144. Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 149. 116 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 151. 117 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 156. 118 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 181. 114 115

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Next, Wood divides his subject into three periods: (1) the period before the departure of the Greeks for Aulis; (2) the period involving the siege, ending up with the sacking of Troy; and (3) the period to follow, ending up with Homer’s history of his own times. He then dispels a myth established by Virgil that Phrygia and Troy were the same place, when they were distinct countries governed by princes independent of each other and using different languages; and finally, he elaborates on the subject, with particular reference to Roman epic. Homer’s Chronology Wood starts this chapter by lamenting the fact that ancient and modern chronologists have neglected to consult Homer when drawing up their chronologies of ancient Greece. He particularly regrets the fact that Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727), ‘the ornament of our country and of this age’,119 failed to do this, and lists the benefits that would have accrued had he done so. Next, Wood considers the question of Homer’s time. He suggests that the poet was born not long after the siege of Troy, having finished both his poems about half a century after the ‘town’ was taken. This means he would have heard the tales of the war from the old men who had been engaged in it and would have seen their greatgrandchildren born – ‘which made the fourth generation from Aeneas’.120 He gives what he regards as compelling evidence for suggesting this date, particularly the poet’s attention to detail, which could only have come from someone who had either been present at the events or at least taken his information from eye-witnesses. He disputes the common view that Homer and the Spartan lawgiver Lycurgus (800-730 BC) can have been contemporaries and asserts that the life of Homer presented in Herodotus (484-425 BC), who was born in the poet’s neighbourhood, is accurate and true – a fact disputed by commentators and translators such as Pope and his friend the Anglo-Irish clergyman and poet Archdeacon Thomas Parnell (1679-1718), who helped him to translate the Iliad.121 However, Wood is mistaken in supposing that the Pseudo-Herodotean Life of Homer is in fact Herodotus.122 Wood further states: if we examine the Iliad, as a journal of the siege of Troy, stripped of its poetical embellishments, we shall find it, in general, a consistent narrative of events, related according to the circumstances of time and place, when and where they happened: our map of Troy is proposed as the truest test of this matter.123 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 214. Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 216. 121 For details of Parnell’s life and works, see Marsh’s Library website. Available at: https://www. marshlibrary.ie/catalogue/Author/ Home?author=Parnell%2C+Thomas%2C+1679-1718 122 See N.B. Kirkland, Herodotus and Pseudo-Herodotus in the Vita Herodotea, Transactions of the American Philological Association, Vol. 128, No. 2 (2018), pp. 299-329. 123 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 223. 119 120

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In Wood’s view, the French critic René Le Bossu (1631-1680), Alexander Pope and Madame Dacier are incorrect in their assessment of Homer’s time, and no writer apart from Strabo has ever minutely examined or properly understood his scene of action, which involves an appreciation of matters such as time (night and day) and the seasons. He then compares how the matter of chronology is treated by the Greek and Roman poets. He admits that there is a difficulty in the history of Aeneas (a major defect being ‘a want of a distinct Chronology’124 in the account of his voyages) and an anachronism in the lifetime of Dido (legendary foundress and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage); and concludes that there is more historical veracity in the narrative of Homer than in Virgil. Wood continues with his comparison between the two poets and discusses the much-debated subject of their motives and concludes by rejecting the commonly held view that Homer’s great objective was a moral one – to make mankind wiser and better – and that his poetry had a deeper purpose than that of Virgil. He ends by encouraging comparison between these two poets, which can be ‘curious and instructive, and affords … the highest of all classical entertainment’,125 but cautions against ‘that illiberal spirit of criticism, which has so much prevailed among Commentators’, who are ‘constantly complimenting the one, by finding fault with the other’.126 Homer’s Language and Learning This is the longest and most detailed chapter in the Essay and starts with Wood’s regret that those most qualified to deal with this subject (the commentators) have ignored the matter of Homer’s age (period) and manners. This means that they have applied incorrect and anachronistic theories to his poetry, in terms of their commentary on dialect, poetical licence, and pronunciation based on an alphabet that did not exist, as well as ignoring bigger questions such as the nature and origins of the Greek language, the advent of literacy, and the merging of Homeric poetry into the realm of philosophy. In his view, the variety of Greek languages, that is to say dialects, had the effect of establishing a competition between the various Greek states, which helped to carry literature in Greece to ‘a degree of perfection which it never reached in any other country’;127 and poetry, in particular, flourished to a greater degree of perfection than it has ever since attained. He then praises the extent of Homer’s great learning and wisdom. While most commentators express this view, they rarely consider the question of how far the use of writing was known to Homer. Indeed, as we have seen, this was one of the central points of the Homeric Question and one that Wood proposed to answer, believing that the art of writing was not known to Homer. He illustrates this by saying: Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 230. Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 236. 126 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 236. 127 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 245. 124 125

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If we consult the Poet on this question, it must appear very remarkable, that, in so comprehensive a picture of civil society, as that which he has left us, there is nothing, that conveys the idea of letters, or reading; none of the various terms, which belong to those arts, are to be found in Homer.128 Next Wood proposes his theory that Homer came from a tradition of oral poets, whose ‘sole province it was to commemorate the great actions of their gods and heroes [and whose] law was entrusted to verse, and adapted to measure and music’ that was consigned to memory, with no written record.129 While he admits that this may sound inconceivable (and some of his contemporary critics were sceptical of this), he makes the point that a similar tradition existed for the Mexicans and the Irish, whose histories were recorded from the recitals of their bards. Some of his contemporary critics were unconvinced by this, but as Lesley Fitton observes, and in view of the general acceptance of his theory within a short period, ‘Wood had thus been on the right track, in spite of the raised eyebrows of some of his critics’.130 Wood also considers the wider question of when the Greeks found out about the alphabet and agrees with Herodotus that it was through the Phoenicians. He fixes the common familiar use of an alphabet in Greece, and prose writing, to around 554 BC. He then goes deeper into the matter of the oral tradition and, in particular, committing things to memory, noting that: in a rude and unlettered state of society the memory is loaded with nothing that is either useless or unintelligible; whereas modern education employs us chiefly in getting by heart, while we are young, what we forget before we are old.131 Having exhausted the subject of literacy, Wood moves on to the matter of mathematics and then geography, which in turn leads to a discussion of Homer as the ‘Father of Geography’132 before it was known as a science and before the invention of maps and charts. He later discusses the ‘Arts of Elegance’ in Homer, which relate to the combined aspects of music and verse, and the ‘Arts of Design … and Sculpture’, which relate to the poet’s descriptions of statuary, decorative shields, etc.133 Then, with regard to painting, he confesses himself to be surprised by the fact that the art of poetry should have acquired the highest perfection possible before the art of painting had even begun. He also observes that, while the verb ‘graphein’ in later writing generally signified to write and to paint, Homer always applied it ‘to express Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 249. Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 254. 130 See L. Fitton, Robert Wood and the eighteenth-century ‘search’ for Troy, Antigone. Available at: https://antigonejournal.com/2021/06/robert-wood-search-for-troy/ 131 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 260. 132 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 267. 133 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, pp. 268-269. 128 129

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incision made by a sharp weapon or instrument’,134 which corresponds with Jewish and Greek sources. Therefore, in his view, the first writing practised by either of these nations was engraved and not painted. A further subject relative to Homer’s learning is his knowledge of medicine and anatomy. The remainder of the chapter relates to the characteristics of oral poetry, such as clarity, simplicity, repetition, action, tone, pronunciation, voice, countenance, and gesture, which are also consistent with the mimetic arts and the language of nature in general. This all leads Wood to conclude that it was fortunate for Homer that he ‘lived before the language of Compact135 and Art had so much prevailed over that of Nature and Truth’.136 He also asserts that Homer, though the oldest poet, was also the clearest, and muses on how he would have been surprised: to see so many volumes of controversy about the signification of words, which conveyed to him the most distinct images of things; and to find, that terms, which, in his time, were universally acknowledged as the signs of certain external objects of sense, should have acquired an additional meaning, which the philosophy and learning of so many ages have not yet been able to settle.137 The chapter ends with a consideration of various parts of speech in Homer’s poetry, including particles and the way in which two or more words are connected, particularly with compound epithets, and poetic licence. Finally, the simplicity of his poetry means that his words conveyed what he wanted them to convey, which contributed to making the poet original in his expression as well as his conception; and, using the painterly metaphor, ‘as happy in his Colouring as in his Outline’.138 Conclusion In the final section of the Essay, Wood sums up his ‘foregoing loose and indigested observations’139 and draws several conclusions. First, he declares: the more we consider the Poet’s age, country, and travels, the more we discover that he took his scenery and landscape from nature, his manners and characters from life, his persons and facts (whether fabulous or historical) from tradition, and his passions and sentiments from experience

Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 272. The author of the present chapter has been unable to verify the meaning of this word in Wood’s context. 136 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 284. 137 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 285. 138 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 292. 139 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 294. 134 135

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of the operations of the human mind in others, compared with, corrected by, his own feelings.140 Next he objects to the ‘wild pretensions of that refined criticism, which discovers not only the principles of all Arts and Science, but the most profound system of Ethics and Politics, in Homer’.141 He further maintains that while the poet was never diverted by such ideas, he still had an interest in humanity and virtue; and it was his object to please and to instruct. Wood’s main objective in writing the Essay was to ‘carry the Reader to the Poet’s Age, and Country’,142 before making a judgement on him. As argued by Luce, he did so to good purpose, his long meditated and closely argued work initiating ‘the higher criticism of Homeric poetry and modern times.’143 Wood claims that the critics’ neglect to acknowledge that this central purpose has led to Homer being ‘so often complemented with beauties of which he was not conscious and charged with faults which he never committed’.144 Finally, on the vexed question of whether Homer should be regarded as a philosopher, he reiterates his theory of imitation and suggests instead that the poet should be viewed as a painter who has represented men as better than they are. Bringing his three literary works full circle, Wood ends by stating that he has followed the same method here as the used in his earlier two books, when, in the guise of a traveller, he gave ‘a plain account of the appearance of things as [he] found them’ and left the reader to ‘judge of [his] conjectures with regard to their ancient state’.145 Brief Analysis of the Essay As noted by Stanford, Wood succeeded in breaking away from the long-established method of interpreting the Homeric poems almost exclusively in terms of language and literature and instead considered them in terms of the life and lands that he could see for himself in Asia Minor. For this approach, which was not necessarily new, but was presented here ‘with a freshness and cogency that far surpassed his predecessors’, his Essay won high praise from the continent, especially in Germany, from the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) and Heyne.146 Pim den Boer notes that Wood’s essay was ‘immediately highly appreciated by the growing European audience interested in Homer and in Greek Classical studies’, though he is mistaken in his claim that the author ‘possessed no … philological expertise’,147 as he was widely recognised as an able classical scholar. While much Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 294. Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 297. 142 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 300. 143 Luce, Robert Wood and Homer, p. 77. 144 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, pp. 300-301. 145 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, pp. 302-303. 146 Stanford, Ireland and the Classical Tradition, p. 167. 147 P. den Boer, Homer in modern Europe, European Review, Vol. 15, No. 2 (2007), pp. 171-185, at p. 175. 140 141

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has been written (both published an unpublished) on the influence of the Essay in Germany,148 there are also aspects of his influence on French Hellenism that deserve further exploration.149 On the other hand, Constantine believes that the best thing in Wood is his study of Homer’s language: ‘That was where he really went home, causing an excitement far beyond the confines of Homeric scholarship.’150 According to Robert Eisner, Wood was the ‘first traveler of the eighteenth century with the library, knowledge of Greek, and intellectual energy and acumen to read deeply and profitably in Greek literature amidst the Greek landscape’.151 However, this is not quite true. Richard Pococke, for example, who was certainly Wood’s equal in experience, education, and scholarship, published his deliberations on Homeric geography in the early 1740s, albeit on a much smaller scale, and as part of a more general volume on his eastern travels. A Comparative View of the Ancient and Present State of the Troade Introduction Although this account, with its long-awaited map, is often regarded as the most important aspect of Wood’s book, its position at the back of the volume gives it almost the air of an appendix. Wood gets straight to the point by referring the reader to the map, which, he confirms, ‘was taken on the spot, and represents things, as we found them’.152 He advises the public to compare this with the accounts given by Homer, so as to ‘discover the variation which has happened, since the Poet wrote’,153 especially the fact that the source of the Scamander is considerably further away from the Hellespont than it was in Homer’s day. He then states that his chief object in producing the map is ‘to point out the difference of distance, which subsists between the source of the river, and the sea’, leaving it to the reader to judge, with reference to the journal of the siege in the Iliad, ‘how far the bounds and distances observed by the Poet’ are consistent with his (Wood’s) plan.154 The Description of the Troade Wood starts with the facts, stating the date at which he and his party landed under the Sigean Promontory (25 July 1750), on the way back from Constantinople to the Greek islands. He confirms that, as the place was in peace, they performed in a fortnight the journey marked out on the map, which replaces the ‘tedious formality of a journal’.155 As noted by Hutton, the diaries from the Wood collection do not 148 Moncur, for example, devotes a whole chapter to this subject in his unpublished doctoral dissertation. See Moncur, The life and work of ‘Palmyra Wood’ pp. 164-211. 149 See Luce, Robert Wood and Homer, pp. 77ff. 150 See Constantine, In the Footsteps of the Gods, p. 77 and following for examples of this. 151 R. Eisner, Travelers to an Antique Land: the History and Literature of Travel to Greece (Ann Arbor, 1991), p. 72. 152 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 307. 153 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 307. 154 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, pp. 308-309. 155 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 311.

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appreciably add to the information contained in his published work.156 However, we can see from Dawkins’s diary that the group referred to this part of their exploration as their ‘Trojan Jaunt’.157 In the next section, Wood describes the terrain of what he terms the ‘eastern and inland boundary of Priam [the Trojan king’s] dominion’,158 which occupies a circumference of 500 English miles, including 200 of maritime coast, ‘washed by the Propontis, Hellespont, and Aegean seas’.159 He also notes its main geographical features, especially its rich and fertile soils, and confirms that it was a self-sufficient society whose external dangers, especially the real threats of piracy and invasion, discouraged all communication with strangers. He then explains that he calls his survey the ‘Map of Troy’, in line with Homer’s term for the people of Ilion (Troy), namely the Trojans, and then emphasises that there are two things to distinguish in the map: the coast of the Troad on the Aegean and the coast of the Troad on the Hellespont. After this, he gives a general account of these coasts, over the course of two pages, followed by an explanation of their history, as presented in the Iliad, with particular reference to the Homeric epithets of ‘boisterous’/’turbulent’ sea, ‘frothy’ beach, and the ‘broad’ Hellespont. The latter epithet was used by other ancient writers, prompting Wood to suggest that Homer and others (such as Herodotus) believed this was a river – something he himself almost imagined, when sailing from the Hellespont into the Aegean. Wood confirms that Homer’s description of Mount Ida also corresponds with its present state, along with Mount ‘Gargus’ (that is Gargaron) and Cape Lectum, which have changed only in name. He then gives a detailed description of the Scamander, from its present source (about 23 miles from the river in a straight line, but much more when considering its meanderings) to Bornabaschi (Pınarbaşı), which he claims is the ‘fountain-head’ (it is also the name of the tiny neighbouring village). He mentions a ruined bridge and a wooden bridge, which are depicted in two separate engravings (see below), and notes that his travelling party pitched their tents on the dry gravelly bed, close to the narrow stream. The nature of the river in summer was very different from that of the winter, as could be observed from its devastating effects on the landscape, particularly between the ruined bridge and Bornabaschi. Wood emphasises the seasonal contrast in the river, because he thinks ‘that the Reader may find traces of both in the Iliad’.160 In the next section, he proposes his theory of embayment. Here, he describes how the regions of Troas differ from the history presented by Homer, ‘in having the distance of Troy from the sea increased; for the sea, by an accretion of land, is farther off than it was of old’.161 In the same way, he believes that the situation of the Scamander has considerably changed since Homeric times, especially as the See Hutton, The travels of ‘Palmyra’ Wood in 1750-51, p. 112. However, it must be said that her own account is a little confusing, as she fails to give page references when citing and quoting from the sources. 157 Wood collection No. 4, p. 5. 158 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 311. 159 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 311. 160 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 328. 161 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 329. 156

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hot spring formerly described as a source for this river is now much lower than the present source. Furthermore, this change must have happened before the time of Strabo, who found it in a similar state. This proposal led to much discussion among Wood’s contemporaries (see above) and has given rise to more detailed and scientific research among recent scholars, the latter of which is worth mentioning here. Huxley gives a succinct account of the dispute over the topography of the Troad, which began in antiquity and was raised by Wood and the topographer and antiquary W.M. Leake (1777-1860) in two consecutive centuries. Both travellers proposed that Troy had stood at the head of a bay and their observations are of particular interest in view of recent geological work (see below), suggesting that the mound usually identified with Homer’s Troy (Hisarlik) was closer to a deep bay extending southwards from the Hellespont in the second millennium BC. This would imply that most of the fighting described by Homer should have taken place on an east-west axis to the east of Hisarlik, not to the north of the citadel.162 The new scientific data mentioned by Huxley is the result of cores of sediment recovered from nine bore-holes drilled by an American-Turkish team at various points in the plain of Troy, allowing the researchers to reconstruct the progressive aggradation of the plain over the previous 10,000 years. Luce examines this subject in detail and concludes: I would maintain that all traces of the fortified camp were covered up by the flooding and aggradation in the centuries after the fall of Troy, and I would suggest that no traces were visible in Homer’s day, much less in Strabo’s … Thanks to Schliemann and his successors we can be sure that Hisilark was the site of ancient Troy.163 Wood fixes the situation of Troy lower down than the springs of the Scamander, but higher than the plain, which best corresponds with Homer’s description. However, he confirms that there is no trace in Homer of the section of the Scamander from the ruined bridge to Bornabachi, where the plain starts that reaches to the Hellespont. This is evidence for Wood that the land has been increased from the soil brought down and lodged at the mouth of the Scamander, just as Egypt has been enlarged by the Nile.164 Consequently, he has ‘cut off some miles from [his] ancient Map of the Trojan plain’,165 and thus proposes that the Greek camp, which he reckons numbered 100,000 men plus their mistresses (booty of war) and the many children born over the ten-year period, occupied the whole of the coast before the city. In addition, their horses and chariots and their ships, which would have been See G.L. Huxley, Homer and the Travellers (Athens, 1988), pp. 11-13. J.V. Luce, The Homeric Topography of the Trojan Plain reconsidered, Oxford Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 3, No. 1 (March 1984), pp. 31-43, at p. 42. He discusses this further, with the aid of illustrations from geomorphic reconstructions between 1980 and 1995, in his later book, Celebrating Homer’s Landscapes, pp. 119ff. See also S. Heuck Allen, who observes that Wood’s conclusion that the bay of Troy had been silted up by the Scamander had important repercussions for the candidacy of hitherto unknown inland sites. S. Heuck Allen, Finding the Walls of Troy: Frank Calvert and Heinrich Schliemann at Hisarlik (Berkeley, 1999), p. 41. 164 See also Herodotus: 2.10.1. 165 Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 332. 162 163

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drawn up and secured among the tents (or barrack-type huts), must have occupied a considerable amount of space – a factor which Pope failed to acknowledge in his map of Troy. Allowance must also be made for the great intrenchment of a rampart with towers and embattlements, with the camp extending to two extremes: the Sigean Promontory, where Achilles was stationed and the Rhaetean Promontory, where the Greek hero Ajax had pitched his tents (and with Odysseus in the centre). According to Wood’s map, the distance between these extremities was 12 miles. In the final section of the book, Wood wishes he could pinpoint the precise situation of the city of Troy itself (an omission for which he was criticised) but regrets that there are no remains to indicate this, which is not surprising, as it was taken three times, the third being at the hands of the Greeks. However, there are ‘noble remains’ of Troja Nova – the city built or at least enlarged by Alexander the Great.166 He ends with a quote from the Roman poet Lucan (39-65 AD), who laments the fact that the very ruins of this celebrated city were annihilated,167 and a tailpiece depicting the fall of Troy (see below). Illustrations and Map The illustrations in Wood’s book are reproduced and discussed here in sequence. Frontispiece

Figure 22: Frontispiece, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford) 166 167

Wood, The Original Genius of Homer, p. 341. Lucan, Pharsalia, L.9. v. 953-961.

The frontispiece to the book (Figure 22) pays homage to the subject of the book, Homer, and is an engraving entitled ‘A Head of Homer. From the Collection of Lyde Browne Esqr’. According to the inscription, it was drawn by the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Cipriani (1727-1785) and engraved by the English engraver James Basire (17301802). Browne (?-1787) was an antiquary and London banker who owned one of the biggest collections of classical sculpture in England. He travelled in Italy in the early 1750s and again in the 1770s, and famously sold

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Figure 23: Title page vignette depicting the death of Patroclus, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)

part of his collection to Catherine the Great in St Petersburg, in 1784, for which he received less than half of the agreed sum, due to the bankruptcy of his agent.168 This portrait was in the form of a marble disc and was among Browne’s first acquisitions and prized possessions. He acquired it in 1747 and it was supposedly recovered from a fishing net in the Bay of Naples. He and his compatriots studied it intensively and believed it to represent Homer, but it has since been identified as a portrait of Aeschines. While the original disc is in the Hermitage, the original drawing is in the British Museum.169 Title Page Vignette This vignette (Figure 23) carries no title but is thought to represent the death of Patroclus (childhood friend and possibly lover of Achilles). It is a fragment of relief sculpture from the wall of a ruined fortress in Ephesus, drawn by William Pars during his eastern voyage with Chandler, and was engraved for Wood’s book by Francesco Bartolozzi (1727-1815). The inscription is ‘Drawn at Ephesus in 1764 by W. Pars, Engravd by F. Bartolozzi’. See Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, pp. 141-142, under the entry for Lyde Browne. 169 See O. Neverov, The Lyde Browne collection and the history of ancient sculpture in the Hermitage Museum, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 88, No. 1 (January 1984), pp. 33-42, at p. 34 and Figure 29. 168

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View of Ancient Troas together with the Scamander and Mount Ida This is Wood’s folding engraved map of Troy (Figure 24), which appears immediately after the title page of the Comparative View in the first edition and after the preface in the 1776, pirated Dublin edition. The inscription is ‘View of Ancient Troas together with the Scamander and Mount Ida, as taken anno MDCCL’. The first edition gives the attributes of ‘Borra delin’ and ‘Major sc.’, while the Dublin edition gives only the name of the engraver, ‘Duff sc.’ As already noted in Chapter 4, Thomas Major was the engraver for the plates in Ruins of Palmyra. John Duff (fl. 1770-1787) was an engraver much esteemed for his book and magazine illustrations in Ireland and had a premises in Smock Alley. After Figure 24: Map of Troy, Robert Wood, his death in 1787, his business was run The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image by his widow until taken over by Charles courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford) Henecy, in 1789.170 There is a nice decorative touch at the foot of the map, with a single piece of classical architecture in the form of a plinth or perhaps a tomb displaying the key for the distances in Italian and Turkish miles. On top of this feature are emblems of the Trojan War: trumpets, swords, drums, shields, spears, flags, and a plumed helmet. View of the Ruined Bridge below the Junction of the Two Rivers This view (Figure 25) is a single-page engraving of the ruined stone bridge in the Troad, as described in the text. It appears in the lower half of the map, where it is identified as ‘Ruins of an Antient Bridge’. The view was taken by William Pars and engraved by Thomas Major. It is only known from the engraving and is inscribed with the words ‘Pars del. Major sculp.’

See W.G. Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists (Dublin, 1969). Available at: https://www.libraryireland. com/irishartists/john-duff.php

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Figure 25: View of Ruined Bridge, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)

View of the Ancient Bridge below Bornabaschi This view (Figure 26) is a single-page engraving of an ancient bridge below the village of Bornabaschi, as mentioned in the text (p. 324). It appears in the centre of the map, where it is identified as ‘Antient Bridge’. While neither the artist nor the engraver is named, it is likely to have been the work of Pars (artist) and Major (engraver).

Figure 26: View of Ancient Bridge, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)

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Figure 27: View of Ancient Ruins near Troy upon the Aegean Sea, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)

Ancient Ruins near Troy upon the Aegean Sea This view (Figure 27) is a fold-out engraving of ancient ruins near Troy. The inscription is ‘View of Ancient Ruins near Troy upon the Aegean Sea. Supposed to be the Work of Alexander of Lysimachus’. It relates to the reference in the text to the ‘noble remains’ of Troja Nova (p. 341), though no further details of the ruins are given. The inscription confirms that the artist is Borra, and the engraver is Lebas. This is the French engraver Jacques-Philippe Le Bas, or Lebas (1707-1783), who was elected ‘councillor of the king in his Academy’ (i.e., the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture)171 and was granted a pension in 1771, four years before the publication of Wood’s book. Tailpiece As with the title page vignette, this tailpiece (Figure 28) carries no title but is thought to represent the Trojans mourning over the body of the Trojan prince Hector. It is another fragment of relief sculpture from the wall of a ruined fortress in Ephesus, drawn by Pars during his voyage with Chandler, and was engraved for Wood’s book by Bartolozzi. The inscription is the same as for the title page vignette: ‘Drawn at Ephesus in 1764 by W. Pars, Engravd by F. Bartolozzi’.

171 See Anon., Jacques Philippe Lebas, The Illustrated Magazine of Art, Vol. 4, No. 23 (1854), pp. 319-323, at p. 322.

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Figure 28: Tailpiece Depicting Trojans Mourning over the Body of Hector, Robert Wood, The Original Genius of Homer (1775) (image courtesy Roger Middleton Books, Oxford)

Brief Analysis of the Comparative View While this section of Wood’s book, with the accompanying map of the Trojan Plain, earned him praise in certain quarters, it has also earned him censure, both from sceptical contemporaries (or near contemporaries) who were well versed in ancient historiography or geography, and who recognised errors and inaccuracies in his proposals, and from modern scholars. With regard to his contemporaries, Edward Gibbon, for example, who had welcomed Wood’s earlier works, asked: He visited the banks of the Hellespont; he had read Strabo; he ought to have consulted the Roman itineraries; how was it possible for him to confound Ilium and Alexandria Troas which were sixteen miles from each other?172 The fact that Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec were so well received has been described as a misfortune for Wood, as these earlier books overshadowed his later work and aroused expectations that were not to be fulfilled.173 As we have already seen, the French scholar Le Chevalier was less than complimentary about Pope’s map of Troy. However, he was vehement in his criticism of Wood’s recent attempt, as the following excerpt shows:

172 173

E. Gibbon, as cited in Damiani, Enlightened Observers, p. 131, n. 81. See Spencer, Robert Wood and the problem of Troy, pp. 80ff.

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Figure 29: Entry for Robert Wood in the Index to Le Chevalier’s Description of the Plain of Troy (1791) (courtesy Google Books)

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I do not hesitate to assert, as I shall presently prove it, that Mr Wood has viewed the Troad erroneously. That part of his Essay on HOMER is not merely imperfect; it is most undoubtedly destitute of all merit. But we need not be surprised that, while the principal object of that traveller was to communicate a knowledge of the interesting ruins of Palmyra and Balbec, he was not able to bestow such time and attention upon the plain of Troy as it merited. It would not have been any crime in Mr WOOD to have overlooked it entirely; but he has certainly incurred a high degree of blame, by having allowed himself to convert the whole into a mass of confusion, when he might have studied it with POCOCKE’S book in hand.174

He filled a further five pages in reducing Wood’s theories to ridicule, before presenting his own proposals and map. However, J.M. Cook, in his magisterial book on the Troad, admits that while Wood failed to take sufficient account of the ancient testimonia for the position of Troy, Le Chevalier’s conception of him as ‘bewildered in the Troad is belied by the diaries’, and that his ‘bewilderment consisted in not recognizing the Scamander in the stream that flows from the Pınarbaşı springs’.175 Le Chevalier’s reference to Pococke is interesting and has been expressed by more recent scholars, such as Luce, who faults Wood for ‘not taking more seriously the work of … the Rev. Richard Pococke, which was certainly known to him and his companions’.176 As already mentioned, Wood’s manuscript sources are full of references to Pococke, many of which are critical of his predecessor’s findings; and it is clear from the context of these references that he did indeed have Pococke’s weighty volume with him in his second eastern voyage. The wording in the entry for Wood in the index of Le Chevalier’s book (Figure 29) gives a flavour of his scathing views on his late rival’s work. Le Chevalier, Description of the Plain of Troy, pp. 75-76. See J.M. Cooke’s The Troad: An Archaeological and Topographical Study (Oxford, 1973; special edition, 1999), p. 21. This volume is a useful guide to the correct spelling of modern place names in Homeric geography. 176 Luce, Robert Wood and Homer, p. 85. 174

175

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Even Wood’s most fervent supporter, Heyne, admitted that when relying on Wood’s work for his own article of 1783, he ‘took him and his chart of the Troad for [his] guides, and thus allowed [himself] to be entangled in such a labyrinth of errors, that [he] strove in vain to extricate [himself].177 Two of the most detailed modern critiques of Wood’s book are the works of T.J.B. Spencer and John Butterworth. While Spencer has many negative things to say about the book, he admits that Wood produced a good map, which was ‘a great improvement on any existing one’, though its main defect was the fact that he omitted the most important thing: the city of Troy.178 He ends his study by referring to the author in fairly flattering terms, as ‘an unsuspecting pioneer’.179 Butterworth again has much to say that is negative, but admits that the intentions of Wood’s party were serious and laudable. He also notes that, while Wood had originally seen the survey of the Troad as part of a grand project that was going to make his reputation, he ‘had come to appreciate the deficiencies of the Comparative View but had nothing to put in its place’; and that by the end of his life, he had ‘failed to realise his original scheme of explaining and vindicating ‘Homer’s plan of Troy’. However, he admits that the book’s other merits ‘more than compensated for that failure’.180 In a similar vein, though less vociferously, Luce states: In the end one has to conclude that Wood’s account of the Troad was of minor importance compared with the main body of the Essay, where his brilliantly innovative and influential exposition of the orality of Homeric poetry constitutes a very solid and enduring claim to scholarly eminence.181 Furthermore, Wood has been described as a ‘conspicuously successful practitioner of topographical analysis’, whose arguments are of great intrinsic interest and with an evident cogency.182 At the same time, it is recognised that his correlations may be ‘a bit naïve or strained, but they were original’.183 (Rachel Finnegan)

Quoted in Spencer, Robert Wood and the problem of Troy, p. 92. Spencer, Robert Wood and the problem of Troy, p. 87. 179 Spencer, Robert Wood and the problem of Troy, p. 105. 180 Butterworth, Robert Wood and Troy: a comparative failure, pp. 152-153. 181 Luce, Robert Wood and Homer, p. 87. 182 See Huxley, Homer’s perceptions of his Ionian circumstances, p. 75. 183 Eisner, Travelers to an Antique Land, p. 73. 177 178

Chapter 7

Conclusion: The Legacy of Robert Wood Translations and Further Editions of Robert Wood’s Books An indication of a book’s reputation, popularity and worth can be found in the number of reprints, abridged editions, and translations through which it goes. However, this is not always the case, and applies less to Robert Wood’s three volumes than it does to similar works by other authors.1 Ruins of Palmyra: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Editions There appear to have been two versions of the original English edition that are differentiated by the errata sections, whereby errors listed in the first version have been corrected in the second. Furthermore, at least one copy of the corrected version is bound with an additional text entitled Reflections on the Ancient Alphabet of Palmyra, by J.J. Barthélemy, originally published by Millar in London, 1755. This text is translated from the French and serves as an appendix to the original. Excerpts of Ruins of Palmyra were also included in A Compendium of the Most Approved Modern Travels. This edition was printed for J. Scott and not Thomas Shaw, as mistakenly held by Anita Damiani – Shaw had already been dead for two years and was not interested in the travels of others, except where he could criticise them.2 Wood experienced somewhat of a renaissance in the early 19th century. A second edition of the English original was published by William Pickering in London (1827), in conjunction with a reprint of its sequel (Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec) and contained 108 plates taken straight from the original books (1753 and 1757). As already discussed (see Chapter 4), a French translation of Ruins of Palmyra came out simultaneously with the English originals and named Millar as the publisher, although according to Wood, this was a rather hurried edition. A second French edition of Ruins of Palmyra appeared in 1819 in quarto format, and this was reprinted or reissued in 1827.

See, for example, the many versions listed for the eastern travels of Shaw, Perry and Pococke, in the Appendix of Finnegan, English Explorers in the East, pp. 291-294. 2 See Damiani, Enlightened Observers, pp. 110 and 112-113. The full title of the compendium is: A Compendium of the Most Approved Modern Travels: Containing a Distinct Account of the religion, Government, Commerce, Manners, and Natural History, of Several Nations. Illustrated and Adorned with Many Useful and Elegant Copperplates (Oxford, 1757). 1

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Ruins of Palmyra: Modern Editions A facsimile of the first edition was published by Gregg International in 1971; and in 2021 a new edition of this (Vol. 1) and Ruins of Balbec (Vol. 2), was published by the Bloomsbury Group in two volumes, with an introduction by Benjamin Anderson.3 Ruins of Balbec: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Editions As already discussed (see Chapter 5), a French translation of Ruins of Balbec came out simultaneously with the English originals and named Millar as the publisher. Furthermore, an abridged version of this voyage was included in volume 1 of J. Newbery’s A Curious Collection of Travels, Selected from the Writers of All Nations (London, 1761).4 In addition, as noted above, a combined second edition was published by Pickering in London (1827), under the title Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec. It has been suggested that this edition, brought out 70 years after the original, was prompted by Pickering’s acquisition of the original copperplates and his desire to turn them to commercial gain. Ruins of Balbec: Modern Editions A facsimile of the first edition was published by Gregg International in 1972; and in 2021 a new edition of this (Vol. 2) and Ruins of Palmyra (Vol. 1), was published by the Bloomsbury Group in two volumes, with an introduction by Benjamin Anderson.5 The Original Genius of Homer: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Editions Unusually, and presumably without the permission or even the knowledge of the author’s widow, a German edition, based on the private copy of the essay, appeared even before the original, in 1773. Published in Frankfurt, it contains only two illustrations: a rather curious medallion-shaped image of the blind Homer on the title page (nothing like the one used in the official book, which came out two years later, in 1775), followed, on the next page, by an equally curious headpiece representing stylised ruins of what is probably meant to be a Homeric landscape with antiquities and trees. Both are woodcuts. A revised edition of the German translation then appeared in 1778. The book was also translated into French (1777), Italian and Spanish. 3 R. Wood, The Ruins of Palmyra and Baalbek Volumes I-II, with an introduction by B. Anderson (New York, 2021). The authors of the present chapter have been unable to obtain a copy of this edition but have noted the description on the publisher’s website. 4 See Nash et al., Early Printed Books, 1478-1840, p. 2443. 5 Wood, The Ruins of Palmyra and Baalbek, with an introduction by B. Anderson. Please see the authors’ note 3 above.

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As already noted in Chapter 6, a pirated, Dublin edition appeared a year after the original (1776); this was identical to the first edition but contained only the map of Troy and none of the other engraved plates or decorative features. In 1824, John Richardson and John Newby printed a new edition of the book in London. This was in quarto format and contained 203 pages and a folding copy of the map. The Original Genius of Homer: Modern Editions Facsimile reprints of the first edition were published by Gregg International in 1971, McGrath Publishing Company in 1973 and Olms Verlag in 1976. Various other facsimiles are available today for print on demand but none of these editions contain introductions or notes.

Portraits of Wood A further indication of the reputation, popularity and worth of an author can be found in portraiture, especially when the paintings were later popularised through engravings. There are four known portraits of Wood (plus associated engravings), three of which depict him as the sole sitter and the fourth depicting him in a group scene with Dawkins and Borra. There is also a cartoon of Wood and Dawkins in Athens, which appeared as an engraving in Stuart and Revett’s Antiquities of Athens (1762). The first portrait of Wood (Figure 30) was commissioned by the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater in 1755 and is still part of the Bridgewater Collection, though not among the selection of works on permanent display at the Scottish National Gallery.6 It was painted by Mengs at Rome, where he lived and worked from 1741 until his death.7 The idea that the portrait was commissioned by the duke, rather than the sitter himself, is borne out by the fact that it remained in his collection throughout his lifetime, unlike other paintings that he sold when he had financial difficulties; and this, together with the fact that he bequeathed it to his nephew as a family heirloom, is further evidence of his great esteem for his tutor and great friend. This painting, together with three others that the duke had commissioned on his grand tour, eventually became part of the Stafford Gallery and then, after 1830, part of the Bridgewater Gallery.8 The stunning portrait is oil on canvas and measures 99.1 x 74.9cm. It portrays the sitter in a silk coat edged with ermine, which he clasps together with his right hand that is draped in lace. His hair looks natural, rather than being a wig, and his The authors are grateful to Dr Patricia Allerston, Deputy Director of European and Scottish Art at the Scottish National Gallery, for her kind and in arranging for permission to reproduce Figure 30. 7 See Roettgan, Anton Raphael Mengs. Spencer dates the painting to ‘about 1753, when he [Wood] was in Rome’. However, this is incorrect, as Wood and Bridgewater did not reach Rome until the November of 1754. See Spencer, Robert Wood and the problem of Troy, p. 75. 8 See Humfrey, The Stafford Gallery, p. 37. 6

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Figure 30: Portrait of Robert Wood, by Anthony Raphael Mengs, 1755; oil on canvas (courtesy private collection)

expression, as in all his portraits, is serious. We must assume that this was a true reflection of the sitter’s appearance and manner. An engraving of the same portrait (Figure 31) was published in a nineteenthcentury catalogue (1818) by a descendant of Bridgewater. The authors of the catalogue describe the original portrait as, ‘though wanting in force and effect, [being] sufficiently well coloured and highly finished’.9 The caption and description W.Y. Ottley and P.W. Tomkins, Engravings of the Most Noble The Marquis of Stafford’s Collection of Pictures, in London, Arranged According to Schools, and in Chronological Order, with Remarks on Each Picture, Vol. 3 (London, 1818), No. 156, p. 134.

9

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Figure 31: Engraving of Robert Wood, after Anthony Raphael Mengs; published 1818 (courtesy The Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved)

in the catalogue refer to the sitter as the ‘author of the well-known works on the antiquities of Palmyra & Balbeck’.10 The second portrait of Wood (Figure 32 and the cover image of the present volume) was sold to the National Portrait Gallery, London, in 1972 by a descendent of the sitter, Robert W. Wood. It was painted by the Scottish artist Allan Ramsay and, as with the Mengs portrait, dates to 1755, when Wood was in Rome with the Duke of Bridgewater. It has been suggested that this was also commissioned by the duke, 10

Ottley and Tomkins, Engravings of the Most Noble The Marquis of Stafford’s Collection of Pictures, p. 134.

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Figure 32: Portrait of Robert Wood, by Allan Ramsay, 1755; oil on canvas, 1755; 99.1 x 74.9cm (courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. 4868)

possibly ‘as some kind of recompense for this long-suffering “bear-keeper”’.11 The portrait is oil on canvas and measures 98.5 x 74.3cm. Here, Wood is depicted as more mature than he appears in the Mengs portrait, owing perhaps to his grey-powdered wig, and his more affluent appearance, with his lace stock and cuffs, his deep red jacket, and his gold brocade. His expression is intense and serious and the whole study is more relevant to his recent achievements, as it symbolises his literary and classical interests. The paper on the table represents a map of Greece and, according to the catalogue entry, the map is titled ‘ILLESPONTO/ EVROPA’,12 though we can assume that first word should actually read ‘Hellespontos’. 11 See S. Avery-Quash, The Bridgewater collection: its impact on collecting and display in Britain, transcript of a lecture delivered to The National Gallery, London, on 7 December 2009, note 22. Available at: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/about-research/buying-collecting-and-display/thebridgewater-collection-its-impact-on-collecting-and-display-in-britain 12 Robert Wood, Early Georgian Portraits Catalogue, National Portrait Gallery, NPG 4868. Available at: https:// www.npg.org. uk/collections/search/portraitExtended/mw06918/Robert-Wood

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The third portrait of Wood is part of a group study and is in the Scottish National Gallery. It was painted in 1758 by the Scottish neoclassical painter Gavin Hamilton (1723-1798), commissioned by Dawkins’s brother Henry, and titled ‘James Dawkins and Robert Wood Discovering the Ruins of Palmyra’. The portrait is oil on canvas and measures 309.90 x 388.60cm. Hamilton was perceived as the father of neoclassicism and spent most of his painterly life in Rome. His interests were bound up with Homer, which lent him a certain kinship with Wood, who was involved in one of his earliest commissions for a history painting featuring Achilles for the Duke of Bridgewater, in 1754.13 While in Rome, Hamilton shared lodgings on the Strada Felice with Revett and Stuart.14 He was a prominent excavator and dealer in classical sculpture.15 In this regard, he also worked closely with Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (1720-1728), who influenced his painting compositions with his dramatic scene setting.16 In this large canvas, Hamilton captures the moment of the breath-taking discovery of Palmyra, in which his underlying enthusiasm for classical sources is revealed. The sublime nature of the frame of willowy palm tree and theatrical drapery heightens the drama of the scene. The artist places the figures strategically at the forefront of the colonnaded street, and the city of Palmyra is revealed as a great capriccio before them. In this historic painting, the crescendo of such wondrous discoveries is presented as a window onto the ancient world.17 The actors in the history painting witness the event in Roman dress, as Palmyra – the great legendary city – is revealed through a setting framed by great pomp of velvet drapery.18 The painting depicts the spirit of the event with Dawkins, Wood and Borra, the first two of whom are dressed in classical togas (Dawkins wearing gold boots and Wood wearing red),19 as they round a corner towards a ruined street and arch in ancient Palmyra. Borra is depicted behind the main scene, actively drawing on a large sheet, suggesting the significance of architectural drawings as a means for recording and copying of images of classical architecture in Europe. It has been suggested that the presence of a ‘negro page’ might be attributed to Dawkins’s slaver ownership.20 13 See B. Cassidy (ed.), The Life & Letters of Gavin Hamilton (1723-1798): Artist & Art Dealer in Eighteenth-Century Rome 2 vols (Turnhout, 2012), pp. 1-31, at p. 49. 14 See B. Cassidy, The reception of Gavin Hamilton’s paintings, in L. Mulvin (ed.) The Fusion of Neoclassical Principles (Dublin, 2011), pp. 41-53, at pp. 39-40. 15 See J. Darlington, Palmyra’s legacy is everywhere – and ISIS could never have erased it, Apollo (April 2016). Available at: https://www.apollo-magazine.com/palmyras-legacy-is-everywhere-and-isis-couldnever-have-erased-it/ 16 See C. Pace, Gavin Hamilton’s, Wood and Dawkins discovering Palmyra: The dilettante as hero, Art History, Vol. 4 (1981), pp. 271-90. 17 See Cassidy, The Life & Letters of Gavin Hamilton. 18 See D. Irwin, Gavin Hamilton: Archaeologist, painter, and dealer, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 44, No. 2 (June 1962), pp. 87-102. 19 According to the gallery catalogue of the original painting, ‘Hamilton prioritises the central figures by clothing them in ancient costume and bathing them in glowing light. This contrasts with his representation of the other nationalities in the expedition party.’ See the National Galleries Scotland. Gavin Hamilton. James Dawkins and Robert Wood discovering the ruins of Palmyra. Available at: https:// www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/48550 20 Baird and Kamash, Remembering Roman Syria, p. 19.

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Figure 33: ‘James Dawkins and Robert Wood Esq. RS First Discovering Sight of Palmyra’. Engraved by John Hall, after Gavin Hamilton; published 12 May 1775, by J. Robson, London; 49.2 x 53.4cm (courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London: Ref. D14542)

Hamilton’s painting was also engraved by John Hall (1739-1797), engraver, for Dawkins’s brother’ Henry. The engraving, reproduced here as Figure 33, was published on 12 May 1775 and measures 49.2 x 53.4cm. It illustrates certain changes to the scene, more closely observed than the painting, where the colonnades converge on either side of the triumphal arch and the wall inscription is more clearly depicted. The fourth portrait of Wood is also attributed to Gavin Hamilton and in style is very similar to depiction in the group study in Figure 33. The sitter is painted in profile, head and shoulders, and wears a dark red cape or perhaps a university gown with a white neckerchief. As in the group study, he is not wearing a wig, and his gaze is very intense and serious. This portrait is oil on canvas and measures 58.9 x 50.5cm. It is in a private collection (Dublin) and while it is not reproduced in the present volume, it can be seen in colour in the catalogue of the Milltown exhibition from the National Gallery of Ireland and in the Luce’s article on Wood.21 From its 21

See Benedetti, The Milltowns, pp. 26-27, where the portrait is reproduced as Figure 10; and Luce, Robert

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Figure 34: Engraving of the Monument of Philopappos, 1762, with Robert Wood in the background, facing the ruin (extreme right), by James Stuart and Nicholas Revett, Antiquities of Athens (1794 edition) (courtesy Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation Library)

provenance (by descent to the Chandler family) it is believed to have been owned by Wood’s friend the antiquary Richard Chandler, for whose book (Antiquities of Ionia) he wrote the preface in 1769 (see Chapter 3). The final portrait of Wood is also part of a group study but this time an engraved cartoon from Stuart and Revett’s book (Figure M). It depicts a scene of the famous meeting of Stuart and Revett with Wood and Dawkins at the Athenian monument on Philopappos Hill.22 Stuart’s original paintings for this book are in a collection in the RIBA. With reference to the original of this view,23 which he describes as ‘the great icon of the Greek Revival’,24 architectural historian Michael McCarthy claims that it ‘confounds the categories of painting and manages to be at once a history painting, a topographical study, a portrait piece and a genre scene’.25 He also compares the original painting with the engraving: while Dawkins holds the central position in the painting, where he is depicted from the back and dressed in European costume, Wood and Homer, Fig. 6.2, p. 75. 22 The image in this Figure is taken from Vol. 3 of the 1794 edition of The Antiquities of Athens (Chapter 5, Plate 1). 23 This is a gouache entitled ‘View of the Monument of Philopappus’, Athens, RIBA Library Drawings Collection, SD145/10. It can be seen here: https://www.ribapix.com/view-of-the-monument-ofphilopappos-athens_riba12480 24 M. McCarthy, Classical and Gothic: Studies in the History of Art (Dublin, 2005), p. 83. 25 McCarthy, Classical and Gothic, p. 83. More generally, see D. Wiseman, Sources of Greek Revival Architecture (London, 1969).

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in the engraving he is seen from the front (third figure from the left), facing Stuart and Revett, and wearing European dress. Furthermore, Wood, who was not present in the original, has been added to his far right, facing away from the group where, according to the text, he is ‘occupied in copying the inscription on the pilaster’. Tamara Griggs describes this view as providing ‘one the strangest views of the entire work’ and thinks ‘we are seeing the antiquarian habit of self-inscription combined with the portraiture of Grand Tourism’.26 She also considers the question of Wood’s absence from the original painting, together with the goats, a shepherd, a dog and a janissary making their coffee, and suggests that his addition in the engraved copy must have been done with Stuart’s knowledge.

Wood’s Contribution to the Study of Classical Literature Robert Wood’s contribution to Homeric studies has already been discussed in Chapter 6. While some modern studies have tended to minimise and, in some cases, completely ignore his important role in this area of scholarship, others recognise that The Original Genius of Homer was a pioneering work, despite its flaws, and that, at the very least, it led to a new way of thinking about Homeric poetry. A full study of The Original Genius of Homer and its place in the field of Homeric studies is long overdue, and it is hoped that the present volume will prompt further research into the subject. At the same time, a new, annotated version of Wood’s book, with a scholarly introduction, would be a most welcome contribution to the field.

Wood’s Contribution to Architectural Drawing in Late Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Europe The legacy of Borra’s architectural drawings and the impact of the rediscovery of the ancient classical sites of Palmyra and Baalbek on neoclassicism were measured from the wider acclaim of Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec. For many, the colonnaded city of Palmyra and the temple at Baalbek became a sublime trope in the Age of Enlightenment and the defining image circumscribing neoclassical art values. As one of the foremost radical thinkers of the eighteenth century, French philosopher, art critic and writer Denis Diderot (1713-1784) presented the monuments in these drawings as a further measure of the impact of Wood’s study. In his Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné,27 a reference work for the arts and sciences comprising 17 volumes of text and 11 volumes of plates, Diderot focused on specific reconstructions of the Temple of Bel, Palmyra, engraved by J.A. Defehrt (1723-1774), 26 See T. Griggs, Drawn from Nature: Stuart and Revett in Athens, Unpublished dissertation, University of Chicago, 2005, p. 34. Available at: https://fdocuments.in/document/drawn-from-nature-stuart-andrevett-in-hosseeing-sciences-wkshp-tamara-griggs.html?page=1 27 The full title is: L’Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers, par Une Societe de Gens de Lettres (Paris, 1767).

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Figure 35a: Engraving of Palmyra Temple of Bel, by J.A. Defehrt, Denis Diderot, L’Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné (1767) (private collection) Figure 35b: Engraving of Palmyra Temple of Bel Compared with Plate XXXVI, Plan of the Sepulchre Marked I in Plate I, Plate, Robert Wood, Ruins of Palmyra (1753) (courtesy of Marsh’s Library, Dublin)

also known as Bertrand Defehrt. These images paved the way for the politicisation of ruins. As Diderot said: The ideas ruins evoke in me are grand. Everything comes to nothing, everything perishes, everything passes, only the world remains, only time endures.28 Featuring plans, sections, and perspectives of Wood’s colonnades in Palmyra and Baalbek (Figures 35a and 35b), Diderot’s encyclopaedia served as a treasury of Enlightenment studies and ideas, introducing new discoveries and knowledge emerging from all corners of the globe.29 A further indication of the reception of Wood’s books as pictorial creations can measured by the fact that the ruins of the Roman cities of Palmyra and Baalbek D. Diderot, L’Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné, pp. 198-199. See Upton, Starting from Baalbek. The excavations of the ruins at Baalbek were later publicised by the visit by Kaiser Wilhelm II and his tour of the Holy Land in 1898, as ancestral homeland of the Holy Roman Empire, and as representing European culture planted autocratically in the east.

28 29

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were gaining a reputation architecturally as lost cities of the Mediterranean.30 Neoclassical representations and impact created new art historical and theoretical models for modernity from Levantine imagery, opening up vistas of visible remains. As an example of the popularity of such scenes, the London print- and map-seller Robert Sayer printed a series of six hand-coloured copper engravings of the ruins of Baalbek and Palmyra at some point in the 1760s. These were later copied for G.C. Kilian’s Vorstellung der Baalbekischen Alterhumer nach dem Englischen Originale, published in Ausberg, in 1769.31 From the mid-nineteenth century, artists began to develop a trope for the grandeur of the age in the east. In 1842, for example, Scottish painter David Roberts (1796-1864) created such historicist scenes of Baalbek, with the collapsing keystone, in his Travels in The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt & Nubia. Baalbek was further historicised as a contemplative landscape, with the notion of sensitivity to ruins providing an authentic cultural image. Half a century later (from 1898), scientific analysis was introduced at Baalbek by the German Archaeological Mission, whose findings would inform generations of architects and archaeologists and encourage a new wave of architectural conceit. This was supported with a much publicised and photographed visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II, in November 1898, who was patron of the German archaeological service for research and excavations.32

The Cultural Significance of Wood’s Work on Building Design As soon as they arrived on the scene in London, the architectural publications of Palmyra and Baalbek met a burgeoning interest in classical styles. They set out a new standard for architectural volumes with the measurements enabling templates to be formed and imitation of details to be rendered in wood-work, panelling and stucco moulding in ceilings, as both interior and exterior spaces were ornamented with these new details.33 The accuracy of the authentic and original details of the illustrations of Wood’s volumes enabled models for interior ornament. In 1773, German examples are noted in the Dessau-Wörlitzer Park, where Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorf (1736-1800) derived details for the classical facade from Ruins of Balbec.34 The drawings acted as a source for new decoration and ornament in England and Ireland on both exterior schemes, such as designs of entire temple facades, and 30 M. Feingold, Oriental studies, in N. Tyacke (ed.), The History of the University of Oxford, Vol. 4 (Seventeenthcentury Oxford) (Oxford, 2011), pp. 449-503. See also Wood, A History of the Levant Company. 31 See Nash et al., Early Printed Books, 1478-1840, p. 2443. While the authors note that no copy of the Sayer prints has been seen, the authors of the present volume have found a copy for sale in Grosvenor Prints, London. See https://www.grosvenorprints.com/stock_detail.php?ref=21750 32 Lars Petersern, Im Auftrag des Kaisers, Die ersten wissenschaftlichen Ausgrabungen in Baalbek, in van Ess and Rheidt (eds), Baalbek, pp. 18-21. 33 See E. Grass, ‘Worthy of Eve before the fall’: Representations of Palmyra in eighteenth century Britain (2016). Available at: https://open.conted.ox.ac.uk/sites/open.conted.ox.ac.uk/files/resources/ Create%20Document/Worthy%20of%20Eve%20before%20the%20Fall_Elisabeth%20Grass.pdf 34 Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorf, in Oxford Companion to Architecture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).

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Figure 36: Photo of the ceiling of the entrance to the mansion at Osterley Park in the London Borough of Hounslow (photo Ethan Doyle White: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Ceiling_detail_at_Osterley_Park.jpg)

interior schemes. One of the earliest examples in the 1750s is seen in The Garter Room, Stowe House, Buckinghamshire, built by John Hobcraft35 for Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham (1645-1749), to original drawings and designs by Borra.36 This demonstrates an early application of exact ornamented detail of the recorded ceiling slabs, as a precisely coffered ceiling from the Great Temple of Bel, Palmyra. At least 20 examples are known in Britain as Palmyrene- and Baalbek-inspired ceilings.37 An early rendition of the coffered ceiling design, where details of the ornament are viewed inside the portico, can be found, for example, in the state bedroom at Woburn Abbey. Other examples worthy of attention are a ceiling at Lincoln, a dining room at Stratfield Saye in Hampshire and Harewood House in Yorkshire, attributed to Borra. Others at Chiswick House and Kensington Palace in London demonstrate the use of the coffered patterns in detail for grand interior dining spaces.38 Wood’s old friend Robert Adam executed certain details in his designs, notably the entrance at Osterley Park, Middlesex, c. 1763 inspired by Temple of Bel, Jupiter, Baalbek (Figure 36) and, as noted in Chapter 3, Adam (or one of his associates) would later make designs for Wood’s unexecuted mausoleum.39 The Temple of Concord and 35 See M. McCarthy, James Lovell and his sculptures at Stowe’, The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 115, No. 841 (April 1973), pp. 220-232. 36 See M. Bevington, The Garter Room at Stowe House, The Georgian Group Journal, Vol. 15 (2006), pp. 140158. 37 See R. Hewlings, A Palmyra ceiling in Lincoln’, Architectural History, Vol. 31 (1988), pp. 166-170. 38 Hewlings, A Palmyra Ceiling, pp. 168-70. These are attributed to Borra. See H. Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 (London, 1978), p. 126. 39 See M.J. Routh Hausberg, Robert Adam’s Revolution in Architecture (Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations: University of Pennsylvania, 2019), pp. vii-viii. See also D.D. Stillman, The Decorative Work of

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Victory at Stowe, Buckinghamshire, also used details of the coffering to decorate the interior of the portico.40 In terms of ecclesiastical works, St George’s Church, Bloomsbury, utilised coffered details in the portico in the public realm. In Ireland, Wood’s homeland, the popularity of the architectural volumes was already being made felt by the use of motifs in plasterwork, where templates were used for ornamental features. The availability of Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec was noted. The initial phase of decoration at Powerscourt House, South William Street, Dublin, for example, completed by plasterers James McCullagh and Michael Reynolds in c. 1774, utilised some of the earliest available pattern books on the ‘antique grotesque’ style: the stair hall plasterwork is derived from plates in Mathias Darly’s The Ornamental Architect (1771);41 and chimneypiece details traced to an interpretative pattern book inspired by details from Wood’s first book assisted the dissemination of details. This source was A Book of Ornaments in the Palmyrene Taste (1771) by N. Wallis.42 In 1794, Townley Hall, County Louth, was reworked by Francis Johnston (17601869) for Blayney-Townley Balfour (1769-1876), with details of the rotunda coffered using the octagonal and diamond motifs with a central rosette inspired by the motifs of the Temple of Bel, Palmyra.43 The architect William Vitruvius Morrison (17941838) was influenced by the latest architectural publications of both Ruins of Palmyra and Ruins of Balbec and used these motifs as executed in the octagonal coffered ceiling design in Ballyfin House, County Laois (then known as Queen’s County), 1822 and in the ceiling of the dining room of Kilruddery, County Wicklow (c. 1828), where the octagonal design with rosette patterns was executed with moulded detailing derived from Palmyrene influence.44 The impact on neoclassicism of the rediscovery of the two most prominent ancient sites of Palmyra and Baalbek was measured in their wide acclaim. As more complete knowledge of the ruins filtered through, these cities gained a reputation, architecturally, by the eighteenth century, as the jewels in the Mediterranean constellation. This was due, in part, to the perspectives of the colonnades in Palmyra and the temples at Baalbek by artists and scientific explorers, who captured the essence of taste and the antique though space and time and translated this to Robert Adam (New York, 1973), p. 72. 40 See Grass, ‘Worthy of Eve before the fall’. 41 The full title is: The Ornamental Architect, or Young Artist’s Instructor, Consisting of the Five Orders, ... with Their Embelishments [sic] &c. Elegantly Engrav’d on ... ... Publish’d by the Author Matthias Darly (London, 1771). 42 The full title is: A Book of Ornaments in the Palmyrene Taste Containing Upwards of Sixty New Designs for Ceilings, Pannels, Pateras & Mouldings; with the Raffle Leaves at Large (London, 1771). See C. Lucey, Keeping up appearances: Redecorating the domestic interior in late eighteenth-century Dublin, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature , 2011, Vol. 111C, Special Issue: Domestic life in Ireland (2011), pp. 169-192. 43 See L. Mulvin, Charles Robert Cockerell, Francis Johnston and the dissemination of neo-classical principles, in Mulvin (ed.), The Fusion of Neoclassical Principles, pp. 163-169. 44 See P. McCarthy, Classical influences in the work of Richard and William Vitruvius Morrison, in Mulvin (ed.), The Fusion of Neoclassical Principles, pp. 151-163. Grateful thanks are due to Jim Reynolds and Professor James Ryan for providing access to Ballyfin for the purposes of publication.

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ornamental details identifiable in the grand domestic interiors and grand designs for exteriors in Europe. These publications would advance neoclassical studies well into the nineteenth century, as they evolved from the myth of Palmyra and Baalbek, and the approach to the ruins captured the neoclassical imagination. These mythical sites became a trope for the classical scholar, as revealed in drawings, engravings and paintings from the seventeenth century onwards: Dutchman Cornelis de Bruijn (see Chapter 2), Austrian architect, sculptor and architectural historian Fischer von Erlach (16561723), Borra, and later Diderot would illustrate the experience of visiting these ruins, meticulously detailed as part of the human experience; and these responses were then made available to the growing network of grand tourists.45 Neoclassical pictorial representations created new and original images of the ancient world, providing at once access to antiquity and a shared continuity with the past. Such art images propagated the neoclassical concept of imitation of the past by reproducing accurate observations and representations of the antique building tradition in published monographs. The great expedition led by Wood was a tour to the Levant, designed innovatively as a joint enterprise and one that turned the ‘antiquarian tradition of individual voyages into a collaborative enterprise of a team of experts with a clear distribution of assignments.’46 The resulting publications combined architectural and topographical elements. The published accounts were well-rounded as the implied sequences of topographical maps and prospects of landscapes became central to the neoclassical debate. The accurate identification of geographical features, followed by measured surveys of the architectural elements, as well as the recording of the setting and the geographical location of the sites, would help to greatly improve the understanding of the combined architectural elements of plans, elevations and sections, and decorative motifs.

Epilogue Perhaps the most questionable aspect of Robert Wood’s legacy is the fact that the entire operation of his literary output – from the 1750-1751 expedition to the publication of his two lavishly illustrated architectural volumes – was financed by the proceeds of the slave trade. While this fact has been largely overlooked in modern literature,47 it needs to be acknowledged in light of the current debate. As Wood was keen to stress in his books, James ‘Jamaica’ Dawkins (the wealthy heir to a sugar plantation in Clarendon) was not only his patron, but a dear and generous friend. Given that he availed of his extreme generosity during his lifetime (when permitted 45 See the discussion of the reception of the archaic Greek temples at Paestum with reference to diversity of visitors’ engagement and responses, in the recent publication of S. de Jong, Rediscovering Architecture: Paestum in Eighteenth-Century Architectural Experience and Theory (New Haven, 2015), pp. 25-36. 46 See Zoller, Giovanni Battista Borra and Robert Wood, pp. 28-35. 47 Apart from one recent study that directs the reader to the entry for James Dawkins in UCL’s ‘Legacies of British Slave-Ownership’ online database: see Baird and Kamash, Remembering Roman Syria, p. 19.

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to keep the profits from Ruins of Palmyra) and after his untimely death (when he became a beneficiary of his will), Wood benefitted from the slave trade indirectly. At the same time, he married a woman whose three brothers were already involved in occupations related to the trafficking of slaves. However, in contrast with his friend Horace Walpole, who declared at a parliamentary debate that it ‘chill[ed] the blood’ to hear that 64,000 slaves were being sold in the English colonies each year,48 nowhere in his travel manuscripts or published material, or indeed in any of his surviving letters, did he refer to the matter of contemporary slavery. However, there are several books in his Library Sale Catalogue (1732) on travels and histories of the West Indies, including Lot 700, John Campbell’s Candid and Impartial Considerations on the Nature of the Sugar Trade (London, 1763); and while he may not have condoned the system, he does not seem to have openly questioned its morality. Nevertheless, Wood was a man of his time, and his efforts were of great and lasting significance. In particular, he will be remembered for his pioneering contribution to classical poetry; for promoting and advancing the study of the historical ruins of Palmyra and Baalbek; and for creating an invaluable record of these monuments, which has enabled reconstruction in recent times. He will also be remembered for his enthusiastic support of the Athens project and the Ionian expeditions through his election, albeit long overdue, to the Society of Dilettanti. (Rachel Finnegan and Lynda Mulvin)

48 For making this statement, Walpole has been included in the National Portrait Gallery of London’s ‘Portraits: People & Abolition’ category. See: National Portrait Gallery, London. Horace Walpole: Portraits: people & abolition (2021). Available at: https://www.npg.org.uk/learning/digital/history/abolition-ofslavery/horace-walpole See also S. Pincus, Global Encounters and the Archives: Britain’s Empire in the Age of Horace Walpole (1717-1797) (New Haven, 2018) – a booklet accompanying an exhibition that year.

Bibliography Manuscript Sources Wills Will of James Dawkins of Clarendon Island of Jamaica, West Indies, 27 January 1758, The National Archives, PROB 11/835/259. Will of Ann Wood of Stanhope Street, St. George’s, Hanover Square, widow, 27 September 1772, Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies, AH 1466. Will of Ann Wood, Widow of Saint Nicholas, Glamorganshire, 23 December 1803, The National Archives, PROB 11/1402/279. Will of Robert Wood of Saint George Hanover Square, Middlesex, 22 February 1771, The National Archives, PROB 11/971/109. Letters Letter from Robert Adam to his sister Jenny Adam, 14 March 1755, National Records of Scotland, Papers of Clerk Family of Penicuik, Midlothian, GD18/4767. Letter from Robert Adam to his brother John Adam, 31 May 1755, National Records of Scotland, Papers of Clerk Family of Penicuik, Midlothian, GD18/4774. Letter from Robert Adam to Betty Adam, 24 August 1755, National Records of Scotland, Papers of Clerk family of Penicuik, Midlothian, GD18/4785. Letter from Cardinal Albani to Sir Horace Mann, Rome, 15 January 1745, PRO London, State Papers Ms 98/50. Letter from Duke of Bridgewater to Lord Gower, 29 March 1753, Paris, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/d. Letter from Duke of Bridgewater to Lord Gower, 16 April 1753, Lyons, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/e. Letter from Duke of Bridgewater to Lord Gower, 11 May 1753, Lyons, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/f. Letter from Alexander Drummond to Samuel Crawley [Smyrna], Alexandretta, 14 February 1751, British Library, Add MS. 45.933: Alexander Drummond’s Letter Books (volume 2): p. 117: [Alexander Drummond] To Samuel Crawley [Smirna], Alexandretta 14 February 1751. Letter from Sir Horace Mann to the Duke of Newcastle, Florence, 26 January 1745, PRO London, State Papers Ms 98/50, f. 33r. Letter from Richard Pococke to his uncle Bishop Thomas Milles, 19/30 August 1737, Venice, British Library, Add MS. 15774. Letter from Richard Pococke to his mother Elizabeth Pococke, British Library, 6/17 September 1737, Leghorn, British Library, Add M 22997. Letter from James Stuart to Robert Wood, Smyrna, 30 May 1753, Sheffield City Archives, WWM/R/1/42.

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Letter from Robert Wood to Lord Gower, 19 March 1753, Paris, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/b. Letter from Robert Wood to Lord Gower, 29 March 1753, Paris, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/c. Letter from Robert Wood to Lord Gower, 25 May 1753, Lyons, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/g. Letter from Robert Wood to Lord Gower, 30 May 1753, Lyons, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/h. Letter from Robert Wood to Lord Gower, 7 June 1753, Lyons, The University of Salford Archives and Special Collections, DBA/1/6/i. Letter from Robert Wood to the Marquess of Rockingham, Lyons, 26 September 1753, Sheffield City Archives, WWM/R/1/41. Letter from Robert Wood to Sir William Chambers, London, 22 August 1757, Royal Academy of Arts Archive, CHA/1/5. Other Manuscripts A Voyage Round the Mediterranean in the Years 1738 & 1739, National Maritime Museum, ref. SAN/F/50. Catalogue of Books at Roehampton, 1762, Stansted Park, West Sussex. Chancery Final Decrees for 1772, AALT image 0179 (p. 1 of the document), The National Archives, C79/282. Papers of Michael McCarthy, UCD School of Art History and Cultural Policy. ‘View of the Monument of Philopappus’, Athens, RIBA Library Drawings Collection, SD145/10.

Printed and Online Sources Note: the last checked date of access for all online sources was 27 July 2022. Abū al-Fidā (1273-1331) 1869. An Abridgment of the History of the Human Race, 2 vols. Constantinople. Adam, J.P. 2001. Roman Building: Materials and Techniques. London: Routledge. Adam, R. 1746. Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia By R. Adam F.R.S. F.S.A. Architect to the King and to the Queen. London. Astengo, G. 2016. The rediscovery of Palmyra and its dissemination in Philosophical Transactions, Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science 70(3): no page numbers. Available at: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ doi/10.1098/rsnr.2015.0059 [accessed 27 July 2022]. Adimari, A. 1631. Ode Di Pindaro Antichissimo Poeta: Cioè, Olimpie & Pithie & Nemee & Istmie Tradotte in Parafrasi, & in Rima Toscana Da Alessandro Adimari, e dichiarata dal medesimo. Con Osseruazioni, e Confronti d’Alcuni Luoghi Immitati, ò Tocchi Da Orazio Flacco. Pisa.

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Index Note: for reasons of space, individual places visited by Wood and his contemporaries are not included in the index and some general subjects are listed as passim, as they occur frequently throughout the text. In the latter context the reader may find it useful to refer to the extensive contents list. Also, in cases where eighteenthcentury placenames (or the names of antiquities) differ from the modern and/or ancient versions, the various forms are given in brackets. Only a few eighteenthcentury and modern commentators are listed in the index; for others the reader is directed to the footnotes and bibliography. Adam, James 54 Adam, Robert 64-67, 78, 79, 88, 89, 104, 163 Agher, Co. Meath 37-38 Albani, Cardinal Allesandro 45-46 Aleppo 5, 8, 14, 17, 18, 24, 42, 43, 55, 56, 82, 89, 90 Andronicus of Cyrrhus 129 Antiquities (Baalbek) see Ch. 5 Antiquities (Palmyra) See Ch. 4 Athens 7, 11, 13, 16, 55, 56, 57, 95, 98, 129, 153, 159-160, 166 Baalbek (or Balbec, the ancient Heliopolis) passim, esp. Chapters 2 and 5 Balfour, Blayney-Townley 164 Ballyfin House, Co. Laois 164 Bartolozzi, Francesco 144, 147 Bedouins 13, 17, 134 Belgrad(e) Forest 8 Bentley, Richard 87 Bobbit, Henry (?) 50, 51 Bonomi, Joseph 80 Boothby, Sir William 71 Borra, Giovanni Battista x, xi, 15-16, 19, 20, 21, 48, 53-54, 55, 56, 58, 83, 85, 86, 91, 92, 95, 98, 99, 100, 106 109, 111, 145, 147, 153, 157, 160, 163, 165 Bouverie, John x, 10-12, 19, 20, 43, 4655, 58, 71, 87, 122, 123

Bowyer, William 114, 115, 116, 118 Bridgewater Collection 153, 156 Bridgewater Gallery 153 British Museum 42, 82, 144 Bryant, Jacob 80-81, 118, 124-125 Burdett, Revd Charles 8 Burke, Edmund 111 Carriera, Rosalba 48 Cassels, Richard 37 Caulfeild, James 1st Earl Charlemont xi, 9 Chambers, Sir William 68, 78, 103 Chandler, Richard 71, 72, 87, 114, 144, 147, 159 Charles VII (King of Naples and pretender to the throne of Spain) 44, 45 Chiswick House, London 163 Clarendon, Jamaica 165 Clarke, Samuel 112 Clarke, Samuel junior (?) 115-116 Clérisseau, Charles-Louis 64-65 Constantinople (Istanbul) 2-3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 16, 18, 23, 41, 42, 47, 54, 95, 140 Crawley, Samuel 8, 55, 56 D’Aeth, Thomas 8 Dalzel, Andrew 131 Dawkins, Henry (brother of James) 52, 157, 158 Dawkins, Henry (father of James) 51

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood Dawkins, James x, xi, 7-10, 19, 20, 28, 40, 43, 47, 48, 49, 51-53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 69, 73, 76, 82, 83, 85, 87, 91, 100. 104, 105, 113, 121, 122, 123, 141, 153, 157, 158, 159, 165 De Bruijn, Cornelis 24, 165 De Mauve, Mr 101, 103 Desgodetz, Antoine Babuty 65, 86 Diderot, Denis 160, 161, 165, Divan Club, London 4, 30, 47 Drummond, Alexander 8, 14, 42, 55, 56, 58 East India Company 5, 14, 55, 67, 71 Eastern travel writing 3 Egerton, Francis, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater xi, 53, 59-64, 66, 68, 69, 70, 73, 74, 153, 154, 155, 157 Egypt 1, 4, 14, 15, 17, 18, 25, 26, 43, 55, 66, 86, 117, 124, 128, 129, 131, 132, 133, 142 Egyptian Society, London 4, 25, 30 Elmsly, Peter 81, 84 Euphrates 56, 94 Fiennes Clinton, Henry, Earl of Lincoln 30, 54 Fitzhugh, William 55-56 Florence 45, 49, 51, 63, 64, 78 Fourdrinier, Paul (or Peter) 83, 100 Franks (foreign residents in the east) 5, 8, 12, 42, 127 Freemasonry 58 Gibbon, Edward 45, 68-69, 119, 148 Glasgow University 37-39 Grant, Abbé Peter 64 Güzelhisar/Guzelhisar (formerly named Aydin̊̊ or Tralles, the ancient Magnesia ad Maenandrum) 10, 12, 49, 55 Halifax, Revd William 89-90 Halley, Edmund 89-90 Hamilton, Gavin 94, 157-158

Harewood House, Yorkshire 163 Hewett, William 47 Homer and Homeric geography passim, esp. Chapter 6 Hope-Weir, Charles 64 Inscriptions see Chapter 2 and 90-91 Izmir (Smyrna) 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 42, 49, 50, 51, 55, 56, 59, 87, 127 Jacobitism 45, 49, 51, 57, 58 James, Haughton 71 Johnson, Samuel 51 Johnston, Francis 164 Kensington Palace, London 163 Kilruddery, Co. Wicklow Le Roy, Julien-David 88 Lee, Anthony 43, 44 Lee, Richard 8 Leeson, Joseph, senior 43 Leeson, Joseph, 1st Earl of Milltown xi, 2, 43-46, 47-48, 58 Levant Company 5, 8, 42, 50, 56 Levison-Gower, Granville (Earl Gower) 59-62 Liotard, Jean-Étienne 2-3 Liston, Lady Henrietta 1, 8 Liston, Sir Robert 1, 9 Lyttelton, Sir Richard 59, 69 MacArdell, James 53 Major, Thomas 83, 100, 145, 146 Mann, Sir Horace 45, 46, 49, 53 Manners, John, Marquess of Granby 4, 47 Mason, James 87 Maty, Matthew 82, 88 McCullagh, James 164 Mengs, Anton Raphael 63, 153-156 Middle Temple, London 39-40, 51 Millar, Andrew 82, 100, 103, 151, 152 Milles, Bishop Thomas 26, 41 Milles, Revd Jeremiah 26

Index Montagu, John, 4th Earl of Sandwich 2, 9, 29, 30 Morrison, William Vitruvius 164 Müller, T.M. junior 83, 98 Murray, James, Earl of Dunbar 45 Naples 2, 7, 15, 16, 28, 44, 47, 51, 55, 63, 85, 144 National Portrait Gallery, London 29, 32, 52, 62, 155, 156, 158, 166 Nile 15, 124, 132, 142 Osterley Park, London 163 Padua University 40 Palmyra (Tadmor, Tedmor) passim, esp. Chapters 2 and 4 Parnell, Archdeacon Thomas 135 Parry, Milman 127-128 Pars, William 71, 119, 144, 145, 146, 147 Payne, Thomas senior 81, 84, 101, 118, 120 Payne, Thomas junior 84, 101 Pelham-Holles, Thomas 1st Duke of Newcastle 45 Perry, Charles 3, 25-26, 82, 134, 151 Phelps, Richard 48, 71 Philopappos Monument, Athens 159 Pierce, Sir Edward Lovett 37 Piranesi, Giovanni Battista 157 Pitt, Thomas 71 Pitt, William, 1st Earl of Chatham 19, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 80 Pitton de Tournefort, J. 25 Pococke, Mrs Elisabeth (née Milles) 26, 41 Pococke, Revd Richard xi, 3, 8, 12, 14, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 41, 51, 129, 140, 149, 151 Ponsonby, Frederick, 3rd Earl of Bessborough 2, 22, 79 Ponsonby, William, 2nd Earl of Bessborough xi, 1, 2, 3, 22, 79 Powerscourt House, Dublin 164 Presbyterianism 31-37, 82

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Pullinger, Arthur 42 Ramsay, Allan 66, 155-156 Revett, Nicholas 52-53, 57, 71, 72, 87, 114, 153, 157, 159-160 Reynolds, Sir Joshua 32, 78-79 Reynolds, Michael 164 Rigby, Richard 69 Rivers, J. 69, 70 Riverstown Castle, Co. Meath 31 33, 80 Robinson, Hon. Thomas 71 Rome 19, 29, 43-49, 51-54, 57, 58, 6366, 79, 86, 88, 91, 92, 95, 97, 98, 106, 112, 113, 153, 155, 157 Rowley, Hon. Hercules Langford 37 Royal Academy (RA), London 68, 78 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), London 53, 159 Royal Society (RS), London 4, 82, 89, Royal Society of Edinburgh 131 Ruins of Balbec (Robert Wood) passim, esp. Chapter 5 Ruins of Palmyra (Robert Wood) passim, esp. Chapter 4 Russel, James (artist, art dealer in Rome) 29, 49, 57, 58 Russel, Revd Richard 49, 57, 58 Russel, William (bookseller) 29 Russell, Dr Alexander 42, 82 Russell, Francis, Marquess of Tavistock 71 Russell, John, 4th Duke of Bedford 59, 63, 73 Russell, Lady Rachael 59 Scamander (Karamenderes) 55, 112, 123, 124, 130, 131, 140, 141, 142, 145, 149 Scanderoon (İskenderun) 14, 42 Scio (Chios) 7, 9, 17, 42, 127 Scottish National Gallery 153, 157 Septimia Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra 89, 92, 98 Shaw, Revd Thomas 25, 26, 117, 151 Sherard, William 14

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The Life and Works ofRobert Wood Simois 55, 112, 124, 131 Sir John Soane’s Museum 80 Skottowe, John senior 67 Skottowe, Captain Nicholas 67, 71, 73, 74 Skottowe, Thomas junior 67 Skottowe, Thomas senior 67, 72 Slavery, slave trade xi, 51, 52, 82, 165166 Society of Antiquaries of London 4, 33 Society of Dilettanti, London 4, 31, 52, 71, 72, 87, 166 Spence, Revd Joseph 9, 28-30, 47, 5354, 112-115, 127 Stafford Gallery 63, 64, 153 Stanhope, Lady Hester Lucy 1 St George’s Church, Bloomsbury, London 164 St John’s College Oxford 51 Stowe House, Buckinghamshire 163 Stratfield Saye, Hampshire 163 Stuart, James (‘Athenian’) 52, 53, 57, 59, 87, 153, 159-160 Stuart, John, 3rd Earl of Bute 70 Summerhill, Co. Meath 31, 33, 34, 3537 Sutton, John, of Clarendon, Jamaica 53 Temple of Divus Hadrianus, Rome 106 Temple of Mars Ultor, Rome 106 Temple, Richard, 1st Viscount Cobham 163 Temples at Baalbek see Chapter 5 Temples at Palmyra see Chapter 4 The Original Genius of Homer (Robert Wood) passim, esp. Chapter 6 Tholos of Delphi 107 Thynne, Thomas, 1st Marquess of Bath (3rd Viscount Weymouth) 70 Tower of the Winds, Athens Townley Hall, County Louth 164 Townson, Thomas 51 Troy, Troas, Trojan Plain passim, esp. Chapter 6

Valley of the Tombs, Palmyra 94, 98 Venice 18, 40, 41, 47, 48, 54 Vernet, Joseph 48 von Erlach, Fischer 165 Walpole, George, 3rd Earl of Orford 76 Walpole, Sir Horace, 4th Earl of Orford 31, 32, 41, 45-46, 49, 69, 70, 72, 7578, 80, 87, 88, 104, 114, 116-117, 166 Watson-Wentworth, Charles, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham 63 Webb, Philip Carteret 70 Widener Library, Harvard University 127 Wilkes, John 70 Wilton, Joseph 77-78, 80 Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire 163 Wood, Revd Alexander (Robert Wood’s father) 33, 34, 38, 61, 66 Wood, Ann (née Skottowe, Robert Wood’s wife) xi, 22, 31, 34, 60, 61, 67, 68, 69, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 118 Wood collection (manuscripts, Hellenic and Roman Library, University of London) passim, esp. Chapter 2 Wood, Elizabeth (Robert Wood’s daughter) 7, 16, 17, 28, 68, 73, 74 Wood, Letitia (née Galbraith, Robert Wood’s mother) 31, 33 Wood, Lieutenant Colonel Robert junior (Robert Wood’s son and heir) 73-74 Wood, Robert senior passim Books by (see under The Original Genius of Homer, Ruins or Balbec, Ruins of Palmyra) Children of (see under Wood, Elizabeth, Robert, Thomas) Eastern travels of passim, esp. Chapters 2-6 European travels of see Chapter 3 Life/biography passim, esp. Chapter 3

Index Library Sale Catalogue (1772) passim, esp. Chapters 2 and 6 Siblings of 37, 61, 63 Wife of (see under Wood, Ann) Wood, Thomas (Robert Wood’s infant son) 67, 73, 80 Wortley Montagu, Sir Edward 1 Wortley Montagu, Lady Mary 1, 8 Wyndham, Charles, 2nd Earl of Egremont 70

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