The Beauties of Stow

BICKHAM, George.  THE BEAUTIES OF STOW OR A DESCRIPTION OF THE MOST NOBLE HOUSE, GARDENS & MAGNIFICENT BUILDINGS THEREIN.

(London): G. Bickham, (1756). 8vo. Contemporary full-calf. Folding engraved frontispiece (7 3/4 x 14 1/4 inches), engraved title leaf, folding engraved map (15 x 11 inches), 40 pages, 30 engraved plates. First edition.

Bickham's guide book to Stowe was one of the earliest and rarest produced.  According to the title page, an abridged version, with sixteen views, was available at the New Inn, at the entrance to the gardens for one guinea.  Stowe was the country seat of the Temple family since 1593 and had one of the most famous gardens in England.  Open to the public, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson visited there.  Jefferson was most impressed and used some of the design features for his Virginia projects.  In the gardens of Stowe, Sir Richard Temple and his successors created the first "natural garden" in England, incorporating the work of John Vanbrugh, William Kent, and James Gibbs, with Charles Bridgeman's garden temples and other buildings.  The gardens also influenced the later work of "Capability" Broiwn, who made further modifications to Stowe under Viscount Cobham.  Sometimes mistakenly dated 1750, this first edition of Bickham's work includes plates dated 1753 and 1756, as do other copies we have checked.  The book is most uncommon in commerce.  Our copy has been rebacked using the original spine as an overlay.  The folded frontispiece has been shaved along the top edge, and the edges of the folding map are chipped, still a very good.

$3,250.00