The Life and Works of Robert Wood

Classicist and Traveller (1717-1771)

Rachel Finnegan, Lynda Mulvin

• Publisher: Archaeopress Archaeology
• Year: 2022
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781803271774
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

The Life and Works of Robert Wood (1717-1771) commemorates the Irish classicist and traveller on the 250th anniversary of his death and provides 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. The book starts by setting the context of eighteenth-century travels to the east and then examines the primary sources emanating from Wood's own eastern voyages, as well as the relevant literary sources available to him before, during, and after his travels. It then provides an extensive and much-needed biographical account of Robert Wood, with particular reference to his Irish and English patrons, before examining the main results of the second tour (1750-1751), namely his three pioneering books: Ruins of Palmyra (1753), Ruins of Balbec (1757), and The Original Genius of Homer (1775). It ends by considering the enormous legacy of Robert Wood, in terms of the popularity of his books; 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 text also reflects 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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents Page
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Eighteenth-Century British Travellers in the East
• The Sources
• 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)
• Biographical Account of Robert 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)
• 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)
• Ruins of Palmyra (1753)
• 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)
• Ruins of Balbec (1757)
• 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)
• The Original Genius of Homer (1775)
• 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)
• Conclusion: The Legacy of Robert Wood
• 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)
• Bibliography
• Index