Ogmore Castle, Glamorganshire

  • About the work
    Location
    Country: Belarus
    City: Minsk
    Place: British Embassy
    This page, illustrated with a view of the ruins of Ogmore Castle in Wales, is from volume four of The Antiquities of England and Wales, written by antiquary Francis Grose (c.1731–1791). The small engravings of historical sites which illustrate Grose’s text have been described as ‘similar in character’ to works by Samuel Buck (1696–1779), who documented historical sites in England some 50 years earlier, between 1724 and 1725, and produced engravings with the help of his brother Nathaniel (died 1753–59).

    The first part of Grose’s Antiquities appeared in 1772 and the last part in 1787. It was published by the bookseller and publisher Samuel Hooper. According to the text beneath the image, this illustration of Ogmore Castle was engraved after a drawing by Hooper.
  • About the artist
    Little is known of the bookseller and publisher Samuel Hooper, the artist of this work and landlord of Francis Grose at the time the work was published. Hooper tried several professions. He was working as a linen draper when he went bankrupt in 1777 and in November 1778 he is described as ‘Samuel Hooper, of Ludgate-hill, London, Bookseller, Dealer and Chapman’, when notice is again given of his subsequent bankruptcy in the ‘London Gazette’.
    Richard Bernard Godfrey, draughtsman and printmaker, was probably born in London. Little is known of his early life. He exhibited at the Society of Artists from 1765 to 1770. The majority of his works were book illustrations for London publishers, in particular topographical and antiquarian illustrations. His best-known works are for Francis Grose's ‘Antiquities of England and Wales’ (published 1772-87) and for the periodical ‘Antiquarian Repertory’ (published 1775-86), for which Godfrey was also the publisher and editor. He also worked for private individuals, including the author, politician, and patron of the arts Horace Walpole (1717-1797).
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  • Details
    Title
    Ogmore Castle, Glamorganshire
    Date
    published 2 January 1776
    Medium
    Engraving
    Acquisition
    Purchased from F B Daniell, October 1951
    Provenance
    With F. B. Daniell; from whom purchased by the Ministry of Works in October 1951
    GAC number
    1378