On offer: an original (i.e. not a later reproduction) scarce print "A Front View of the Earl of Westmorland Seat with part of the Park.". A view of Mereworth Castle in Kent.
DATE PRINTED: 1776.
SIZE: The printed area including titles is approximately 19.5 x 11.5 cm (7.5 x 4.5 inches) plus margins with a blank back (small).
ARTIST/CARTOGRAPHER/ENGRAVER: Published by Robert Goadby (1721–1778), an English printer and publisher in Sherborne, Dorset. He was a Whig supporter, and influential through his newspaper, the Sherborne Mercury. He was also responsible for the biography of the rogue Bampfylde Moore Carew; Goadby and his wife have both in fact been claimed as the author of a popular work on his life that gave Carew the status of folk hero.
PROVENANCE: Published in "A new display of the beauties of England: or A description of the most elegant or magnificent public edifices, royal palaces, noblemen's and gentlemen's seats, and other curiosities, natural or artificial " . London, Printed for R. Goadby, and sold by J. Towers, and by R. Baldwin, 1776.
TYPE: Antique copper plate engraving printed on paper.
VERSO: There is nothing printed on the reverse side, which is blank.
CONDITION: Good; suitable for framing. Please check the scan for any blemishes prior to making your purchase. Virtually all antiquarian maps and prints are subject to some normal aging due to use and time which is not significant unless otherwise stated. I offer a no questions asked return policy.
AUTHENTICITY: This is an authentic antique print, published at the date stated above. I do not offer reproductions. It is not a modern copy. The term 'original' when applied to a print means that it was printed at the first or original date of publication; it does not imply that the item is unique.
RETURNS POLICY: I offer a no questions returns policy. All I ask is that you pay return shipping and mail back to me in original condition.
POSTAGE / SHIPPING COSTS: I only charge postage for the first print ordered. There is no additional postage charge if you order more than one print.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Mereworth Castle is a grade I listed Palladian country house in Mereworth, Kent, England. Originally the site of a fortified manor house with licence to crenellate in 1332, the manor of Mereworth was inherited by Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland (1580-1629) (son and heir of Sir Thomas Fane (died 1589) of Badsell in the parish of Tudeley in Kent) from his mother Mary Neville, suo jure Baroness le Despenser (c. 1554–1626), sole daughter and heiress of Henry Nevill, 6th Baron Bergavenny (died 1587). The present building is not actually a castle, but was built in the 1720s by John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland to the 1723 design of the architect Colen Campbell being an almost exact copy of Palladio's Villa Rotunda near Venice. The interior features plasterwork by Giovanni Bagutti and fresco painting by Francesco Sleter. The house is situated in a landscaped park and valley with a number of surrounding pavilions and lodges which are also Grade I listed. It was used as a prisoner of war camp during World War II. In the 1950s and 1960s it was owned by artist Michael Lambert Tree (1921–1999), a son of Ronald Tree and an heir to the Marshall Field mercantile fortune, and his wife, Lady Anne Cavendish, daughter of the 10th Duke of Devonshire. Tree inherited the house from his uncle, Peter Beatty, who died on 26 October 1949. Mereworth Castle is owned by Mahdi Al-Tajir, the former United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United Kingdom and owner of the Highland Spring bottled water company, who purchased it in 1976. It is not generally accessible to the public, but does open on rare occasions for guided tours.
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