[Sir Thomas Lawrence, President of the Royal Academy.] Four manuscript documents from his sister's descendants the Aston family: a pedigree, tracing Lawrence's mother back to William the Conqueror, and three inventories of engravings and books.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830), President of the Royal Academy and distinguished portrait painter
Publication details: 
Without place or date. (English, nineteenth century.)
£280.00
SKU: 20968

ONE: Manuscript pedigree. On one side of a 49 x 38 cm piece of thick laid paper, with no watermark. Folded three times. Discoloured and with light damp staining. The greater part of the pedigree is written in ink in a loose hand, and traces the descent of Sir Thomas Lawrence's mother Lucy (née Read) to William the Conqueror. The pedigree is continued in pencil at the foot of the document, with the eldest of the five children of Thomas and Lucy Lawrence named as 'Sir Thomas Lawrence P.R.A.' The pedigree continues through the youngest of the couple's five children, the artist's sister Lucy, who married John Meredith, their daughter Lucy marrying John Aston, and the couple having ten children.) TWO: Three nineteenth-century manuscript inventories, in different hands, the first two of collections of engravings, the last of books of engravings, the three lists collected together with a brass stud. The first page of the first list aged and lightly-stained, otherwise in fair condition. Clearly the property of a member of the Aston family, and the last list suggesting preparation for sale. Only the first list relates to Lawrence. First (4pp., 4to, bifolium), a two-part list, the first page headed 'The Lawrence Gallery Vol. I. Description engraver size', applying to the first two pages, which list 47 artworks; the third page, headed 'The Lawrence Gallery Vol. II', lists a further 47 artworks. The lists would appear to describe the contents of an actual album ("book") in two volumes, containing portraits of Lawrence and his contemporaries. The first four entries in the first volume are: '1 Frontispiece – Vignette. Sir Thomas Lawrence. Line engr: | 2. Sir Thomas Lawrence. - Proof Line engravg. | 3. King George IV. Outline lithograph with autograph. | 4. The young King of Rome. Lithograph for picture – painted in outline engr by Lewis at Vienna'. Dimensions are given to the entries for the second volume (e.g. '14 Madame Collier. Fine old mezzotint 17 ½ x 14 slightly spotted'), and in some cases in the first (e.g. '20 Prince Metternich, mezzotint engr. Couleur 15 x 12 fine state'). The final entry of all is '47. Original Sepia Drawing of Sir Thomas Lawrence Studio.', with 'given to C R A' added in pencil, the recipient being Lawrence's great-nephew Charles Reginald Aston. Second, list (3pp., 4to) of 42 items, headed 'Line engravings, after Sir Joshua Reynolds & others, mounted on cardboard & bound in 2 folio vols. 27 x 20 – half morrocco [sic] cloth'. Third page headed 'Vol. II. | Reynolds &c. engravings'. Engravers' names and dimensions are stated, and entries are dated between 1777 and 1878. Third, list (2pp., 4to) of 'Books in Mahogany Box.' Fifteen unnumbered titles, the earliest-dated being 'Ruins of Palmyra. 1753. Architectural', and the latest 'Grindley's Scenery of India Folio. 1830 coloured prints'. At end: 'Also some good Quarto illustrated Books in lower Bookcases.'