PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE PETRIFYING, OR DROPPING WELL 1771 ANTIQUE ENGRAVING

Original 1771 6 inch x 10 5/8 inch copper plate engraving titled PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE PETRIFYING, OR DROPPING WELL, & RUINS OF KNARESBROUGH CASTLE, IN YORKSHIRE.

View of a waterfall from an overhanging cliff, to left, a woman walking past it from the left foreground, towards two couples gathered at a round table, admiring the sight, with a cliff covered by trees behind them, one looking to right, across the river which winds past them, towards a ruined castle on a height in the distance.

After Thomas Smith of Derby (c.1720 - 1767). An artist of whom little is known, Thomas Smith 'of Derby' is nonetheless a pivotal figure in the genesis of the English picturesque. His series of 'Eight of the most extraordinary Natural Prospects in the Mountainous Part of Derbyshire and Staffordshire, commonly called the Peak' are the earliest prints to depict features of the English countryside as pure landscape in its own right.
Smith gauged his market well and by 1751 had published a total of fifty large prints of English natural scenery, parks and ruins.

From ‘The complete English Traveller; a new survey and Description of England and wales. Containing a full Account of whatever is curious and entertaining in the several Counties of England and Wales, The Isles of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, and other islands adjoining to, and dependant on the Crown of Great Britain’ by Nathaniel Spencer.

Printed for John Cooke, Shakespeare’s Head, Paternoster Row, London 1771.

Page size 9 inch x 14 inch

The engraving, on chain-laid paper, is in very good condition with minor age related toning and a short tear in the white border. Reverse side blank.