VIEW OF THE BEAUTIFUL CASCADE, NEAR MATLOCK-BATH 1771 ANTIQUE ENGRAVING

Original 1771 6 1/8 inch x 10 3/4 inch copper plate engraving titled VIEW OF THE BEAUTIFUL CASCADE, NEAR MATLOCK-BATH, IN DERBYSHIRE.

View of Lumsdale Falls near Matlock surrounded by trees, with two walkers in the foreground and a fisherman fishing in Bentley Brook.

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. Reverse side blank.