Difference between revisions of "Ruins of Athens"

Revision as of 08:43, 15 May 2015

by Julien-David Le Roy

Ruins of Athens
Title not held by The Wolf Law Library at the College of William & Mary.
Author	Julien-David Le Roy
Editor	Robert Sayer
Translator	Robert Sayer
Published	London: Robert Sayer
Date	1759
Edition	English
Language	First English edition
Volumes	volume set
Pages	ii, 31, [1] pages, 26 leaves of plates
Desc.	(55 cm.)

Robert Sayer (1725-1794) was an English print, map, and chart publisher who catered to the growing public interest in architectural and decorative works in London in the 1750s. Described as a "shrewd and cautious" publisher, Sayer found success based on his commercial skills, not creative skills. Sayer eventually expanded his publication business by reaching provincial, colonial, and foreign markets, but remained based in London. Sayer passed away in 1794.^[1]

In 1759, Sayer published Ruins of Athens as a translated version of Les Ruines des plus Beaux Monuments de la Grèce by Julien-David Le Roy (1724?-1803). Le Roy's Les ruines was a highly controversial work on classical Greek architecture that fueled intellectual debate among scholars of Greek and Roman art during the eighteenth-century Greek Revival.

Despite being billed as a direct translation of Les Ruines, Sayer’s publication of Ruins of Athens did not include any of Le Roy’s observations on architectural theory and history, nor did Sayer include Le Roy’s narrative regarding his voyage to Greece. Instead, Ruins of Athens was largely based on George Wheeler’s late seventeenth-century journey to Greece.^[2] Ruins of Athens was not faithful to Le Roy’s original architectural figures and drawings, either, as Sayer’s adaptation had "monuments crowded together in invented locations" and was viewed as "a cheap 'pirate' edition" of Les Ruines.^[3]

While being unfaithful to Le Roy's original material, Ruins of Athens also served as one of the first works to heavily critique Le Roy’s architectural assertions in Les Ruines. In his translated and edited version, Sayer accused Le Roy’s architectural measurements of being incorrect, stating that "the small and great Measurements disagree" due to Le Roy’s "own Want of Attention, or inaccuracy of the Engraver."^[4] Le Roy’s work was critiqued by others as well. Three years after the publication of Les ruines, James Stuart and Nicholas Revett published The Antiquities of Athens, a book detailing monumental remains of ancient Greek architecture. Throughout their work, Stuart’s written footnotes continually critiqued Le Roy’s Les Ruines. In turn, Le Roy offered "savage critiques" of The Antiquities of Athens, even while many others praised Stuart and Revett for their work. ^[5]

Ultimately, Stuart and Revett’s work became credited for developing the field of classical archeology and served as "the principal source-book for the Greek Revival."^[6] However, both Le Roy’s Les Ruines and Sayer’s Ruins of Athens have been hailed as "less accurate, but nevertheless important" works on classical architecture.^[7] Figures from Ruins of Athens still appear in modern works on classicism in Greek archeology.^[8]

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "LeRoy’s Ruins of Athens. fol." This was one of the books kept by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson later sold a copy of "Ruins of Athens" to the Library of Congress in 1815, but it no longer exists to verify Wythe's prior ownership.^[9] Both the Brown Bibliography^[10] and George Wythe's Library^[11] on LibraryThing include the 1759 edition of Sayers' translated version of Le Roy's Les Ruines des plus Beaux Monuments de la Grèce which may have been the only English version.

As yet, the Wolf Law Library has been unable to purchase a copy of Ruins of Athens.

References

1. ↑ Susanna Fisher, "Sayer, Roberts (1224/5-1794)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed March 25, 2015.
2. ↑ Christopher Drew Armstrong, Julien-David Leroy and the Making of Architectural History (New York: Routledge, 2012), 6.
3. ↑ Richard Stoneman, Land of Lost Gods: The Search for Classical Greece, rev. ed. (1987; repr., New York: Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2010), 323.
4. ↑ Armstrong, Julien-David Leroy, 6.
5. ↑ Jason M. Kelly, "Society of Dilettanti (act. 1732-2003)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed March 20, 2015.
6. ↑ James Curl, Georgian Architecture, rev. ed. (1993; repr., Singapore: CS Graphics Pte., 2002), 78.
7. ↑ Ibid., 79.
8. ↑ Michael Shanks, The Classical Archaeology of Greece: Experiences of the Discipline (New York: Routledge, 1996), 71.
9. ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 4:367 (no.4189).
10. ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012, rev. May, 2014) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433
11. ↑ LibraryThing, s. v. "Member: George Wythe", accessed May 15, 2015.