1754 First Edtn With Provenance OBSERVATIONS OF THE ANTIQUITIES OF CORNWALL By William Borlase Illus. William Borlase; engraved principally by J. Green

1754 First Edition With Provenance
OBSERVATIONS OF THE ANTIQUITIES OF CORNWALL
By William Borlase

KEY DETAILS
Condition: Very Good
Format: Hardcover, folio (fo 12 × 19 in 305 × 483 mm )
Note: Binding/size selection follows standard bibliographic conventions and is approximate; exact measurements may vary.
Published By: Printed by W. Jackson, in the High-Street, Oxford, 1754
Language: English
Illustrated By: William Borlase; engraved principally by J. Green
Provenance: With three early ink ownership inscriptions in differing hands: “Wm Hills” to the title page; “Barnet[t] Carden” to the dedication leaf; and “Mr Kerrapthorne” to leaf B at the opening of Book I.
Collation: xvi, 413, [1] pp.; Illustrated: engraved map + engraved plates/plans
Dust Jacket: None, as issued
SKU: BTETM0002365
Shipping Info: Approximate Package Dimensions H: 12.5, L: 30, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 2Kg
Tracked Shipping, Insurance Coverage as per Customer Request

DESCRIPTION
Observations of The Antiquities of Cornwall
Full Title: Observations on the Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall

Consisting of Several Essays on the First Inhabitants, Druid-Superstition, Customs, and Remains of the Most Remote Antiquity, in Britain, and the British Isles: Exemplify’d and Prov’d by Monuments Now Extant in Cornwall and the Scilly Islands, Faithfully Drawn on the Spot, and Engrav’d According to Their Scales Annex’d. With a Summary of the Religious, Civil, and Military State of Cornwall before the Norman Conquest; Illustrated by the Plans and Elevations of Several Ancient Castles, an Eastern View of the Monastery and Site of St. Michael’s Mount; and a Vocabulary of the Cornu-British Language.
A substantial and important first edition of William Borlase’s great study of the antiquities of Cornwall, published at Oxford in 1754: one of the defining eighteenth-century works on the prehistoric, archaeological and historical remains of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Written from extensive first-hand observation, Borlase records and illustrates Cornwall’s standing stones, stone circles, cromlechs or quoits, barrows, ancient inscriptions, fortifications and other surviving monuments, setting these physical remains within wide-ranging discussions of the earliest inhabitants of Britain, Druidic religion and custom, Roman Cornwall, the post-Roman period and the history of the county before the Norman Conquest.
Of particular interest are Borlase’s measured plans and drawings of megalithic and other monuments, many recorded directly in the landscape and engraved for the work. The volume extends beyond prehistoric antiquity to include ancient castles and settlements, ecclesiastical remains, an eastern view of St Michael’s Mount, a catalogue of the Kings of Britain and Princes of Cornwall, and the extensive Cornish-English vocabulary which occupies the concluding portion of the book.
A handsome and evocative antiquarian folio with considerable crossover interest for collectors of Cornwall, early archaeology, megalithic monuments, Druidism, Celtic studies and the Cornish language.

PROVENANCE
With three early ink ownership inscriptions in differing hands: “Wm Hills” to the title page; “Barnet[t] Carden” to the dedication leaf; and “Mr Kerrapthorne” to leaf B at the opening of Book I.
No secure identification of these former owners has presently been established. No corresponding names have been securely matched within the subscriber list examined, and the inscriptions are therefore retained as evidence of the volume’s early ownership history without further attribution.

CONDITION, COLLATION & COPY NOTES
COLLATION
xvi, 413, [1] pp.
Illustrated: engraved map + engraved plates/plans

A sound and attractive copy of the first edition in contemporary full calf boards, sympathetically rebacked with raised bands and later spine label. Original boards rubbed, marked and worn with surface abrasions and other age-related wear consistent with a substantial eighteenth-century folio; the later reback is restrained and sympathetic and preserves the character of the original binding.
Title page with early ownership inscription and some age-toning, soiling and marking. Internally with occasional light spotting, handling marks and small marginal tide marks or staining in places. The text remains generally clean, sound and well-presented, with generous margins.
The engraved material is particularly appealing, comprising Borlase’s archaeological plans, elevations and views of prehistoric monuments, inscriptions, fortifications and other Cornish antiquities, together with the engraved county map. Many plates are signed “W.B. delin.” and “J. Green sculp. Oxon.”
Subscriber list present in the preliminaries, followed by “Particular Antiquities, where explained.” Notable subscribers taking multiple copies include J. Prideaux Basset of Tehidy, 20 copies; William Lemon of Carclew, 25 copies; Thomas Hawkins of Trewithen, 6 copies; and the dedicatee Sir John St. Aubyn of Clowance, 5 copies.

Illustrations: Complete with the engraved map of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and 23 full-page engraved plates, one folding, together with 8 further engraved illustrations printed within the letterpress — 32 engraved illustrations in all. The plates and illustrations are principally after Borlase’s own drawings and measurements, many signed “W.B. delin.” and “J. Green sculp. Oxon.”

Bibliographical note: Plate counts for the 1754 first edition vary between institutional and trade catalogues because the engraved series includes both separately inserted plates and engravings printed directly on the letterpress pages. Specialist bibliographical and auction descriptions commonly give “engraved map and 23 plates (one folding), with engraved illustrations in the text.” The count above records the contents of this copy by physical format rather than adopting an aggregated trade count.

Please see Photos as part of condition report.

REFERENCES
ESTC T131270
WorldCat OCLC 4391247
Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection, DA670.C8 B7 1754

SYNOPSIS
Observations on the Antiquities Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall is Borlase’s extensive investigation into the earliest history and surviving material culture of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Beginning with the first inhabitants of Britain, Borlase examines ancient British religion, Druidism, customs and beliefs, combining classical and historical sources with the physical evidence of monuments surviving in the Cornish landscape. Standing stones, stone circles, cromlechs or quoits, barrows, inscribed stones and other prehistoric remains are described, measured and illustrated.
The work proceeds through Roman and later antiquities, ancient settlements, defensive works and castles, before considering the religious, civil and military history of Cornwall prior to the Norman Conquest. Borlase’s interest is characteristically wide-ranging, combining antiquarian scholarship, field observation, comparative religion, early archaeology, history and topography.
The concluding sections include a catalogue of the Kings of Britain and Princes of Cornwall and an extensive vocabulary of the Cornu-British language, giving the work additional importance within the history of Celtic and Cornish linguistic studies.
Although some of Borlase’s eighteenth-century interpretations—particularly his attribution of prehistoric monuments to the Druids—have long since been superseded, his careful descriptions, measurements and illustrations remain historically important records of monuments observed more than 270 years ago.

AUTHOR BIO
William Borlase (1696–1772) was a Cornish antiquary, naturalist, geologist and clergyman. Born at Pendeen in Cornwall, he became Rector of Ludgvan in 1722 and spent much of his life studying the natural history, antiquities and monuments of his native county.
His Observations on the Antiquities of Cornwall, first published in 1754 and substantially revised for a second edition in 1769, established his reputation as one of the foremost eighteenth-century authorities on Cornwall. His close observation and recording of standing stones, cromlechs, barrows, inscriptions and other ancient remains preserve valuable evidence for monuments as they appeared in the eighteenth century.
Borlase subsequently published Observations on the Ancient and Present State of the Islands of Scilly in 1756 and The Natural History of Cornwall in 1758. His antiquarian, geological and natural-history collections and correspondence placed him within the wider learned culture of eighteenth-century Britain.

ILLUSTRATOR
William Borlase; engraved principally by J. Green
Many of the archaeological plates and plans were prepared from Borlase’s own drawings and measurements taken directly from the monuments he studied. Signed examples bear the formula “W.B. delin.” and “J. Green sculp. Oxon.” The resulting engravings constitute an important visual record of Cornwall’s prehistoric and historic landscape during the eighteenth century.