Simpson, F., jun.
A series of ancient baptismal fonts, chronologically arranged. Drawn by F. Simpson, jun. Engraved by R.Roberts.
London, Septimus Prowett 1828 (but 1825-1828).
Full Description
Large 8vo. (6) + xxvi + 66 + (18)pp, (40) engraved plates including engr.frontispiece. Mid-nineteenth century quarter morocco, cloth sides. Armorial bookplate of John R.Anderson.
A rather undervalued volume, providing very carefully drawn illustrations by Francis Simpson (d. 1861) of some forty mediaeval sculptured fonts, mostly from churches in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire. The geographical distribution arises from the fact that Simpson lived in Stamford, on the Lincolnshire-Northamptonshire border, and he was consequently able to record and draw some previously unpublished examples in little-known local parish churches, just after they had been stripped of eighteenth-century paint or whitewash. The brief descriptions were provided by William Twopenny, but it is clear that Simpson regarded himself as the author. The series was originally published in parts between probably 1825 and 1828, then the work was withheld from sale (possibly due to the original publisher’s death) until John Weale took it on in 1836 or 1837. Weale published the volume in extra cloth boards with gilt lettering, with a few large paper copies also; as the present copy is in a slightly later binding, it is likely that it belongs to the first issue rather than the second (which had an adequate binding). BAL Cat. 3043.