[Hamilton, William].

Da Napoli all’Europa [From Naples to Europe / Von Neapel nach Europa] – Le Antichità estruche, greche e romane dal gabinetto di Sir William Hamilton [Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. W. Hamilton / Etruskische, griechische und roemische Antiken aus dem Kabinett von Sir William Hamilton].

Multilingual edition in Italian, English and German. Köln, Taschen, 2007. 21cm x 31.5cm. 64 pages with beautiful illustrations, Original Softcover. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear.

Sir William Hamilton KB, PC, FRS (12 January 1731 – 6 April 1803) was a Scottish diplomat, antiquarian, archaeologist and vulcanologist. After a short period as a Member of Parliament, he served as British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764 to 1800. He studied the volcanoes Vesuvius and Etna, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society and recipient of the Copley Medal.
Hamilton began collecting Greek vases and other antiquities as soon as he arrived in Naples, obtaining them from dealers or other collectors, or even opening tombs himself. In 1766–67 he published a volume of engravings of his collection entitled Collection of Etruscan, Greek, and Roman antiquities from the cabinet of the Honble. Wm. Hamilton, His Britannick Maiesty’s envoy extraordinary at the Court of Naples. The text was written by d’Hancarville with contributions by Johann Winckelmann. A further three volumes were produced in 1769–76. During the his first leave in 1771 Hamilton arranged the sale of his collection to the British Museum for £8,400. Josiah Wedgwood the potter drew inspiration from the reproductions in Hamilton’s volumes. During this first leave, in January 1772, Hamilton became a Knight of the Order of the Bath[14] and the following month was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. In 1777, during his second leave to England, he became a member of the Society of Dilettanti.

When Hamilton returned to England for a third period of leave, in 1783–84, he brought with him a Roman glass vase, which had once belonged to the Barberini family and which later became known as the Portland Vase. Hamilton had bought it from a dealer and sold it to the Duchess of Portland. The cameo work on the vase again served as inspiration to Josiah Wedgwood, this time for his jasperware. The vase was eventually bought by the British Museum. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1792.

In 1798, as Hamilton was about to leave Naples, he packed up his art collection and a second vase collection and sent them back to England. A small part of the second vase collection went down with HMS Colossus off the Scilly Isles. The surviving part of the second collection was catalogued for sale at auction at Christie’s when at the eleventh hour Thomas Hope stepped in and purchased the collection of mostly South Italian vases. (Wikipedia)

• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 42885AB

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