Entered by Jefferson in his undated manuscript catalogue with the price, 120.

The subscribers’ list is long and interesting and contains names well known in many fields. These include Lord Anson, Robert Adam, Lord Baltimore, Thomas Brand, Edmund Burke, Earl Cornwallis, Lord Clive, Earl of Delawar, Right Hon. Sir Francis Dashwood, James Dawkins (20 setts), Society of Dilettanti, David Garrick, Thomas Gray, Right Hon. George Grenville, T. Hollis, Hon. William Lyttleton, Gov. of Jamaica, James Mytton, Right Hon. William Pitt, Joshua Reynolds, Painter, F. R.S., Rev. Lawrence Sterne, Hon. Horace Walpole, Mrs. Margaret Woffington, General Wolfe, Library at Philadelph. Ben. Franklin, Esq.; Mons. l’Abbé Barthelmi, F.R.S., Mons. Peysonnel, Consul of France, at Smyrna, and a number of others.

James Stuart, 1713-1788, known as Athenian Stuart, was born in London. He studied art in Rome where he became associated with Nicholas Revett, and with whom, in 1748, he issued Proposals for Publishing an Accurate Description of the Antiquities of Rome . Their scheme was supported by a number of the members of the Society of Dilettanti resident in Rome, and by others including Robert Wood and James Dawkins, the explorers of Palmyra and Balbec, q.v. They arrived in Athens on March 18, 1751, where they remained until March 5, 1753. The first volume of their work was published in 1762, and the authors are credited with being the pioneers of classical archaeology in Europe. Julien David Le Roy had published his Ruines des plus Beaux Monuments de la Grèce in 1758, four years before this volume. In the Preface to The Antiquities of Athens, signed by James Stuart, occurs the passage [page vii] “The Architectural Prints compose, I imagine, the most useful and interesting part of this Work; and at the same time, that, which I apprehend is least liable to censure: for our joint endeavours were here diligently employed, and my Friend Mr. Revett wholly confined his attention to this part. If nevertheless any one should doubt of the accuracy of the Measures, because they differ so greatly from those which Mons. Le Roy has given, I can only assure him, that in a considerable number of them, at the taking of which I assisted with Mr. Revett, and in many others, which occasionally I have measured after him, I have always found reason to praise his exactness.” The later volumes of this work are not in the Jefferson collection. They were published respectively in 1789, 1795, 1814 and 1830.

Nicholas Revett, 1720-1804, English architect and draughtsman, became acquainted with Stuart in Rome, and later was, with Stuart, elected a member of the Society of Dilettanti. After the publication of the first volume of their work on the Antiquities of Athens, he resented the fact that Stuart was given most of the credit, and sold him all his rights.