| Method | Copper engraving |
| Artist | David Loggan |
| Published | [Oxford, 1675] |
| Dimensions | Image 332 x 393 mm, Plate 335 x 400 mm, Sheet 445 x 563 mm |
| Notes |
An interior view of the Divinity School of the Bodleian Library, from the first edition of 'Oxonia Illustrata' published in 1675. Oxonia Illustrata was the first illustrated book on Oxford and one of the major works of the 17th century. The book was the product of several years of devoted and conscientious effort in which Loggan was assisted by his pupil Robert White. Full title reads 'Interior Prospectus Scholae Theologicae Oxonii quam Ano. 1427, Academice Sumptibus inchoatam, absolvit Humphredus Dux Glocestrice' [The inside of the Divinity School in Oxford begun by the University An.1427 and afterward finished by Humphrey Duke of Gloucester.] David Loggan (1635-1692), artist and engraver, was born at Danzig in 1635. He may have learnt the art of engraving from Simon van den Passe in Denmark and from Hendrik Hondius in the Netherlands. Loggan followed Hondius's sons to England in about 1653, and by 1665 he was residing at Nuffield, near Oxford, and had made the acquaintance of the antiquarian Anthony Wood. On 30 March 1669 he was appointed Engraver to the University of Oxford, with an annual salary of twenty shillings. He married a daughter of Robert Jordan, Esq. of Kencote Hall in Oxfordshire in 1671, and in 1672 they had a son, John Loggan, who later graduated from Trinity College. The marriage probably produced another son, William Loggan, about whom little is known except that he was responsible for a satirical print of Father Peters and the Jesuits, published in 1681. David Loggan took up residence in Holywell in about 1671, prior to matriculating at the University. In 1675 he was naturalised as an Englishman. The remainder of his life was spent mostly in London, where he worked as an agent and art dealer, and as Engraver to the University of Cambridge, a position he attained in 1690, two years before his death. Loggan's two great works were a series of architectural bird's eye plans of the colleges and public buildings of Oxford and Cambridge, the Oxonia Illustrata, published in 1675, and its rarer sister Cantabrigia Illustrata, which appeared at some point previous to 1690. Following Loggan's death, the plates were acquired and reprinted by Henry Overton in 1705 and c.1710 respectively. Oxonia Illustrata was the first illustrated book on Oxford and one of the major works of the 17th century. The book was the product of several years of devoted and conscientious effort in which Loggan was assisted by his pupil Robert White. The Oxonia Illustrata was intended as a companion work to Historia Antiquitates Universitatis Oxoniensis by Anthony Wood, with whom Loggan had become acquainted some years earlier. Although clearly intended as companions, with pagination suggesting that they were even parts of the same volume, for some unknown reason both books were published independently. Condition: Vertical centre fold as issued. Short tears to edges of the centre of the lower margin and some light staining in margins not affecting the image or plate. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £550.00 |
| Stock ID | 47487 |