Category Archives: Collections and Collectors

Douce’s Annunciation

Posted on September 11, 2012 by mercedes-c

When told of Douce’s acquisition of a View of Clifton Ferry with a Holiday Party and Bristol Fair by Rolinda Sharples (1793-1838), his friend George Cumberland wrote that they had been ‘sold at an auction to Mr Douce who knows nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquaries, Collections and Collectors, Colour, Everyday life, History of printmaking, Paintings, Prints, Religion, Woodcuts | Comments Off on Douce’s Annunciation

A festival book

Posted on July 25, 2012 by mercedes-c

Two weeks after my post on tournaments, I have come across a few more prints on this subject, kept in a different location. Among Douce’s ‘miscellaneous woodcuts’, there are five hand-coloured illustrations taken from Ordenliche Beschreybung der Fürstlichen Hochzeyt…  (Augsburg, 1568) … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquaries, Collections and Collectors, Colour, Festivals, Prints, Romances, Woodcuts | Comments Off on A festival book

The valorous and witty-knight-errant Don Quixote

Posted on March 12, 2012 by mercedes-c

I recently saw (and very much enjoyed) The Romance of the Middle Ages at the Bodleian: The Romance of the Middle Ages Quite a few beautiful manuscripts and fascinating rare books from Douce’s collection have been included in this exhibition … Continue reading →

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Board games

Posted on January 30, 2012 by mercedes-c

At the moment, I am cataloguing Douce’s prints of games, sports, and popular pastimes. The reason why Douce collected these images can be found in the introduction to his friend Joseph Strutt’s The Sports and Pastimes of the People of … Continue reading →

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Hungry caterpillars

Posted on September 19, 2011 by mercedes-c

Since 1788, Francis Douce kept a lively correspondence with the travel writer Richard Twiss (1747-1821). A typical letter from Twiss, as Douce explained to his friend George Cumberland years later, would be like ‘an omnibus on twenty or more subjects’, … Continue reading →

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Douce’s prints

Posted on June 13, 2011 by admin

When told of Douce’s bequest to the Bodleian Library, Sir Frederic Madden predicted that, as a consequence, his late friend’s collections would ‘sleep on… undisturbed above once in a lustre by some prying individual of antiquarian celebrity’. He would have … Continue reading →

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