| Prospectus |
| OF
A |
| GRAND
SERIES |
| OF |
| FORTY
MEDALS |
| COMMEMORATING |
| British
Victories. |
|
| PREVIOUSLY to the commencement of the present reign, the imitative
Arts, with the exception of Architecture, were but little regarded in England.
All the other civilised nations of the continent had for centuries past
been rendered illustrious for their genius in the Fine Arts, while England,
where the fervor of Poetic fancy as displayed by Chaucer, Spencer, Shakespeare,
Milton, Dryden &c. rivalled the Poetic renown of Greece itself, had
not produced a single instance of superior talent in Painting or Sculpture.
But their gradual progress during the present reign up to an advanced state
of excellence, sufficiently shews that uncongenial fortuitous circumstances,
and not deficiency in the powers of imagination, prevented their nurture
in England. From the accession of his Majesty to the present period, the
public attention to Painting, Sculpture, and Engraving, has been gradually
encreasing, and the introduction of the Elgin Marbles into this country,
followed by the Scrutiny of the House of Commons into their merits, its
purchase of them for the nation, together with the seizure and surrender
by France of the great works of the celebrated Masters of the continent,
have in England excited a deeper and more general regard for the elegant
Arts than has ever yet prevailed. It is this more general and intense regard
for works of Art, together with the just admiration excited by the skill
and courage of our troops in their late defeats of the French, that has
elicited the Publication of a series of Medals illustrative of those national
events. The novelty of the work in this country, has also been another motive
for their production. In the time of Cromwell and Charles II. Simon an English
Artist, engraved Medals in a style not very remote from the perfection of
the Greeks. Since that time Medal Engraving has had but a faint existence
in England. A few Medals of individual persons or circumstances, and of
talent inferior to Italian or French Art, have been struck, but nothing
of general moment, nothing that celebrates the power or grandeur of the
British empire, nothing that vibrates on the heart with emulative and patriotic
effect, or fixes with delight the tasteful eye, nothing, in fine, worthy
of the majesty and the renown of the British people and of the beauty and
dignity of Art, has ever yet appeared from an English mint during a long
period of English glory in almost every excellence that adorns, ennobles,
and immortalizes a nation. The present series of Medals, therefore while
it is a commencement of that new species of publication which records with
elegance and unequalled durability, subjects every way worthy of commemoration,
will it is trusted, recommend itself to every lover of the Fine Arts and
to every species of politicians; to those who have been friendly and those
who have been adverse to the measures of government which resulted in the
captivity of Bonaparte and the occupation of Paris by the Allies, for British
perseverance, talent and bravery must be equally admired by all. |
| Mr. Mudie, the director and proprietor of the Series, is therefore
confident that every class of his countrymen will hail a work which will
enrich the cabinet of the Amateur with a class of Art but little known in
this Country, and that will deliver down to their posterity to remote ages,
and in the most lasting of materials, an elegant and energetic record of
so glorious a feature of its character. Paintings, exquisite and impressive
as they are, are comparatively but partial and perishable memorials, for
they can be seen but in few places, and are obnoxious to the fading and
destructive influence of the elements. Marble statues too are more liable
than Medals to accidents, and are like Pictures, stationary in a few places.
But the same subject in Medals, from their smallness, the infrangible nature
of their materiel, and their cheapness, may be conveyed in numerous impressions
to every part of the empire, and the admirers of one identical work of Art,
be at the same time antipodes to each other. The marble group, erected in
London can be viewed only by the visitor or resident there, but duplicated
impressions of Medals can be seen in numerous places at once, by the inhabitants
of Europe and India, by the soldier who is guarding Napoleon in Saint Helena,
and those in London who sent or continue him there. There is then but one
circumstance in the nature of the work of which the Proprietor thinks it
necessary to be particular in explaining, it is the employing of foreign
Artists to engrave a portion of the Medals. This he was compelled to do
in order to confer the greatest perfection in the metallic records of incidents
so highly deserving of that perfect representation. Much as are native Artists
excel in every other branch of the Fine Arts, equalling and in many respects,
exceeding foreign Artists, they have not yet reached the delicacy, precision
and finish of the French and Italian Medallists. This is by no means attributable
to any deficiency whatever in the native capabilities of Englishmen. The
inbred vigor of their powers, if duly cherished is competent to the highest
attainments in this and every other Art, or they would not have perfection
in the works of their own native Medallist, Simon. They are however, several
of our countrymen who have great and growing talents in Medal engraving.
These talents shall have a share in illustrating the deeds of their brave
countrymen represented in the Series, so that the Proprietor will assist
to the utmost of his power, to unfold their latent energies to a degree
that will altogether supersede the necessity of foreign aid. Opportunity
only can be wanting to open to British genius all the paths of intellectual
glory. |
| v |
| The Medals already struck may be had of Mr. WHITEAVES,
No. 30, Fleet Street ; Mr. YOUNG, 46, High
Holborn ; and Messrs. SOLOMON, LEWIS,
and Co. No. 2, New Street, Covent Garden. |
| Medals in Bronze, 10s. 6d.
each, or Twenty Guineas the Series, including an elegant Case arranged for
the Library or Cabinet. |
| In Silver, One Guinea each, or Forty Guineas the Series. |
| In Gold, Fifteen Guineas each, or Six Hundred Guineas the
Series. |
| Those who wish to become Subscribers
are requested to give in their Names to either of the above Agents, as they
will have the advantage of PROOF IMPRESSIONS. |
| Those not wishing for a complete Series, may purchase single
Medals. |