Loggan, David
Oxonia Illustrata
£12,600
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 19 June 2024 from 10:00 BST
Description
Sive omnium celeberrimae istius universsitatis collegiorum, aularum, bibliothecae Bodleanae, scholarum publicarum, theatri Sheldoniani; nec non urbis totius scenographia. Oxford: e theatro Sheldoniano, 1675. First edition, folio (44 x 29.5cm), contemporary mottled calf with gilt spine, engraved throughout with pictorial title-page, 3 leaves of text (Charles II's letters patent to David Loggan, address to the ‘spectatori ingenuo’, and Loggan's dedication to Charles II), 40 plates (all folding and mounted on stubs, one, Christ Church, additionally on 3 conjoined sheets), extra-illustrated with 3 engraved plates by Michael Burghers (Musaei Ashmoleani pars orientalis; The Orthography and Ichnography, Queens College Library in Oxford; The Orthography and Ichnography of Trinity College Chappel in Oxford, 1691) and an unsigned engraved plate of Tom Tower (Christ Church).
Splitting to head and foot of each joint, title-page damp-stained and with repaired closed tear in fore margin (extending 3cm into image), letters patent facsimile toned and damp-stained, a few plates (4, 5, 8, 19, 20, 36, 40) with a single repaired closed marginal tears, plate 6 with old staining to fore margins, small marginal tear to plate 22, plate 38 separating at foot of central fold, a few other old blemishes and marks
Provenance
From the library of the late Robert Bogdan (1950-2023), of Boghead of Torries and Dykehead of Avochie, Aberdeenshire, geography master at Charterhouse and sometime chairman of the Scottish Castles Association.
Footnote
'Influenced by the work of Wenceslas Hollar, Loggan's meticulously detailed views were the first accurate representation of all the buildings and gardens of the university, and they have been an invaluable quarry for historians, antiquaries, and topographers ever since' (ODNB). The plates include bird's-eye views of the colleges and halls, the Bodleian Library, the Sheldonian Theatre, and the Botanical Gardens, internal views of the Bodleian, a depiction of academic dress, a twin panorama of Oxford comprising views from the east and south, and a detailed bird's-eye city plan.