EAST VIEW OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ETON

To the Reverend ye Provost & Fellows of the Royal College of Eton / This East View of the said College, is most Humbly Inscrib'd by Their Dutiful and most Obedient Humble Servant W. Collier. Publish'd according to Act of Parliament by W. Collier at Eton, 1742. By whom Lands are Survey'd & Maps drawn of ye same in ye best & cheapest Manner. Sold by J. Pine Engraver in Old Bond Street, & T. Bakewell, Printseller in Fleet Street.

John Pine (1690-1756), after Alexander Cozens (1717-1786) Engraving with hand coloring on watermarked laid paper (fleur-de-lys). Published by William Collier at Eton, inscribed A Cozens delin. 1742, First printing. Paper trimmed almost to platemark: 18.25" x 11.75"

Excellent Condition: trimmed, light foxing, verso of upper margin with 2 tape hinges adhered to later matboard, overall solid and quite bright.

This early British landscape engraving highlights Eton College, where Alexander Cozens was later employed as Drawing Master. Featuring the chapel of Eton College and other buildings belonging to the school on the opposite bank of the Thames, some partially obscured by trees, several boats on the water of the river including a barge drawn by a team of horses on the near bank, a ferry with an elegant company drawing up to the bank and bathers in the shallows, a gentleman and a young boy with a dog to the foreground.

In 1742 publisher William Collier also printed a rare map "A Plan of the Town and Castle of Windsor and Little-Park, Town and College of Eton" which was also engraved by John Pine.

John Pine (1690-1756) Print Seller, Publisher, Engraver who was considered Britain's foremost heraldic and decorative engraver of his generation. Pine was the first Black man in England to join the Masons. He was a close friend of William Hogarth who painted his portrait several times. Although nothing is known about Pine's direct heritage, biographical sketches frequently refer to him as Black or of African ancestry and from Hogarth's portraits his Blackness is quite apparent. Alexander Cozens was Pine's apprentice and he married Pine's daughter.

Alexander Cozens (1717-1786) British Landscape Painter born in Russia. He is best known for his imaginary mountain landscapes which were worked up from abstract blots of ink on paper. Over a century later his ideas became inspiration for the Surrealists and Abstract Expressionists.

Referenced in the British Museum Catalogue of Maps, Prints, Drawings, etc., forming the geographical and topographical collection attached to the Library of his late Majesty King George the third, etc., London, 1829. Two copies in OCLC collections worldwide, at the British Library and Yale Center for British Art. Eton has a framed b&w copy in their collection.