Images of Oxford, 1191-1759
Keywords: Ralph Agas; Henry Aldrich; All Hallows; George Anderton; Elias Ashmole; John Aubrey; Friar Bacon’s Study; John Bereblock; Binsey Chapel; Jacob and Tilleman Bobart; Bodleian Library; Claude du Bosc; Botanic (Physick) Garden; John and Josiah Boydell; Thomas Brathwaite; Georg Braun; Adam Browne; Samuel and Nathaniel Buck; William Byrd; Michael Burghers; Colen Campbell; Carfax Conduit; Arthur Charlett; duc de Chaulnes; Thomas Chaundler; Christ Church Cathedral; Clarendon; George Clarke; Benjamin and John Cole; Cosimo III de’ Medici; William Cuningham; Danby Gate; Divinity School; William Dobson; John Donowell; William Dugdale; William Faden; John Fell; Paul Fourdrinier; Paulus Furst; James Gibbs; Glastonbury Abbey; Godstow Nunnery; Bernard de Gomme; Richard Gough; Grandpont; Gravel Walk; James and Benjamin Green; Jan Griffier; Michael and Gerard van der Gucht; William Halfpenny; John Hall; John Hamond; John Harris; Nicholas Hawksmoor; Thomas Hearne; Hebraismi typus; Jerome Hesketh; Frans and Remigius Hogenburg; Edward Holdsworth; Wenceslaus Hollar; Joris (Georg) Hoefnagel; William Hulett; Henrik Hulsberg; Iffley Church; Islip Chapel; William Jackson; Inigo Jones; Everhardus Kickius; Daniel King; Johannes and William Kip; Leonard Knyff; Lady Chapel; Thomas Langdon; Clement Lemprière; Abraham and Bernard van Linge; Littlemore Minchery; William Lodge; David Loggan; Richard Lyne; Daniel Meisner; Matthäus Merian; Minerva; Edward Rowe Mores; David Mortier; James Mundy; Peter Muser; Thomas Neale; Sutton Nichols; Abraham Ortelius; Osney Abbey; Oxford; Nathaniel and Richard Parr; Francis Place; Robert Plot; Port Meadow; Public Schools; John Radcliffe; Thomas Rawlins; Richard Rawlinson; Rewley Abbey; Augustine Ryther; Aegidius Sadeler; St Aldates Church; St Clement’s Church; St Ebbe’s; St Frideswide Abbey; St George’s-in-the-Castle; St Martin’s Church; St Mary’s Church; St Michael-at-the-Southgate; St Peter’s-in-the East; St Peter-le-Bailey; Gilbert Sheldon; Ralph Sheldon; Joseph Skelton; John Speed; Nicholas Stone; John Stow; Robert Streater; John Strype; John Sturt; Isaac Taylor; James Thornhill; William Thorpe; William Henry Toms; William and John Townesend; John Tradescant; Typus Collegii; John Vanbrugh; George Vertue; James Wale; Robert White; Robert Whittlesey; William Williams; Browne Willis; Henry Winstanley; Francis Wise; Anthony Wood; William Woollett; Christopher Wren; Jan de Wyck.

The foundation of this research is the assembly and analysis of a corpus of over 500 images of Oxford produced between 1191 and 1759, affirming Joseph Skelton’s claim that ‘Perhaps no place in England can boast such a succession of delineations of itself, from an early period, as Oxford.’ Structured analysis at an individual level permits outstanding questions on attribution and authorship to be addressed. At an aggregate level, several conclusions can be drawn. Oxford’s persistent iconic self-image – its walls, spires and towers – was already established by 1191. The flood of images appearing from 1675 was not the result of the antiquarian or any other movement, but the serendipitous presence in Oxford of two men, John Fell and David Loggan. It is argued that Oxonia Illustrata was not simply a suite of images to accompany Anthony Wood’s Historia et antiquitates, but conceived as an emulation of Dutch ‘praise and description’ books, with which Loggan would have been familiar. His successors as University Engravers – Michael Burghers, George Vertue and John Green – also made notable contributions. From the early 1700s, many prints were designed to seek funding or approval for building projects, or to celebrate completion. Rare early states of such prints can provide information on the development of designs supplementing better known original architectural drawings. Only after 1690, with Loggan’s Cantabrigia Illustrata, and 1720, with Strype’s edition of Stow’s Survey of London, did any other British city begin to compete with Oxford as to the quality and quantity of prints produced. From the 1750s, the rather severe style of Loggan and his immediate successors began to be replaced by the more naturalistic style adopted by John Donowell, presaging the advent of the Picturesque. This corpus of images can supplement textual resources in supporting more general historical research.