fim ila r ' endowments- have been ad d e d 'to 7 die fchool, the general inftruftion and
fuperintendanee o f w hom ha ve hitherto been fupplied and con du ced b y d ie 1 author
alone.— Bu.t it is poffible the reader may find it neither devoid o f amufement, o r o f
utility,, to contemplate more in detail the rife and progrefs o f this inftitution..
N early a twelvemonth had elapfed before the fir ft apprentice (h ow e v e r 'q u ick 'h is
capacity) was properiy qualified to be entrufted w ith the direction and tuition o f others.
T h e number o f pupils was then encreafed to three, and w ith their jo in t efforts in the
fpace o f two years fuch advances w ere made in the w ork as enabled the author to fe ew
various fpeeimens o f their performances to feveral periods o f diftinguiihed rank, and
acknowledged judges o f the fubjeCt.— T h e flattering encomiums w h ich they bellowed,
and (wha t w as the mo ft convincing p ro of o f their fincerity) the gre'at'number o f orders
which: he received fo r the w o rk itfelf, am ply demonftrated thMifcee'fs'’ o f fe s plan.
. T h u s fatisfied w ith .h is firft experiments, h e w as emboldened to engage two more
apprentices in his academy; and w ith this additional affiftance, and a clofe application
to bufinefs, in about a ye a r and' a h a lf more, (o r three years and, a h a l f from the
commencement o f the undertaking) upwards o f 7© copies o f two volumes o f the
Work w ere finifhed, rontaining nearly j| j^ d u p n c a t e p a in t in g s o f Shells . ^
B y d ie variety o f experiments necefiarily made to complete this number o f copies,
the pupils had v ery greatly improved in their ftyle o f painting the various objeCts; and
every day afforded new lights for the better underftanding o f the principles, o f the art
itfelf, and for the more perfeCt execution o f its feveral fubordinate branches. I t now
appeared, that a very great progrefs had been made towards , that degree o f pre-eminence
w h ich the author had continually wilhed to a t ta in ; for b y c o m p a r ^ the b u lk o f the
Work then finilhed w ith the lateft fpecimens produced, the more early performances
’appeared fo v ery inferior to the iater, as a t once to determine the author totally to rejeCl
th e whole o f the copies, the plates from w h ich they w ere worked, and. even the
, paintings from w h ich thofe plates w ere engraved : confequently the w hole was again
begun to be purfued anew through a l l its parts in that improved ftyle o f execution,
w h ich was ultimately to determine the fate and reputation o f the w o rk . T h e fe
facrifices, fo he avy in themfelves, y e t fo neceffary to g iv e to the prefent publication
a ll its poffable p erfe&ion, w ere ftill encreafed b y other -fimilar and concurrent
.circumftances; as it has been-deemed requifite, in a varie ty o f .inftances, to make
..fix .or ten duplicate paintings o f fome o f the more difficult fubjc<fts that ha ve occurred;
9 r 1 ... ' ■■■ ISp.foiTP.
i
I ■ '• S
capacité) eû t fait.allez de Progr S P°^r J leurs efforts réunis Pouvrage fe trouva
L e nombre des élèves étoit alors de t r , vauteur fu t en état d’en montrer
tellement avancé dans 1 efpace e eux à d jMges capables de les
, diffirena eflnis à pluficurs P - fo _ * .
apprécier=—Les éloges flatteurs q .. ¿'exemplaires qu’ils retinrent de l’ouvrage,
SA T I « A , T d c f e S F ™ i t e Kn ™ _ ^ . c a t i o n
* ‘ ° ° ° figurc8 doubles de
Coquilles deffinées et peintes. . " ' 0 ' 5* - :?>?• . •
P a u le s divcrlçs cxpdriences dans L r m a n iè r e d ’cn
■¿’exemplaires, les éleves avoien P U(jroient ¿ e nouvelles lumières, ils
fcS diV ‘ S e x& u to ien tp lu s ¡rai&itcment
comprenoient mieu x le s Prm P C e fu t ai ors que l ’on v it l’ ouvrage s avancer
le s différentes branches qu i en dépendent . ^ . continuellement fouhaité
■ , L , '« s c c degré de
d'atteindre; car en com p ilan t tout ce ç p | | • rn gm u r e ia u x dernières,
q u'on en venoit de produire, les premrère c„ , „ qu-a y a v o ir
que l'auteur fc détermina to u t d on c oup a “ Pp ,, j ¿iffirens morceaux avoient été
' de f iit de P . ■ î l „ t été gravées: ainf. on
J * « a . e t même 1er fuivan t ce dernier genre plu H |
que le premier qu on v c n o i td a û p , « L - eux-mêmes, et cependant fi
■ï: . - S X « - -, e t q ui devoit talcment décider du fo r te , d e là
ta t on de 1 U M » » 1 -fl „ „ don : cft fufceptiblc,
néccflïires [ or do: : = Cl a n te s , c a r dans bien des
- . ’furent encore augmentes par d a u tic s cuconlUn S i |