[British Isles] Jones, Inigo. The most notable Antiquity of Great Britain, vulgarly called Stone-Heng on Salisbury Plain...

London: Printed by James Flesher for Daniel Pakeman, and Laurence Chapman, 1655. First edition. 4to. (vi), 109, (1, errata) pp. Title-page printed in red and in black. Illustrated with the rare engraved frontispiece portrait of Jones by Hollar after Van Dyck, seven plates (including three folding), and three full-page charts. Full 18th-century brown calf, rebacked with original spine laid down, stamped in gilt, extremities and boards scuffed and scratched, head of spine worn; edges stained yellow; original marbled endpapers; spotting to frontispiece with small repair in upper corner; spotting to title-page, repair in bottom corner of same, and matching small repair in upper corner; very small hole in upper corner of A3-B1; repair in upper corner B4; second double-page plate bound upside down; scattered light foxing and spotting to text; light wear at plate folds; scattered contemporary marginalia, as well as modern pencil marginalia. Lowndes 1225; Wing J-954

Rare first edition of Inigo Jones' treatise on Stonehenge, the first comprehensive study of this great ancient monument. "Jones’s theory was that Stonehenge was a Roman temple, which, ‘if not founded by Agricola,’ yet was erected ‘in the times somewhat after his government,’ and was dedicated to the god Coelus, and he noticed in the monument a mixture of certain proportions proper to Corinthian and Tuscan work, together with the plainness and solidity of the latter order” (DNB).

According to Lowndes, "There were but a few copies printed, and most of them lost in the fire of London.'" Furthermore, copies with the frontispiece portrait of Jones are rare, and not typically found in the market.

Provenance

From the collection of Justin G. Schiller

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Darren Winston, Senior Vice President at Freeman’s, has served as Head of Department for Books & Manuscripts, Philadelphia, since 2018. He has been a trustee of the Rosenbach Museum and Library since 2022, is a member of The Manuscript Society, The Bibliographical Society of America, and Philadelphia’s Philobiblon Club.

Raised in northern New Jersey, Darren moved to New York City in 1988 and began his career there as a bookseller in 1995. He spent the next 18 years selling to private clients and at East Coast book fairs. In 2003 he moved with his young family to Sharon, Connecticut where, in 2009, he opened his own bookshop. Darren Winston, Bookseller offered rare and vintage books, prints, fine art, and more, and hosted over 50 book signings and art shows. He was a trustee and, later, Board President, of the Sharon Historical Society, and for six years a trustee of Indian Mountain School in Lakeville, Connecticut.

Darren has hosted the radio program "Darren Winston's Book Report" for NPR-affiliate WHDD since 2009, appeared in the 2014 book-themed documentary The Paper Trail, and in 2024 he joined Antiques Roadshow as a books and manuscripts appraiser. From 1999 to 2005, Darren was the buyer and consultant to the Fine and Rare Books Department at Asprey, the British luxury goods company, at its New York headquarters. While there he spearheaded various in-store events including readings by Salman Rushdie and Dominick Dunne.

In 1993, Darren was hired as a Creative Consultant to Columbia Records, where he assisted in the repackaging of their 12-record Aerosmith back catalogue. He later sold his extensive collection of Aerosmith memorabilia, which he began amassing at the age of 14, directly to the band.

Darren now lives on the Main Line, outside Philadelphia, with his wife, two children, and dog. The family travels frequently to his wife's native England and Scotland. When not bookselling, he plays guitar in Pumped, an Aerosmith tribute band. Darren also appears on the top-rated PBS television program Antiques Roadshow.

Books and Manuscripts

[British Isles] Jones, Inigo. The most notable Antiquity of Great Britain, vulgarly called Stone-Heng on Salisbury Plain...

Books and Manuscripts

[British Isles] Jones, Inigo. The most notable Antiquity of Great Britain, vulgarly called Stone-Heng on Salisbury Plain...

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