“A Catalogue of Cameos, Intaglios, Medals, and Bas-reliefs, with a general account of Vases and other ornaments after the antique; made by Wedgwood and Bentley, and sold at their rooms in Great Newport Street, London.
“‘Quoniam et sic gentes nobilitantur.’
Plin. lib. xxxv., De Vasis fictilibus.
“London: printed in the year MDCCLXXIII., and sold by Cadel, in the Strand; Robson, New Bond Street; and Parker, printseller, Cornhill.”
It is of much smaller size than the later editions, and contains sixty pages, inclusive of introduction, &c. The following quotation, from the introductory portion, will enable collectors to arrive at a correct idea of the dates of the production of the various wares:—
“The proprietors of this manufactory have been encouraged by the generous attention of the nobility and connoisseurs to their first essays to give it all the extent and improvement they were able, and with constant application and great expense they have now produced a considerable variety of ornaments in different kinds, the merit of which they humbly submit to the judgment of those who are best skilled in these subjects.
“The variety of new articles which many of their respectable friends have not seen, and multitudes of persons of curiosity and taste in the works of Art have never heard of, render some account or catalogue of them desirable, and even necessary: but many of the articles, and especially the vases, being of such a nature as not to admit of satisfactory and clear descriptions, several parts of this catalogue can only give a slight and general enumeration of the classes, without descending to particulars.
“We shall, however, hope to make the general enumeration sufficiently intelligible, and descend to particulars where the nature of the subjects admits of it.
“To give an idea of the nature and variety of the productions of our ornamental works, it will be necessary to point out and describe the various compositions of which the forms, &c., are made, and to distinguish and arrange the several productions in suitable classes.
“The compositions, or bodies, of which the ornamental pieces are made, may be divided into the following branches:—