A compleat treatise on perspective, in theory and practice; on the true principles of Dr. Brook Taylor. Made clear, in theory, by various moveable schemes, and diagrams; and reduced to practice ... Containing diagrams, views, and original designs, in architecture, &c. ... All originals; / invented, delineated, and, great part, engraved by the author, Thomas Malton.

  • Thomas Malton
Date:
1778
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A compleat treatise on perspective, in theory and practice; on the true principles of Dr. Brook Taylor. Made clear, in theory, by various moveable schemes, and diagrams; and reduced to practice ... Containing diagrams, views, and original designs, in architecture, &c. ... All originals; / invented, delineated, and, great part, engraved by the author, Thomas Malton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    3 although requeued ? and whether, the Property being deftroyed, the Money paid fhould not be refunded, in proportion to the Property loft ? There requires, I prefume, no great fagacity, or deep knowledge in Law, or, at leaf!:, in Equity, to determine. A few weeks before the Fire, Mr. Bigg, as ufual, came to me, and defired me to give him a Note of hand, or two, for the balance of their Account, as they were in great want of Money, that day; having in his hand a flip of paper, on which he had taken (as he faid) the fum total from the Book; I think, about twenty feven Pounds. Now, as I never yet had a regular account of the whole, but only for the book of Geometry completed, and part of the PerfpeCtive ; &nd as there had been fome difpute in refpeCt of the Money paid, which is perfectly clear by the Receipts given; by which, and the accounts I had, I was fully fa- tisfied that very little was due to them; and confequently, I objected to the fettling an Account I had never feen ; for which, every one who knows any thing of the World, muft have condemned me for a Fool. But, he being very urgent and importunate, I agreed, merely to ferve thfir prefent emergency, as I thought, to give Notes for twenty pounds fifteen fhillings, provided they kept back another of ten pounds, due the week after, for two months longer; for which, I gave him another, then, to raife money, which was fent me to pay the jirfl. Mr. Wells, at that time, being concerned with them, thofe Notes were depofited in his hands; and the firfl was paid, after the Fire, as it was properly due before; the other, I was fully determined not to pay, unlefs compelled by Law ; as they were fcarce legally obtained, and for which I never received value in any fhape; but, at the time I gave them, I was then going on with an Ap¬ pendix to the book of PerfpeCtive, which induced me to it; as I concluded, that before the Notes became due, I fhonld be as much in their Accounts ; nor, did I doubt their probity, when we fhould come to fettle them. Being thus fituated with the Printers, I fhall take my leave of them for a while, and introduce to the Readers acquaintance, two very worthy Gentlemen, MefFrs. Wright and Gill; with whom I had contracted for Paper, to the a- mount of 85I. of which I paid them 32!. with intereft, and gave two Notes for 28I. each, bearing Intereft. One of thefe Notes was paid, with Intereft, and fif¬ teen Guineas of the other; fo that there remained, due to them, twelve pounds and five fhillings when the Fire happened. It is much eafier to conceive than defcribe an Author’s fituation; who, hav¬ ing gone through the fatigue and expence of fuch a laborious Work, and com¬ pleted it, ready for publication, expecting to reap the harveft of his labours; when, lo ! a fatal Bar to his hopes, deprives him, in one Hour, of that re- fcource he had fo long and fo ardently panted after. No redrefs, no remedy but Patience ; the labour, and expenee of printing it muft be repeated, before he fits down to enjoy the fruits of his paft labours, in quiet; ungrateful talk; Patience, furely, never had a more ample.fubjeCt, for exerting her dominion and in¬ fluence over the Mind. Such was my fituation, on the third day of March, 1776. It is not eafy to paint the ProfpeCt which at firfl prefented itfelf; the Harveft of my labours de- ltroyed, when juft ready for the Sickle. But, calling Reafon to my aid, I formed the plan of my future proceeding; and comforted myfelf with the reflection, that the Engravers, Printers, and Paper Merchants were fo near paid ; there re¬ maining, to the laft, the trifling fum of 12I. five fhillings only, as above; which, confidering that they were very eminent, that is, very rich Men, and great traders, I never imagined they would be urgent for fuch a trifle, to them, at fuch a time, being reputed to be worth 40 or 50 thoufand Pounds, each. What
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