Architectural Drawings: Hidden Masterpieces from Sir John Soane’s Museum

A visual, large-format compilation of some the finest architectural drawings from Sir John Soane’s extensive collection.

Architectural Drawings casts light on the magnificent architectural drawings of neo-classical architect, teacher and collector, Sir John Soane that are otherwise concealed in archives. This book, featuring artworks handpicked from what was probably the first comprehensive collection of architectural drawings in the world, numbering 30,000 at the time of his death in 1837, celebrates a life spent procuring curiosities.

The collection encompasses the hands of Montano, Thorpe, Wren, Talman, Hawksmoor, Vanbrugh, Gibbs, Kent, Chambers, Adam, Clérisseau, Pêcheux, Wyatt, Playfair, Nash and, of course, Soane himself. The quality of Soane’s collection of drawings is scarcely paralleled elsewhere and on account of their fragility, these items are infrequently seen by the public. This innovative book draws together the most exquisite and important works from the collection for the first time, showing the extraordinary connoisseurship of Sir John Soane while also exploring what drove Soane to amass such a collection and the provenance of his various significant acquisitions.