Welsh Journals

THE TOPOGRAPHICAL PRINTS OF FLINTSHIRE1 By DERRICK PRATT, B.A. It may not be generally known that, in addition to its large collection of printed books, manuscripts, deeds and documents, the Flintshire Record Office collects all kinds of graphic material — original drawings, engraved prints, picture postcards, photographs, etc.-that may throw light on any aspect of Flintshire and Flintshire life over the last 250 years. Of these, the engraved topographical prints are amongst the most numerous, but at this early stage in the Record Office's existence, its collect- ion, not surprisingly, is far from being complete, and in compiling this bibliography, reference has also been made to those collections reposing in the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, and the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. Even though Flintshire is not amongst the best represented areas of the Principality, there are, nevertheless, some 356 separate woodcuts, line engravings, etchings, lithographs and aquatints in existence. This does not compare very favourably with counties like Glamorgan, Monmouthshire and Caernarvonshire, each of which is represented by over a thousand prints, but is certainly better than Anglesey, Brecon- shire, Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire and Radnorshire, the last in particular having difficulty in mustering 150 prints of topographical features within its county boundaries. With the exception of two or three line engravings of St. Asaph Cathedral and St. Winifred's Well which were published between 1656 and 1720, accompanying such pioneer works as Daniel King's Cathedral and Conventual Churches of England and Wales (1656) and the first edition of Browne Willis's A Survey of the Cathedral Church of St. Asaph (1720) the greater part of the prints catalogued in the following pages belong to the closing decades of the 18th, and the first half of the 19th century, more especially between 1770 and 1850, which period of 80 years may be regarded as the golden age of British engraving. The prints are of very unequal artistic merit and many are indicative of a concern for form, shape, and colour rather than of an eye for exact topographical detail- hence the individuality and artistic quality which are the distinctive but charming characteristics of old prints and make them much sought after by collectors. The function of the topographical artist and engraver has today been partially replaced by the camera, but while the 18th century artist and engraver could not compete with the precise eye of the modern camera in achieving accuracy and verisimilitude, this should not lead one to decry these early craftsmen or to despise the topographical print as a valuable source of information for the local historian. To persist in such lMy thanks are due to the following for the invaluable assistance given in the compilation of this bibliography the staff of the F.R.O.; Mr. F. Griffiths, Penley; Mr. J. Ingamells, Assistant Keeper, Department of Art, National Museum of Wales, and Mr. M. L. Timothy, Assistant Keeper, Department of Prints, Drawings, and Maps, National Library of Wales.