| Other Notes |
First collected edition. In 1620 James I had charged Inigo Jones with discovering what he could about Stonehenge. It was not until the king's death in 1625 and that of Jones in 1652, that these discoveries found their way into print in the form of a treatise penned by Jones's pupil John Webb who enlarged upon the notes that had been made by his master some thirty-five years earlier. Jones believed Stonehenge to be Roman in origin and provided a reconstruction of the edifice as a temple, circular in form and open to the sky. This hypothesis was rejected in 1663 by Dr. Walter Charleton who in the Chorea Gigantum expounded the theory that the structure had been built as a court-royal or palace by the Danes. Two years later in his Vindication of Stone-Heng Restored. Webb in turn replied to Charleton's criticism, arguing that Jones's original hypothesis was one based on a thorough knowledge of classical sources and even if, in the end, his conclusions were to be proved wrong then the manner in which he had arrived at them was to be applauded. In the present edition all three works were reprinted together with the anonymous Memoirs Relating to the Life and Writings of Inigo Jones Esq. The original woodcut illustrations were redrawn and engraved and four new plates by E. Kirkall after J. Hassell were added. |