COLIN CAMPBELL

This famous work, which illustrates three hundred English buildings, was published by the architect Colin Campbell to celebrate the English Baroque of Vanbrugh, Hawksmoor and Archer, and to promote both the Palladian revival and his own designs. Campbell was a native of Scotland, but not much is known about his early life and education. Under the patronage of Lord Burlington, Campbell was responsible for some magnificent buildings, such as Wanstead House (called by a contemporary 'one of the noblest houses, not only in England, but in Europe'), Rolls House in Chancery Lane and the designs for the improvement of Burlington House in Piccadilly. He was appointed architect to the Prince of Wales in 1725, and in the following year he became surveyor of the works at Greenwich Hospital.