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Elements of Perspective, containing the Nature of Light and Colours and the Theory and Practice of Perspective in regard to Lines, Surfaces, and Solids, with its Application to Architecture. To which are added Rules for Painting in transparent Water Colours. By John Wood, Master of the Drawing Academy established at Edinburgh by the Honourable the Board of Trustees for Manufactories &c. London: G Cawthorn, British Library, NO 132, Strand, Bookseller to Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales. Messes. Richardson, Royal-Exchange; H.D. Sumonds, J. Wallis, West and Hughes, Paternoster-Row, J. Wright, Piccadilly: and P. Hill Edinburgh. 1799. First Edition. 132 p + 16 p publisher's adverts + 18 fold-out plates (Complete). Modern marbled binding measures 8.5 x 5.25", 8vo. In fair condition. Modern boards lightly scuffed at edges and corners. Head and tail of leather spine rubbed; gilt title label overall bright and clean. Previous ownership bookplate found on modern front paste-down: "Maurice Robert des Marais." Normal toning throughout text-block, some sparse instances of age-staining or finger-soiling. Pencil drawn manuscript leaf precedes original front end-page: "camera obscura, 1795" with an illustration of the natural phenomenon. Fold-out plates remain intact at rear of text-block; Plate 1 exhibits a repaired tear at fore-edge. Light foxing to plates, with toning at creases. Fore-edges of plates lightly chipped. Contemporary binding remains tight and intact. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. John Wood (c. 1775 1822) was a professor of mathematics at the College of William & Mary, political writer, and cartographer, who tutored the grandchildren of Thomas Jefferson. A native of Scotland, Wood spent much of his early years in France and Switzerland before immigrating to New York City in 1800. Upon arriving in the United States, he soon met Aaron Burr and wrote a number of pamphlets supporting Burr's political stance. One of Wood s efforts, The History of the Administration of John Adams was deemed so controversial that Burr unsuccessfully attempted to suppress it. Wood briefly lived in Kentucky in 1806 and resided thereafter in Richmond, Virginia. He received his education from the College of William & Mary, where he graduated in 1807. A close acquaintance of Thomas Jefferson, Wood taught his grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, at the Louis H. Girardin Academy from 1809 to 1810. He continued to pursue his own mathematical and scientific interests, and subsequently obtained a professorial appointment at the College of William & Mary in 1812. In 1817 he tutored another of Thomas Jefferson's grandsons, Francis Eppes, and began to map the rivers of the Tidewater region. Wood unsuccessfully sought a professorship position at the newly established University of Virginia, but received a contract with the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1819 to produce maps of all the counties and a general state map, completing ninety-six of the county maps before his death in 1822. First Edition with all plates. Modern binding. RAREB1799FLRA - 11/17 RAREB1799FLPA - 10/24 - HKREV173.
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