Background
Britton was born on 7 July 1771 at Kington Saint Michael, near Chippenham.
( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1361438940/?tag=2022091-20
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B3K66NG/?tag=2022091-20
Britton was born on 7 July 1771 at Kington Saint Michael, near Chippenham.
At sixteen he went to London and was apprenticed to a wine merchant.
Prevented by ill-health from serving his full term, he found himself adrift in the world, without money or friends. In his fight with poverty he was put to strange shifts, becoming cellarman at a tavern and clerk to a lawyer, reciting and singing at a small theatre, and compiling a collection of common songs. Britton was the originator of a new class of literary works.
"Before his time", says Digby Wyatt, "popular topography was unknown." In 1805 Britton published the first part of his Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain (9 vols, 1805–1814).
And this was followed by Cathedral Antiquities of England (14 vols, 1814–1835). In 1845 a Britton Club was formed, and a sum of £1000 was subscribed and given to Britton, who was subsequently granted a civil list pension by Disraeli, then chancellor of the exchequer.
Britton was an earnest advocate of the preservation of national monuments, proposing in 1837 the formation of a society such as the later Society for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments. Britton himself supervised the reparation of Waltham Cross and Stratford-on-Avon church.
He died in London on 1 January 1857.
Among other works with which Britton was associated either as author or editor are Historical Account of Redcliffe Church, Bristol (1813). Illustrations of Fonthill Abbey (1823). Architectural Antiquities of Normandy, with illustrations by Pugin (1825–1827).
Picturesque Antiquities of English Cities (1830).
Descriptive Sketches of Tunbridge Wells and the Calverley Estate (1832). And History of the Palace and Houses of Parliament at Westminster (1834–1836), the joint work of Britton and Brayley.
He contributed much to the Gentleman"s Magazine and other periodicals. Foreign Rees"s Cyclopædia he contributed articles on Topography, but the topics are nor known.
Among the students he employed were Samuel Rayner and George Cattermole who were both to be successful artists.
His Autobiography was published in 1850. A Descriptive Account of his Literary Works was published by his assistant T. East. Jones. Britton was lampooned for his inaccuracy in historical matters by Richard Harris Barham, writing under the name Thomas Ingoldsby, in two mock-antique ballads (with spurious annotations) entitled Relics of Antient Poetry.
Britton was buried in West Norwood Cemetery where his monument, a vertical 10" slab of brown granite, was designed to be as permanent as Stonehenge.
lieutenant is listed Grade II*. After his death, his library of topographical and antiquarian books and manuscripts was acquired by a group of Wiltshire gentlemen.
They resolved to form the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society "to cultivate and collect information on archaeology and Natural History in their various branches and to form a Library and Museum illustrating the History, natural, civic and ecclesiastic of the County of Wiltshire". The Wiltshire Heritage Museum and its library still contain the cabinet that he owned and his books and papers.
Britton Street in Clerkenwell (formerly known as Red Lion Street) is named after him.
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)