Antique Print of a New Design for Sir Paul Methuen by Campbell, 1725

A new design in the theatrical style inscribed to Paul Methuen, an original copper engraving of 1725 from Colen Campbell's Vitruvius Britannicus. The plate is lettered "This New Design of my Invention in the Theatrical Style, is most humbly inscrib'd to the Rt. Honble Paul Methuen Esqr. Principal Secretary of State", with the inscription repeated in French, and the credit "Co. Campbell Inv. et Delin." at the lower left.

The sheet is a front elevation of a large townhouse in the Palladian style. A broad flight of steps rises to a central entrance with three arched openings, and above it two stories of tall windows with pediments, framed by rusticated stonework, are crowned by a balustrade and a central pediment with statues. Niches with sculpted figures flank the facade at each end, and the engraver's name, Hulsbergh, appears at the lower right.

Colen Campbell's Vitruvius Britannicus is considered one of the greatest English architectural publications of the eighteenth century. He published the first three volumes between 1715 and 1725. Methuen, Massachusetts, was named after Sir Paul Methuen, but the design is for an English house, and the print has no American content.