Cassiobury Park, Hertfordshire, Antique Morris Woodblock Print, circa 1870

Warm red brick and Gothic windows distinguish this antique print of Cassiobury Park, Hertfordshire, a color woodblock country house view from Morris's Picturesque Views of Seats, printed by Benjamin Fawcett circa 1870. The long garden front has stone dressings, and its skyline is broken by castellated parapets and slim corner turrets.

At the left end a tall bay of pointed Gothic windows, taller than the ranges either side, marks what was evidently the principal hall or gallery range, set apart from the more regular domestic windows along the rest of the front. A dark conifer stands at the left margin, built up from small, tightly hatched strokes of deep green, and a looser group of deciduous trees closes the view at the right. The brick depends on at least two distinct reds laid one over the other for its slightly weathered color, and the sky is worked in warm gold and gray bands suggesting late afternoon or early evening.

Its source is A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, edited by the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris (1810 to 1893), naturalist and author of the History of British Birds, for the London publisher William Mackenzie, with drawings largely by Alexander Francis Lydon; this plate is from an issue of circa 1870. The color was printed from woodblocks by Benjamin Fawcett (1808 to 1893) of Driffield, who also printed Morris's bird books: a color wood engraving built from separate blocks in register, not hand colored.

Admirers of the house, anyone with ties to Hertfordshire and collectors of English country house views will enjoy this antique print of Cassiobury Park, Hertfordshire, an original Victorian plate removed from the book and suitable for framing. The print carries its original wide margins, with the title Cassiobury Park in small capitals beneath the image.

This antique print is in good condition for its age. The paper shows light toning consistent with age, together with a few small spots in the margins and a line of binding holes along the lower edge, where the plate was once bound into the book. Please review the images for further condition details.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.