The Collections of Francis Douce, 1757-1834

This book explores the collections, the networks, and the methods of the antiquarian and scholar of the everyday Francis Douce (1757-1834). Throughout his life, Douce acquired rare books, illuminated manuscripts, coins, paintings, miscellaneous antiquities, and about 25,000 prints and drawings with a view to understand how people lived in the past and how they made sense of the world around them. The peculiarity of his collections is due partly to his favouring subject matter over any aesthetic consideration, and partly to his aim to create a repository of images to trace the circulation of themes and motifs across historical periods and geographical borders. From fools to witchcraft to the dance of death, Douce embraced themes, media, and forms of representation neglected or considered too coarse by most contemporary collectors.