The Consul Smith Collection

"The immensely rich art collection of Joseph Smith (1674-1770) has until now remained largely unknown except to a few specialists concerned with Venetian eighteenth-century art. In this volume a selection of sixty of his finest drawings (by Italian masters from Raphael to Canaletto) are discussed and illustrated, in some cases for the first time. The drwaings are still part of the British Royal Collection, having been puchased from Smith by King George III in 1762, together with the rest of Smith's library and collection of paintings, gems, coins, medals and illuminated manuscripts."--Book jacket.