In 1769 Thomas Gray (best known for his 'Elegy in a Country Chuchyard') made a tour of the English Lakes, and recorded it in a journal that is now widely accepted as the first example of modern travel writing. He delighted in what he saw and conveys vividly to us the lakes and the mountains through eighteenth-century eyes. A few years later the watercolourist Joseph Farington followed in Gray's footsteps and painted a series of key views along the way. These paintings, which were later engraved and published, are beautiful in the picturesque tradition, and, from a topographical point of view, are remarkably accurate, unlike the work of most artists of the time. John Murray has brought together for the first time Thomas Gray's journal, Joseph Farington's watercolours, and the engravings after the watercolours that sold widely at the time and were key to the popularising of the lakes. In addition he has photographed Farington's views as they appear today, and it is remarkable how many of them are so clearly and still easily recognisable today. Here is an unusual and original view of the Lake District, and one that has not been attempted before.

This book is a collection of diary entries by Joseph Farington, a prominent English artist and writer of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It provides a fascinating insight into the social and cultural life of the period, including the world of art and politics. 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 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. 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.