The work of an unjustly neglected antiquarian brought to life, showing
his contribution to the field.
After his military career, Major Hayman Rooke undertook detailed studies
of landscape, ancient trees, natural history, meteorology, and ancient
and Roman Britain. He was linked into a broad network of friends and
correspondents, including landowners such as Earl Bathurst and the Duke
of Portland, and their agents (among them Humphry Repton); he was also
connected to numerous learned societies. Information from these sources,
coupled with his wide-ranging reading and first-hand observations, gave
him a unique perspective on the landscape.
This book examines Rooke's work, showing how landscapes were interpreted
and understood in the eighteenth century; more broadly, it offers new
insights into the antiquarian movement of the time. It is richly
illustrated, making use of many of Rooke's own sketches and drawings.
EMILY SLOAN gained her doctoral thesis from the University of
Nottingham.