The Adventures and Speculations of the Ingenious Peter Perez Burdett

Peter Perez Burdett (1733–1793) was the first person to practise aquatint engraving in Britain. He was also an ambitious map-maker, publishing a prize-winning map of Derbyshire and inspiring the creation of a series of inter-connected county maps, from Lancashire to Warwickshire. Furthermore, after his emigration to Germany, he oversaw the mapping of Baden. He is perhaps best known as the friend and artistic advisor of Joseph Wright of Derby. It is usually assumed that his influence upon Wright ceased after his emigration to Germany in 1774. This book presents evidence that suggests that this may not have been the case. In the course of his adventurous life, Burdett crossed paths with many of the luminaries of the Enlightenment, including Erasmus Darwin, Matthew Boulton, Benjamin Franklin, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire and the Holy Roman Emperor, to name but a few. This book is his first biography.By the same author: Joseph Wright and the Final Farewell.