The Correspondence of Francis Towne (1739-1816): John Graves Simcoe to Towne [1780s]

Wolford Lodge, March 3d 1780

My dear Sir

Nothing but the rheumatism prevented me from fulfilling my Intention of seeing you in Exeter before you left the Country, & of personally solliciting the favour which I now do by letter: it is in consequence of a request from a Friend of mine at Capel in Germany, at a leisure Time, to let me know the Price of the undermentioned Prints: I think I lately saw Mrs Ryland advertize that she had the Scarce ones for sale. - I deferred giving you the trouble, till I was certainly determin’d not to visit the Capital this Winter and I flatter myself that you will pardon the liberty I take in this Request. The Prints are The Battle of the Hogue, the Boyne, & the Death of Genl Wolfe, & Orpheus & Eurydice, Jupiter & Calisto engraved by Burke à la manière de Crayon. My wife joins me in best Compts to you. At my request she has drawn the landscape & attempted to draw Brutus in his appeal to the Gods against the perfidy of Antony as described in Plutarch but she wants your Assistance to assure her in her attempts. At all times we shall be happy to see you & I am with great esteem

Your faithful &
J Graves Simcoe

I have sent you a draft on Lisle Street as more convenient to what I apprehend is your Residence

Francis Towne: "An Artist of great eminence as a landscape painter"

Francis Towne was baptised in Isleworth in 1739. He trained and worked as a London coach painter until the 1760s, when he moved to Exeter. There he remained, on and off, until his retirement. At the end of his life he returned to London, and he died in Devonshire Street, Marylebone, in 1816.

Towne enjoyed some critical success in the 1770s and made a sporadic living until the 1780s working on commission from Devon landowners and businessmen. He studied in Italy 1780-1, producing many notable works, and so although he worked mainly as a drawing master, it was as a landscape painter that he wished to be known. Yet Towne won little recognition from the Royal Academy and the metropolitan art world; although his friends remembered him as 'an artist of great eminence', it was not until the 20th century that Towne's work was generally appreciated.

Apart from the images he made, most of what we know about Towne comes from his correspondence, most of it hitherto unpublished. All the letters sent to Towne were left by him to John Herman Merivale, a poet and lawyer who had studied under Towne in Exeter, among a large bequest of paintings and drawings. Those written by Towne come from various sources.

Towne's life and work were the subject of Richard Stephens's PhD thesis, examined at Birkbeck College, London, in 2006.

John Graves Simcoe to Towne [1780s]

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Francis Towne: "An Artist of great eminence as a landscape painter"