The representation of the country house in individual books and guides 1720-1845

During the eighteenth century a trend began for the publication of books devoted to the description of single country house; an early stage in the development of the country house guidebook. A survey of this largely unanalysed genre found it to be a much larger phenomenon than had previously been thought, with a peak in new publications later than has been suggested. The issue of the commission, details of production and uses and distribution of the guidebook are all previously neglected aspects of research. Analysis of these has given a greater insight into the context of production, and has shown the direct involvement of the house owner in many cases. In the secondary literature which does exist on this genre, the bias towards considering the contents of guidebook from the perspective of the tourists’ reception, or as an objective document, neglects the huge potential for analysis of the sub-agendas which were involved in these publications. These less overt potential messages included a justification of the country estate in general, as well as more individual markers which related to the house owner himself. This thesis has begun to rectify the lack of research into the guidebook, and to highlight this fruitful source of material on the eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. It has begun the innovative task of looking beyond guidebooks as merely a factual account of the estate, and to acknowledge that their objectivity is in question; the books were often nuanced towards given a particular impression and motivated by specific agendas. The house was represented both as an object of admiration in its own right but also used as a vehicle for the projection and display of the individual qualities and identity of the owner.