FOR ESTABLISHING BY SUBSCRIPTION 
 
 •*A Public Gallery of Pictures in London, 
 
 The Profits accruing from their EXHIBITION and subsequent BALE 
 to be divided among the Subscribers. 
 
 TlIE undersigned Joseph Count Truchsess, of Zeyl-Wurzach, Grand 
 Dean of the Cathedral of Strasbourg, and Canon of the Metropolitan Chapter of 
 Cologne, proposes this Subscription to bg received by Messrs. Ransom, Morland, 
 and Co., bankers, in Pall-Mall, and to be retained by them until the objedt 
 proposed is carried into effedt, and pledges himself to furnifh the Colledtion of 
 Pidtures, which is to compose the said Gallery, to the entire satisfaction of the 
 Subscribers. 
 
 It is well known, that his Colledtion of Pidtures, now at Vienna, to which 
 place it was removed for security, holds a distinguished rank among the greatest 
 and most celebrated "Galleries in Germany, and consists of more than a thousand 
 original Paintings, divided into the Old, the Flemish, the Dutch, the German, 
 the French, and the Italian Schools, which would fill a suite of ten or eleven 
 apartments ; it may - be considered rather as the Gallery of a Prince, than of a 
 private Individual, however' wealthy. At the same time, it is peculiarly re- 
 markable for the great variety of Masters it possesses, and the happy choice of 
 their works, as well as for > the. singular freshness and preservation of all the 
 Paintings it contains, lienee the Proprietor may boaft, without fear of contra- 
 diction, that hundreds j of Connoisseurs, intimately acquainted with tl;e most 
 valuable Cabinets in Holland, the numerous Colledtions of Italy, and the most 
 celebrated Galleries of Dresden, Busseldorf, Munich, Vienna, &c., have spent 
 hours and days in admiring his Gallery, always expressing their astonishment 
 at the prodigious number of first-rate pidtures in every class, as well as at it’s 
 instructive arrangement, exhibiting all the different Schools, no where else so 
 regularly classed, or forming such a complete whole*. 
 
 A It 
 
 * The famous Gallery of Dusseldorf. contains in all but 36S paintings. These paintings are very large, it is 
 true; and among them we justly admire 4-9 of ltubens, IS of Vandyke, 22 of Vanderwerf. But so many 
 pieces by one master, where the whole number is not great, leaves us to regret the absence of many other 
 
 classic 
 
 [W, Thorne, Printor, ReJ Lion Court, Fleet Street.) 
 
[ 2 j 
 
 It is not surprising therefore, that a Collection of such importance should 
 have been estimated successively by Professors of the Academy of Dusseldorf 
 and Dresden, (exclusive of the subfequent additions made to it,) at upwards of 
 1500,000 Vienna florins, or 150,000 pounds sterling; and taken altogether, 
 compared with other Collections of a similar kind, it might have been valued 
 much higher. If we admit, that such academical estimates frequently amount 
 to double or triple the prices commonly given, yet, from considering the pieces 
 separately, and valuing them one with another at the rate at which fo many 
 other Cabinets have been collected, it is evidently impossible but that a thou- 
 sand seleCt paintings, many of them in every respeCt first-rate performances, 
 must be worth, by any calculation, a sum very near the estimate above given, 
 or at least much above the price at which it is offered to the Public in these 
 Proposals. 
 
 This very circumstance of the great value of the Collection renders it highly 
 improbable, that any Sovereign in Europe should think of purchasing it all 
 together, in the present state of affairs. Many of these Sovereigns possess Gal- 
 leries already formed, and consequently would wish to seleCt only a few capital 
 Masters wanting in their Collections; others, confined to the most rigid economy 
 at the recent termination of an expensive war, would not think themselves 
 justified in devoting to a mere objeCt of the Arts such a considerable sum, as 
 the competition of feveral Sovereigns, and of several private Individuals, would 
 readily furnish. Were such a Gallery then to be dismembered, there can be no 
 doubt but the most advantageous mode of disposing of it would be, to sell it 
 piece by piece, either at the different courts of Germany, in Russia, or else- 
 where, as opportunity might offer; and in consequence of the enormous losses 
 Count Truchsess has sustained in his fortune during the thirteen years of the 
 French revolution, though himself a German, he must ultimately determine 
 
 on 
 
 classic masters, generally expected in a Gallery. Accordingly, the Elector Palatine has more than once enter- 
 tained a- design- of making exchanges among his different Collections, in order to increase the variety of each. 
 
 Besides, we know not yet any other Gallery in existence,, in which a satisfactory series of the best painters, 
 born in Germany, or in France, is united in a distinct class ;. and we need only name here among the latter, a 
 Claude Lorrain, a Nicholas and a Caspar Poussin, a Moses Valentine, Sebastian Bourdon, Bourguignon, &c., 
 to say nothing of the many other excellent painters of the age of Lewis XIV, to show how interesting such a 
 union of them must be. It is the same with regard to a number of excellent German painters, whom,' in other 
 places, for want of a sufficient, series, we find arbitrarily confounded with the Dutch and Flemish, or with the. 
 Italian. 
 
[ 3 ] 
 
 on this step, and is prompted by a thousand motives soon to announce this 
 Sale, distributing a printed Catalogue, a few months previous to it, throughout 
 all the countries in Europe. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding the determination of Count Truchsess, finally to adopt 
 the measure of selling his pictures separately at the different courts of Germany 
 and of other foreign countries ; and persuaded as he is, that he shall thus ob- 
 tain the largest sum for them; he cannot avoid confessing his regret, not so much 
 at parting with such a valued portion of his property, as at seeing it immediately 
 dismembered and dispersed for ever, without farther examination, without far- 
 ther use ; while he ventures to predict, that every Artist, and every real Con- 
 noisseur, who has already seen it, or may see it hereafter, will regret still more 
 than himself the dissolution of a Gallery, the extremely rare classic assortment 
 of which enhanced it’s value, and rendered it an objeCt of universal admiration. 
 
 Hence the Count cannot willingly forego any hope or apparent probability 
 of seeing his Collection perhaps preserved and kept together ; to attain which 
 object he would be contented with a price far below it’s real value : and he 
 flatters himself, that his pictures thus sold and removed to London, and there 
 exposed to the view of all the Artists, Amateurs, and Connoisseurs in Great 
 Britain, would soon acquire the importance of a National Establishment of the 
 highest value and utility ; while the Subscribers, by fixing the price of admis- 
 sion at the moderate sum of half a crown, would, no doubt, receive a confi- 
 derable annual profit, beside the interest of their capital ; and would always 
 have it in their power, as Proprietors, to sell the pieces separately, when- 
 ever it should be found no longer advantageous to keep them thus together, 
 and when they would unquestionably fetch a greater price, in consequence of 
 the more distinguished reputation they would have acquired during the preced- 
 ing Exhibition. 
 
 In the mean time, considering the mere exhibition of them, it may not 
 be superfluous to remind the Subscribers, that no such Establishment exists at 
 present in Great Britain. It is true, that many Noblemen and Gentlemen have 
 purchased pictures at a great expense in Italy, Holland, and other countries : 
 but all these form only private Collections, confined to their own houses, and 
 many of them dispersed through the country at a great distance from the capi- 
 tal. To these houses the Artist, the Amateur, and the Public in general, can- 
 not eafily obtain access ; and Foreigners, in particular, are so unacquainted with 
 
 them, 
 
[ * ] 
 
 them, that many may have refided in London for years, without having seen a 
 single picture belonging to a Collection. We are not speaking here' of public 
 Exhibitions, which are but temporary, dnd too seldom above mediocrity for 
 the able Artist to spend a valuable portion of his time on them, at the uncer- 
 tainty of being indemnified for his pains and expense. Hence it follows, that 
 the Englishman deurous of instruction is obliged to travel abroad, to see a 
 Gallery of Paintings at Paris, Florence, Dresden, Dusseldor'f, &c. : and it is ini- 
 possible therefore, but that a public Gallery of truly distinguished merit, estab- 
 lished in the Capital of Great Britain, and exhibiting a series of more than five 
 hundred Masters of all the different Schools, must excite the highest attention, 
 and, amid a population of above a million, be daily visited by a number of 
 Artists, Amateurs, and Spectators from curiofity ; an objeCt of amusement to 
 these, and of infinite utility and study to those. 
 
 As to the prolit that must arise from such an Establishment, it may eafilv be esti- 
 mated to a certain degree of, approximation, if we consider the great concourse 
 of people attradted, when a Painter at London announces the Exhibition of 
 a fingle pidture, in some degree interesting ; for this may certainly be taken 
 at a hundred fold, when we confider, that the objedt here is not one picture 
 alone, but ten or eleven rooms together, filled with pictures by the greatest 
 Masters, consequently a vast Gallery, the contents of which it is scarcely pos- 
 sible to run over in three or four hours, much less could it be completely known 
 and thoroughly examined in a single day. Therefore, it is not a fimple objedt 
 of curiofity which is seen once and no more, but a perpetual subjedt of admi- 
 ration, study, and consultation, for every Artist and Amateur : and in this view 
 it has been visited at Vienna twenty times following by the same Artists, never 
 weary of returning, and of seeing again, amid such a multitude of pictures, 
 what they had not before seen, examined, and admired in the same degree. 
 
 To justify himself in making this eulogium of his Collection to Subscribers, 
 most of whom are yet unacquainted with it, Count Truchsess might simply 
 appeal to the public notoriety it enjoys. The reputation of his Gallery is sp well 
 established, that even different travellers, in their works published at Vienna and 
 other places, speak of it with distinguished praise: In the mean time, it may 
 be sufficient to subjoin a copy of the Certificate formally given by the Imperial 
 Academy of fine Arts at Vienna, which will carry with it the more weight, 
 as the Directors and principal Professors, by whom it is signed, are known to 
 
 be 
 
[ 5 ] 
 
 be very circumspect, reserved, and it may almost be said strict to excess, with 
 regard to such declarations*. It is but just, however, that Count Truchsess, 
 while he deposits the Catalogue of his Paintings, with these Proposals, in the 
 hands of Messrs. Ransom, Morland, and Co., at London, should add testimonies 
 which the British nation cannot suspeCt of partiality. 
 
 With this view he has deemed it incumbent on him, not only to lay before 
 Lord Minto, at that time Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary 
 from Great Britain to the Court of Vienna, the valuation of his Gallery made 
 by the Academicians, in which it is estimated, exclusive of two hundred valu- 
 able pictures since purchased, at one million five hundred and sixteen thousand 
 Vienna florins; but he likewise takes the liberty of appealing to the judgment 
 of Sir William Hamilton, late British Envoy at the Court of Naples, a dis- 
 tinguished Connoiseur, who during his fhort stay at Vienna, twice visited the 
 Gallery in question, and expressed the highest satisfaction with it : And he 
 may appeal farther to two British Artists, by whom it was seen at Vienna, 
 Mr. Thompson and Mr. Robert Ker Porter, both now in London, the latter 
 residing at No. 6 , Gerrard Street, Soho. 
 
 But to remove every doubt from the minds of the Subscribers, that Count 
 Truchsess will make it a point of honour, not only to fulfil their juft expecta- 
 tions, but if possible to surpass them, he agrees to receive in the first instance 
 only one third of the sum lie demands, to be paid on delivering his Pictures 
 into the hands of the Agent, whom the Subscribers shall appoint to receive 
 them at Vienna ; the other two thirds to remain till the pictures shall arrive in 
 
 B England, 
 
 * COPY OF tiie CERTIFICATE of the ACADEMY of PAINTING at VIENNA. 
 
 Nous sousignes declarons, attestons et certifions que la Collection des Tableaux appartenante a S. E. Mons. 
 le Comte Joseph Truchsess, Senechal hereditaire de l’Empirc, refugiee pour le present a Vienne en Autriche, 
 composee de plus de mille pieces, forme une de grander et de plus complettes Galleries de FAllemagne; qu’elle 
 offre non seulement dans les Ecoles Italienne, Franfoise, et Allemande une quantite de Tableaux pretieux, 
 mais surtout dans les Ecoles Flamande et Hollandois une Suite prodigieuse de differents Maitres avec nom- 
 bre de leurs Tableaux de la toute premiere qualitb et' importance. En foi et temoignage de quoi nous n’avons 
 pas balance de sous-signer le present Certificat, fait et dresse ainsi a Vienne le 25 Septembre, 1801. 
 
 (L. S.) Joseph Rosa, (L. S.) Het^ei Fuger, 
 
 Directeur de la Gallerie des tableaux Directeur a FAcademie Imp. Royale des 
 
 de S.. M. I. R. Apostol. beaux arts. 
 
 (L> S.) Cavaliere de Lampi, Franco. Caucig, Professore. 
 
 Profess, dell’ J. R. Academ.. di Pittura Hubert Maurer, Professor, 
 
 in Vienna. 
 
[ « ] 
 
 England, be seen and examined by a Committee of impartial Connoisseurs re- 
 quested to meet for the purpose, and be estimated by them to be worth more 
 than the sum demanded. 
 
 Having given these explanations, and these assurances. Count Truchsess pro- 
 ceeds to open a Subscription for the space of four months, to commence from 
 the date ot the present Proposals; and in favour of those, who shall subscribe 
 during this period, he fixes the price of his Colledtion, to be transported to 
 London at his own expense, and at his own risk, at the lowest rate possible; at 
 a rate adtually below what it will have cost him before it arrives at the place of 
 it’s destination,, notwithstanding the concurrence of the rnoft fortunate circum- 
 stances, and thirty years of indefatigable labour, which he has spent in forming 
 it. The sum he thus demands is sixty thousand guineas, divided into fix hun- 
 dred shares of a hundred guineas each. Every Subscriber will have an interest in 
 the whole property, and in the profits arising from it, in proportion to the 
 number of shares taken by him, and as many votes in all the deliberations held, 
 and on all the regulations to be made, for the management, exhibition, or resale 
 of the Pictures. With regard to such of the six hundred shares as shall not be 
 subscribed for within the abovementioned period of four months, they will re- 
 main the property of Count Truchsess; who will be at liberty, after the expi- 
 ration of that term, either to keep them himself, or to sell as many of them as 
 he thinks proper, on his own account, at an advanced price. 
 
 Thus it is only in favour of the Subscribers, and to form a ground-work for 
 their association, that Count Truchsess here fixes the price of his Collection, in- 
 cluding all the additions made to it, as well as the great expense of carriage and 
 freight from Vienna to London, and all the duties payable both here and on 
 the Continent, at the sum of sixty thousand guineas.* The enlightened Con- 
 noisseur will readily conceive, that in setting a value on upwards of a thou- 
 sand seleCt Paintings, many of them of first-rate merit in every respcCt, to esti- 
 mate 
 
 '* Count Truchsess had formed a plan, according to which, it is true, the price demanded would have been 
 somewhat less, but the Subscribers would have been obliged to take upon themselves all the trouble, expense, 
 and risk of removing the Paintings to London; and the enormous charges, amounting under the most favour- 
 able circumstances to four or five thousand guineas, with the vast trouble that must necessarily attend this, are 
 so notorious, that, while thus unlimited in their extent, they would unquestionably have deterred many from 
 subscribing. Besides, Count Truchsess made such important additions and improvements to his Collection last 
 autumn, that it would be impracticable for him to support these two fresh charges, at less than the price above 
 fixed, convinced as he is, that it will be far from indemnifying him for the sums he has already disbursed, 
 and the expenses he will have yet to incur on the occasion. 
 
[ 7 ] 
 
 mate them one with another at sixty guineas is but little ; particularly as there 
 are among them single Pictures, which have been estimated at three, four, and 
 even upwards of five thousand guineas, and might produce these sums, if sold, 
 as they are chefs-d’oeuvres of the Art, and in some sort invaluable. 
 
 But as the present Proposals are addressed not solely to Connoisseurs and 
 Lovers of the Art, but likewise to every person desirous of putting out his 
 money to advantage; many of whom, placing little confidence in such estima- 
 tions and extraordinary prices, cannot or will not consider at the first view so 
 large a sum as certain, which, in every supposition of the case, necessarily rests 
 on a thoufand choice pictures united together; Count Truchsess is willing on 
 their account, to enter into a mercantile calculation, founded on prices so low, 
 that no one will deny that the like are daily paid, in all countries, for pictures 
 beyond doubt infinitely inferiour to these. 
 
 Assuredly he takes a very low supposition, if in his Gallery so generally 
 celebrated, and valued seven years ago at a million and a half of florins, or 
 upward of a hundred and fifty thousand pounds, he should reckon, calculating 
 the prices they would fetch if sold separately : 
 
 50 Pictures, one with another, at 400 guineas each, 20,000 guineas. 
 
 50 
 
 — ■ 
 
 at 300 
 
 - 
 
 15,000 
 
 50 
 
 — 
 
 at 200 
 
 - 
 
 10,000 
 
 50 
 
 — 
 
 at 
 
 100 
 
 - 
 
 5,000 
 
 100 
 
 — * 
 
 at 
 
 50 
 
 - 
 
 5,000 
 
 100 
 
 — 
 
 at 
 
 40 
 
 - 
 
 4,000 
 
 100 
 
 — 
 
 at 
 
 30 
 
 
 3,000 
 
 100 
 
 — 
 
 at 
 
 20 
 
 - 
 
 2,000 
 
 100 
 
 — 
 
 at 
 
 10 
 
 * 
 
 1,000 
 
 700 
 
 
 
 
 Sum total 
 
 65,000 
 
 In this way we have sixty-five thousand guineas for only seven hundred of 
 the Pictures, incontestibly rated at a very low price; and there are above three 
 hundred remaining, not taken into the calculation. Who therefore does not 
 clearly see, that by purchasing them altogether on speculation for the sum of 
 sixty thousand guineas, the Subscribers are not only secure of the capital ad- 
 vanced, and the interest of their money, but even of a considerable profit in 
 addition, in whatever manner the body of Subscribers may afterward think 
 proper to dispose of the Collection? 
 
 On 
 
[ 8 ] 
 
 On the contrary, in asking an inferiour sum for a property announced to be 
 of much greater value, Count Truchsess, in order to obviate any prejudice or 
 unpleasant inference to which this might give rise, would be under the neces— 
 sity of explaining his motives, were they not sufficiently obvious from what has 
 already been said, viz. that after the enormous losses he has experienced during 
 the course of the French revolution, his fortune no longer allows him to keep 
 in his own possession an objeCt of such magnitude and value ; and as he has no 
 hope of displaying and making known all the importance of his Gallery, taken 
 together in it’s classic arrangement as it is, except in England, a certain num- 
 ber of Associates are indispensably necessary for him, by whose assistance he 
 may obtain the means of clearing himself in Germany, and be enabled to de- 
 fray the great expense attending it’s removal hither, without which his design 
 must be frustrated. At the same time, he is so confident of the considerable 
 profit which may and must arise from it, that he will be well satisfied if no 
 more than two thirds, or even half the number of Subscribers should offer, so 
 that, by two or three hundred shares being left on his hands, he would re- 
 main of course one of the principal proprietors. 
 
 And in fa6t it is only about a third of the price fixed, i. e. fifteen or twenty 
 thousand guineas, that Count Truchsess requires; on the receipt of which, the 
 whole of his Collection shall be immediately delivered into the possession of the 
 Proprietors at large. But as he cannot thus deliver it, till he is assured of such 
 a sum, on this account he urgently requests and intreats every Lover of the 
 Arts, inclined to engage in this undertaking, and desirous of accelerating it’s 
 execution, to subscribe without delay, sending a note of the number of shares 
 he may choose to take, signed by himself, to the house of Messrs. Ransom, 
 Morland, and Co., bankers, in Pall Mali. 
 
 In the mean time, Count Truchsess requires no money to be advanced by the 
 Subscribers, till they are properly assured, that near a third at least of the 
 whole number of shares will be taken, and that in consequence the plan will 
 certainly be carried into, execution; but as soon as a hundred and fifty or two 
 hundred shares are subscribed for,, and not before, Messrs. Ransom, Morland, 
 and Co. will inform the Subscribers of it by circular letters, or by advertise- 
 ment in the public papers, that they may pay their subscriptions into their 
 bank; and this sum of fifteen or twenty thousand guineas being paid to Count 
 Joseph Truchsess, the seller, at Vienna, he will instantly deliver his whole 
 
 Collection,, 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 Collection, containing at least a thousand choice Pictures, into the, hands pi the 
 Agent of the Subscribers, appointed by them to receive it.* 
 
 When Count Truchsess declares, that he will deliver his Colledtion to the 
 Agent of the Subscribers, and that he will besides defray all the expense of 
 carriage, freight, and duties, while he, uncertain of the rest, shall have re- 
 ceived but a third of the whole sum demanded, it is to be understood of course, 
 as a matter of equity, that the Count does not relinquish his co-proprietorship, 
 and his right of co-inspedfion and co-dire6tion over the Paintings thus delivered ; 
 but that he retains for himself and his heirs, so many shares as shall not have 
 been subscribed and paid for at the time; that is to say, when Count Truchsess 
 receives the third of the sixty thousand guineas, lie will deliver his Pictures into 
 the hands of the Agent appointed, to have thenceforward the keeping and 
 management of them jointly with him. It is by mutual consent, that they 
 will take the most proper, most safe, and least expensive measures, for packing 
 them up, and conveying them to London. However, that no one of the 
 Subscribers, by whom the first third of the sum is advanced, may have any 
 anxiety, or risk, on account of his money paid, Count Truchsess, charged alone 
 with the expense of the conveyance, solemnly pledges himself to spare no cost 
 or pains that human foresight can suggest, for the safety of it; he also- engages 
 to insure it against loss at sea to the amount of the sum demanded; that, 
 should it unfortunately meet with any fatal accident in the passage, neither he 
 nor the Subscribers may lose their capital, but, however such an event might 
 be regretted on account of the Arts, be repaid the money they had advanced. 
 
 By entering into these engagements, Count Truchsess flatters himself he shall 
 have removed every possibility of mistrust, and laid the surest foundation of an 
 entire confidence in his Proposals. No one of the Subscribers, it is evident 
 engages himself at an uncertainty, or merely on the faith of the testimonies 
 and certificates here adduced, irrefragable as they are; his perfect security 
 
 C arises. 
 
 * It Is to be noted here, that Count Truchsess having already sent some of his Pictures to London, and 
 some other Pictures belonging- to him being at present at Dresden, all these Pictures are to be included amon<* 
 the number to be delivered, so far as they are found of sufficient excellence to be admitted into the Classical 
 Selection to be made on the occasion. By Classical Selection is to be understood the complcatino- as far as 
 possible the grand scries and variety of Masters of every School; and in this sense many Pictures that would 
 not be chosen for a Cabinet, are, notwithstanding, extremely valuable in a Gallery. 
 
* 
 
 [ 10 ] 
 
 arises from the engagements entered into in these Proposals themselves, inde- 
 pendent of every foreign opinion. The Subscriber pays only as he receives; 
 and though the first hundred and fifty or two hundred Subscribers pay their 
 money before the Pictures have reached England, yet this money will not be 
 delivered into the hands of the Seller at Vienna, till the Collection has been 
 examined by their Agent, who will form a judgement of it’s worth, and giving 
 his order for the payment, will immediately receive the whole Gallery, of 
 an evidently greater value, as a security. 
 
 There remains but one farther difficulty, and this arises entirely from the 
 Subscribers themselves, that of the almost insurmountable trouble and perplex-* 
 ity, which would attend collecting individually in the first instance the votes of 
 So many Subscribers, residing in different places, for determining jointly on the 
 choice of a skilful and trusty Agent, to go to Vienna in their behalf, there to 
 see and receive the Paintings in question. For this reason Count Truchsess 
 requests the Subscribers, to leave this care entirely to the well-known house of 
 Ransom, Morland, and Co. with the advice of some of the principal Subscrib- 
 ers, Count Truchsess alone being deemed responsible for every thing that re- 
 gards the individual value of the Pictures. 
 
 This responsibility Count Truchsess takes on himself alone; for what banker 
 in London, unacquainted with the Pictures in question, or what Agent sent by 
 him to take charge of them, were he the most skilful Connoisseur in the world, 
 would be responsible, on his own single judgment, to so many different Sub- 
 scribers, for upward of a thousand Paintings being worth this or that exaCt sum ? 
 This examination and valuation in detail will be afterward made in London itself; 
 and it is evidently for the interest of Count Truchsess, that, conformably to 
 the engagement into which he here enters, the valuation of his Pictures should 
 greatly exceed the sixty thousand guineas he demands. He will have received 
 but one third of this sum, when he delivers up his Pictures as a security for it ; 
 and if, on their arrival in London, and valuation by skilful and impartial per- 
 sons, chosen by both parties, they should be estimated at less than the sum 
 specified, he is not entitled to take more Subscriptions than the estimate will 
 fully cover. What risk, then, can the Subscribers incur ?* Suppose the Gal- 
 lery 
 
 * To remove every cause of dispute or dissatisfaction, it is proper to settle the grounds on which the estimate 
 should be made. Count Truchsess certainly does not expect that the persons thus chosen by both parties- 
 
 should 
 
[ 11 ] 
 
 lery' in question, brought to London free of all expence, should then be 
 estimated, by a just and equitable valuation, altogether at no more than 
 twenty thousand guineas, so much the worse for the Seller alone : it would 
 then belong, at this price, to the few Subscribers who had paid the first two 
 hundred shares; as any -other Subscription that had been taken in the mean 
 time, not having been paid, is by this circumstance rendered void. Count 
 Truchsess even offers to refund a proportional part of the first fifteen or twenty 
 thousand guineas received, could it possibly be determined that his Pictures were 
 not worth the sum advanced ; but this supposition is inadmissible, since, were 
 they of so little value, the Connoisseur sent to see and receive them at Vienna, 
 would not have agreed to the purchase, and, consequently, would have refused 
 the payment of this first sum. However, it would be ridiculous to conceive 
 such a circumstance possible, when the object in question is one of the grand 
 Galleries of Germany, sufficiently known to be of the higheft value and im- 
 portance, with regard both to the number and quality of its Paintings ; in short, 
 a Gallery of immense extent, constantly frequented on these accounts by the 
 greatest Artists and Connoiseurs wherever it has yet been, and deserving to be 
 so wherever it may yet happen to come. 
 
 Having 
 
 should adopt the highest prices of the Art, according to which many of the Pictures, from their intrinsic 
 merit, or on considering the few works existing of the Master, may be termed in some sort inestimable ; at the 
 same time he equally protests against taking as a standard such accidental prices, as, though they may have 
 occurred now and then, are no less exceptions from the general rule, and would give on the contrary a value tar 
 below the real worth. In the same manner, when a Picture truly valuable, having appeared extremely dirty 
 and defaced on its exhibibition, has fetched on sale but a third or fourth part of the sum that has been offered 
 tQ the purchaser almost immediately after, this may likewise be termed an accidental price. But the true 
 value of the Paintings evidently ought to be estimated by comparison and analogy with the prices at which 
 similar Pictures have been frequently purchased, for the great Collections and celebrated Cabinets of this coun- 
 try, after they had obtained sufficient reputation and notoriety in the eyes of Connoisseurs. It would be in 
 the same manner capricious and unjust, to degrade the real value of a Picture, by objecting that it is. by a 
 Master scarcely known, and consequently not enquired after in England ; for, in this view, half the Gallery 
 of Dresden would be rejected, and many a private Amateur would find this picture too large to. suit his taste 
 or his collection, and that too little known, or not sufficiently pleasing, for his little Cabinet. Yet the Dres- 
 den Gallery would not enjoy the reputation it does, were any of these Masters wanting in it ; and the subject 
 of the present Proposals is like it, a grand Gallery, which has been particularly admired for exhibiting, in its 
 classical arrangement, at least two hundred different Masters more than that of Dresden. It must be re- 
 membered, however, that Count Tuchsess desires this valuation only to prove to the Subscriber's the true 
 worth of what they have bought; the price of their purchase being limited to 60,000 guineas, it will make 
 no difference to them, :should the valuation amount to double or triple the sum; but it would be a real loss 
 and injustice to the Count should his Pictures be so under-valued as to diminish the sum. he would still have 
 to receive. 
 
[ 12 1 
 
 Having mentioned the vast extent of the Collq&iqn, . .possibly it’s very mag- 
 nitude might deter some Amateurs from subscribing, through apprehension of 
 the trouble, difficulty, and expense, commonly attending so large an Exhibi- 
 tion. In faCt, it will be necessary to have ten or eleven apartments for it : 
 And it is known, that the Orleans’ Gallery, though brought to London in two 
 different parts, was obliged to be exhibited in several places, thus occasioning a 
 great addition of expense, as separate persons to take care of it, and attend- 
 ants, were necessary at every place. For this reason Count Truchsess thinks it 
 incumbent on him to say, that as soon as near two hundred shares are taken, 
 so as to render the arrival of the Collection no longer a matter of uncertainty, 
 and the Subscribers for them will only answer for two year’s rent, at a reason- 
 able rate, he has persons ready,' who will engage to furnish, in an advantage- 
 ous situation, a place so adapted to their Exhibition, as no Gallery at present 
 existing in the world can boast of. The plans of this place will be laid before 
 the Subscribers to the first two hundred shares, and they will frame such reso- 
 lutions; in the name of the whole body, as are necessarily urgent, that the 
 place may be put in order, and ready for the reception of the Pictures, before 
 the middle of next winter. This, however, need not alarm any of those who 
 are in the habit of keeping Exhibition Rooms ; for the place in question being 
 subsequently intended for a different purpose, it is, perhaps, solely for the 
 Collection of Count Truchsess, and till this is otherwise disposed of, that it 
 will be employed as a temporary Public Gallery. 
 
 The subscription for the first two hundred shares is urgent in another point of 
 view, before the Nobility and Gentry leave London, and go into the country. 
 As the time that will be required for the journey of their Agent to Vienna, 
 the packing up of a thousand pictures, their carriage all the way from Vienna, 
 and their subsequent conveyance across the ^sea, if possible before the end of 
 next autumn, added to what must necessarily be spent in putting up such a 
 Collection, will occupy at least six months, and possibly more: Should these 
 subscriptions be deferred till people return to town, as nothing can be done 
 towards the removal of the Collection during the winter, there will be a loss 
 not of these six months merely, but of twelve, or rather eighteen, before the 
 Pictures could arrive in London, and be put into the hands of the Subscribers, 
 It must be observed, likewise, that should Count Truchsess find nothing effec- 
 tually done toward the Subscription he proposes, before the period when per- 
 sons of Fashion and Fortune usually leave town, considering his hopes as abor- 
 tive. 
 
[ 13 ] 
 
 tive, he will feel himself under the necessity of withdrawing his present Propo- 
 sals, and of recurring to other steps for the disposal of his Pictures at different 
 Courts, where some partial negotiations for this purpose have already been begun. 
 
 Still Count Truchsess is aware, that the Subscribers for the first two hun- 
 dred shares, as they will have to advance their money three or four months 
 before the subsequent Subscribers, may expeCt some particular advantage on 
 this account : and as this cannot be given them in the property of the Collec- 
 tion, on which every share has an equal claim, without prejudice to the rest 
 of the Subscribers, he offers them beside their decisive influence in the primary 
 regulations already mentioned, a permanent advantage with regard to votes, by 
 allotting an additional vote to every five shares of the first two hundred ; that 
 is to say, the holders of these shares shall have two hundred and forty votes 
 among them instead of two hundred, which will be of no little weight in the 
 subsequent deliberations for the keeping or resale of the Collection. Should 
 the business ultimately terminate in a division of the' Pictures among the Sub- 
 scribers, in this single case, no doubt, the holder of every share should have 
 an equal voice on the mode of making the distribution. But every difference 
 or misunderstanding, that could arise on this head among the Subscribers, it is 
 conceived, would be obviated by adopting the method of a private auction 
 among themselves, or even of a public one: For no one of the Subscribers 
 would have reason to fear the enhancement of price, to which he might be 
 liable in this case ; as the rest would be in a similar situation with himself, and 
 all additions of price would only augment the sum to be divided, in which he 
 would share ; so that it is most probable every one would receive a compensa- 
 tion indirectly, for whatever he might imagine he had paid too much for this 
 or that piece that might suit him. 
 
 In the mean time Count Truchsess flatters himself, he shall afford some satis- 
 faction to the Lovers of the Arts, by previously bringing forty or fifty of his 
 Pictures to London ; not taken from his Gallery at Vienna, which still re- 
 mains there entire ; hut Pictures subsequently purchased, and designed, with 
 one or two hundred others, to increase it’s variety. A dozen or more of the 
 principal among these (the rest, of inferior consequence, being added to them 
 simply to fill a room) will serve at least to show what kind of a Collector 
 Count Truchsess is, and what may be expeCted from his Gallery, when he 
 speaks alternately of classical Pictures, chosen Pictures, and Pictures of first- 
 ly rate 
 
[ 1 * ] 
 
 rate Merit. Perhaps the Artists, Connoisseurs, and Amateurs of this country* 
 to whom the Count will take pleasure in showing this feeble specimen of what 
 he has collected, as soon as the whole of it has arrived and is put up, will 
 allow more than one of the pieces, -taken in their kind, and relative to the 
 Masters by whom they were painted, to rank in the first Order. Should it 
 appear, that there are among them some Picture's by Masters not generally 
 known in this country, or totally unknown here, the Proprietor would not be 
 sorry, as they would tend indirectly to prove how interesting the series of them 
 must be in a grand Gallery: But it is a matter of regret to him, that only 
 five or six Paintings, by Italian Masters, are among those that are now on 
 their way to England; yet, small as. this number is, Count Truchsess cannot 
 avoid mentioning among them, beside an exquisite composition of Corregio, 
 two such capital paintings by Domenichino, that Italy itself can scarcely fur- 
 nish two more important by the hand of this very fcarce Master, and, per- 
 haps, none so highly finished, still less so well preserved in all the freshness of 
 their original colouring, as these. It is particularly to see these two Paintings 
 that Count Truchsess invites the Artist and Connoisseur ; and he hopes they 
 will afford the same pleasure here, as they did during five months at Dresden 
 to all the Connoisseurs in that capital. 
 
 To those who are not equally skilled, however, it may be proper to observe, 
 that most of these few Paintings that will be shewn to them, have not even 
 simple gilt frames ; and being thus destitute of ornament, perhaps it may be 
 said disfigured by plain wooden borders ; no wonder if in this state, and in no 
 connected series or arrangement, they do not display all the beauty and value 
 which they intrinsically possess. To many likewise it may appear scarcely 
 worth their while, to have come to see only five or six pictures, in this or that 
 style, calculated to please their taste : and, to say the truth, even to the Artist 
 and the profound Connoisseur, it is by no means equally interesting, to see this 
 small number first offered to his view, and to see hereafter two or three hundred 
 Pictures of first-rate merit in one series, all arranged according to their re- 
 spective Schools, surrounded with so many other Masters, whose different styles 
 ferve mutually to difplay each other to advantage. This is the diftinguishing 
 characteristic, the merit, and the utility of a grand Gallery; a thing which 
 has never yet been formed in England, rich as it is in detached Paintings: 
 and this is what Count Truchsess offers in his Collection, perfuaded as he is, 
 
 that, 
 
t 15 ] 
 
 that, after having been some time exposed to public view, it cannot fail to 
 excite a general wish, not only of seeing it kept for ever as a Ntional Esta- 
 blishment, but of having it still more and more enlarged and diversified ; an 
 ample scope for which offers itself here in the possibility of making, exchanges. 
 But all this is the business, and depends on the will, of the Subscribers, who 
 will become the Proprietors of it. 
 
 In conclusion, Count Truchsess has only to observe, that such another op- 
 portunity perhaps will never again occur throughout the world, to purchafe 
 and acquire at such a price one of the largcft and most complete Galleries 
 of Paintings. The sight of it alone, however, can give conviction of its im- 
 portance ; and for this reason Count Truchsess has not thought it advisable at 
 present to add a printed Catalogue of his Pictures to the present Proposals. 
 A manuscript Catalogue indeed is left for examination with Messrs. Ransom, 
 Morland, and Co’s, in Pall Mall: But to read a pompous list of the greatest 
 Masters can answer little purpose, while the Paintings are more than five hun- 
 dred miles off ; and it may be questioned, till they are seen, whether they be 
 the performances of those Masters or not. Besides the mention of some names, 
 were it in the first Gallery in the world, might prove an inexhaustible soucre of 
 disputes, which Count Truchsess is desirous by all possible means to avoid. It 
 is sufficient for him, that the small number of his Pictures, the names of the 
 Painters of which may be questioned, are not the lets originals of great merit ; 
 that all the others are undoubtedly by the Masters to whom they are ascribed, 
 Masters desirable in a Collection ; and that the whole together forms one of 
 the most complete and distinguished public Galleries, in the eyes of every 
 Connoisseur, of value far surpassing the price he asks. For this Count Truch- 
 sess conceives he may solemnly pledge himself in subscribing the present 
 Propofals. It remains, therefore, with the Lovers and Patrons of the Arts in 
 England, and with every other Englishman attached to his country, to decide 
 whether they will enrich the capital of it with a Treasure of Art, as valu- 
 able and useful to the Public, as profitable to themselves individually, and 
 accelerate its arrival by their speedy Subscription. 
 
 JOSEPH COUNT TRUCHSESS/ 
 
 London, May the ijth, 1802. 
 
 Of Zeyl Wurzaci-i, Grand Dean of the 
 Cathedral Church of Strasbourg, and 
 Canon of the Chapter of Cologne. 
 
[ 16 ] 
 
 Form of Subscription. 
 
 /, whose name is undersigned , hereby declare , that I take one (two, three, or 
 more) share (or shares), at one hundred guineas (each), in the purchase of the 
 Collection of Pictures of Count Joseph Truchscss, at Vienna, in Austria, accord- 
 ing to the tenour of the conditions announced by him in his Proposals of the date 
 of the 15 th of May, 1802; and I hereby engage, to pay the amount of this my 
 subscription into the hands .of Messrs. Ransom, Morland, and Co., Bankers, in 
 Pall Mall, London, as soon as they shall inform me, by a circular letter, or by 
 the public papers, that near a third of the shares is subscribed for. I likewise request 
 and empower Messrs. Ransom, Morland, and Co., to appoint a skilful Agent to 
 be sent to Vienna ; to pay the money as agreed, and take the necessary steps for 
 receiving the said Collection : and when it is arrived in London, and a meeting 
 of the Subscribers is called, in case 1 of my absence, I request and empower N. N. 
 Esq., ( Professor , Fellow, Associate of the Royal Academy, or as the case may be) 
 to vote for me, as my Proxy, in such farther arrangements and regulations as may 
 be proposed. 
 
 In Witness whereof 1 hereunto set my Hand, 
 
 No. , Street, Square, ][£. M. 
 
 London, the , 1802. 
 
 N. B. If feveral perfons should think proper to join in a Share, they will make such alterations 
 in the above Form as will be necefTary : as. We, whofe names are undersigned, declare that we take 
 jointly one share, &c. 
 
 Subfcribers will be particular in giving their address; and in. case of a joint subscription, the 
 address of one of the Subscribers, who will adt for the rest, will be sufficient. 
 
 It seems not necessary for the Subscription Notes, to express more particularly the conditions, refer- 
 vations, &c. *, fince it is prefumed, that, the words, “ According to the Tenour of the Conditions, 
 &c.,” are sufficient to include all the clauses necessary for the security of both parties. 
 
 It may be proper to observe,, however, that each note must be on a ten shilling stamp* 
 
 V The present Proposals may be had gratis at Messrs. Ransom, Morland, and Co's, Bankers, and at 
 Mr.*Bryant’s Pall Mall; as may Tickets of Admission to see the small number of his Pictures, which will be 
 put up at No.. 46, Compton. Street, Soho., He only requests all. persons who may go to view them, to leave a 
 card with their names, that he may not unnecessarily send them a particular invitation, and that he may :•! 
 kast be informed of those who have already made use of their Tickets. At the same time he begs leave to 
 observe, that his invitation is general to all the Artists, Connoisseurs, and Lovers of the Arts in London* 
 
 [W. Thorn*, Printer, Red Lion Court, Fleet Strert.3