Buchanan, William: Memoirs of painting: with a chronological history of the importation of pictures by the great masters into England since the French Revolution (Band 1) (London: Ackermann, 1824)

ORLEANS COLLECTION. 19
allow the remainder to be sold by private contract,
under an exhibition to be made of the entire col-
lection.
This exhibition commenced on the 26th of
December, 1798, in the rooms belonging to Mr.
Bryan, in Pall-Mall, and at the Lyceum, in the
Strand, neither of these places being individually
sufficiently extensive to contain the collection. It
continued for six months; at the end of which
time all pictures sold were delivered to the pur-
chasers.
The pictures reserved for the original purchasers
are indicated in the following catalogue, at their
estimated valuation, and amount to 39,000 guineas.
Those sold during the sale by private contract
amounted to 31,000 guineas, while the residue
sold afterwards by Mr. Coxe, joined to the receipts
of exhibition, which were considerable, amounted
to about 10,000Z. more, thus leaving a valuable
collection of pictures to the purchasers, as a bonus
and just reward, for securing for this country so
splendid a collection, and enriching it with works
of the first class.
This part of the subject is the more particularly
noticed for the purpose of proving the great ad-
vantage which must always arise to individuals, or
to the public, (were such subjects deemed worthy
of public attention), from the acquisition of works
c o
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