born - 1733, Burgdorf, Canton of Berne, Switzerland
died - 14 April 1794, Tavistock Street, London
⇒ The Sussex paintings of S. H. Grimm
Publications
Catalogue of Drawings relating to Sussex, by S. H. Grimm, in the Bodleian Library, by Rev. H. Wellesley, D.D., Principal of New Inn Hall, Oxford, published 1850 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 3, article, pp.232-238) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2088] & The Keep [LIB/500222] & S.A.S. library View Online
Samuel Hieronymus Grimm, by Rotha Mary Clay, published 1941 (Faber and Faber)
Review by A. E. [Arundell Esdaile] in Sussex Notes and Queries, May 1942:All who are interested in the antiquities of this county know of the Burrell MSS. in the British Museum's Department of Manuscript, which were the first of the many topographical collections to be acquired by the national library, and the abundant and beautiful drawings by S. H. Grimm which are included in them. And that Grimm worked in Sussex not only for Sir William Burrell but also for Richard Gough is known by the Sussex portion of the Gough Collection in the Bodleian, of which the Rev. Dr. H. Wellesley published a list in S.A.C., vol. iii. But, in spite of the short article in the D.N.B., the extent and variety of Grimm's work can have been little appreciated, well-known and in request as it was in his own day.
Now we have a full and fully illustrated account of the life and work of this admirable artist, who illustrated the first edition of White's Selborne, and whose drawings are to be found in most of the great collections; in the British Museum, for example, is the collection formed by Dr. Kaye, of Lincoln, for whom Grimm travelled all over England (including Sussex) and made drawings of antiquities and also scenes of life which are to-day of no less interest. The Burrell MSS. are so well-known that Miss Clay reproduces hardly any Sussex drawings; but her large selection gives an excellent idea of the range of Grimm's travels and talent.
Born at Burgdorf, near Berne, in 1733, Grimm made his name on the Continent before migrating to England at the age of thirty-five. He was lucky in that Berne was an artistic and literary centre, and he illustrated Gruner's Eisgebirge des Schweizerlandes and for the publications of Holzhalb and Guttenberg, at first in ultra-romantic style (as were his early verses, on which Dr. Paul Girardin contributes a chapter), but later in the quiet and pastoral manner characteristic of his work in England; some of these imitate the vignettes found in the pretty Parisian books of the day, and indeed much of the engraving from his drawings of this period was carried out in Parisian ateliers. To Paris he naturally gravitated, but only spent three years there, making friends with the well-known engraver J. G. Wille, and touring and sketching in Normandy, the Pas-de-Calais and Flanders.
Grimm's English period, from 1768 to 1794, coincided with the nascent vogue of the picturesque, and with the lives of generous patrons, as well as with the Exhibitions of the Royal Academy, founded in the year of his landing, and of the Society of Artists. He quickly made a reputation and also friends in England, for he seems to have been of a singularly modest and amiable character. Then there were the print sellers to work for ; and with one of these, Samuel Sledge, in Southampton Street, he lodged for many years, leaving Mrs. Sledge a legacy of his tools as well as of money. The quantity of work he produced, not mere sketches but careful and minute drawings, often with figures, is prodigious. We owe to Grimm a vast amount of knowledge of our homes as they were a century and a half ago, and of our ancestors themselves, which without his observing eye and delicate pencil would have perished.
By the kindness of the publishers we are able to reproduce as the frontispiece to this number (unfortunately not in the fine collotype of the book) two of Miss Clay's illustrations, one being one of the three Sussex drawings she reproduces, and the other an example of Grimm's scenes of life.
Now we have a full and fully illustrated account of the life and work of this admirable artist, who illustrated the first edition of White's Selborne, and whose drawings are to be found in most of the great collections; in the British Museum, for example, is the collection formed by Dr. Kaye, of Lincoln, for whom Grimm travelled all over England (including Sussex) and made drawings of antiquities and also scenes of life which are to-day of no less interest. The Burrell MSS. are so well-known that Miss Clay reproduces hardly any Sussex drawings; but her large selection gives an excellent idea of the range of Grimm's travels and talent.
Born at Burgdorf, near Berne, in 1733, Grimm made his name on the Continent before migrating to England at the age of thirty-five. He was lucky in that Berne was an artistic and literary centre, and he illustrated Gruner's Eisgebirge des Schweizerlandes and for the publications of Holzhalb and Guttenberg, at first in ultra-romantic style (as were his early verses, on which Dr. Paul Girardin contributes a chapter), but later in the quiet and pastoral manner characteristic of his work in England; some of these imitate the vignettes found in the pretty Parisian books of the day, and indeed much of the engraving from his drawings of this period was carried out in Parisian ateliers. To Paris he naturally gravitated, but only spent three years there, making friends with the well-known engraver J. G. Wille, and touring and sketching in Normandy, the Pas-de-Calais and Flanders.
Grimm's English period, from 1768 to 1794, coincided with the nascent vogue of the picturesque, and with the lives of generous patrons, as well as with the Exhibitions of the Royal Academy, founded in the year of his landing, and of the Society of Artists. He quickly made a reputation and also friends in England, for he seems to have been of a singularly modest and amiable character. Then there were the print sellers to work for ; and with one of these, Samuel Sledge, in Southampton Street, he lodged for many years, leaving Mrs. Sledge a legacy of his tools as well as of money. The quantity of work he produced, not mere sketches but careful and minute drawings, often with figures, is prodigious. We owe to Grimm a vast amount of knowledge of our homes as they were a century and a half ago, and of our ancestors themselves, which without his observing eye and delicate pencil would have perished.
By the kindness of the publishers we are able to reproduce as the frontispiece to this number (unfortunately not in the fine collotype of the book) two of Miss Clay's illustrations, one being one of the three Sussex drawings she reproduces, and the other an example of Grimm's scenes of life.
Sussex Views from the Burrell Collection 1776-1791, edited by Walter H. Godfrey and L. F. Salzman, published 1951 (Jubilee volume, xxii + 191 plates, Sussex Record Society, ISBN-10: 0854450521 & ISBN-13: 9780854450527) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 5580][Lib 14469] & The Keep [LIB/504472][Lib/500472] & R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Review by D. Macleod in Sussex Notes and Queries, August, 1951:To mark the passage of fifty years during which the Sussex Record Society has published fifty scholarly volumes containing records and documents relating to the County this Society has exuberated into a Jubilee Volume which is sure to appeal to the general public.
Probably for the first time no less that 191 most attractive drawings selected from the Burrell Collections are reproduced between the covers of one volume. And a most delightful collection they make. All are eighteenth century drawings by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm and James Lambert, who have given us the most fascinating views of the parish churches, mansion houses, castles and historic ruins as they stood in their day, with a few views of Sussex towns and villages such as Eastbourne, Hastings, Jevington and Rotherfield.
Appropriately enough to the occasion the introduction to this volume by Mr. L. F. Salzman gives in brief outline the story, of the Sussex Record Society from the summer of 1900 when its formation was first mooted to the present day, From this story emerges the fact, which if it is not a record is none the less notable, that Mr. Salzman took his place as a member of the first council of the Society elected in February 1901 and has continued to serve on the council ever since, being now one of its two literary directors, and in that capacity he has been largely responsible for this charming Jubilee Volume.
On this occasion the Society has relaxed its rule and non-members can purchase a copy of this volume on application to the Assistant Secretary of the Sussex Record Society at Barbican House, Lewes, for £2 12s. 6d., and it may be said that any who may buy this book may congratulate himself on having obtained a striking collection of eighteenth century views most admirably reproduced. The Society may well congratulate itself on this work and on its fine series of publications, regularly and punctually produced in spite of steadily rising costs of printing. Perhaps the Sussex Archaeological Society may also admit to some pride and satisfaction in the work of the Society of which it is the parent.
Probably for the first time no less that 191 most attractive drawings selected from the Burrell Collections are reproduced between the covers of one volume. And a most delightful collection they make. All are eighteenth century drawings by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm and James Lambert, who have given us the most fascinating views of the parish churches, mansion houses, castles and historic ruins as they stood in their day, with a few views of Sussex towns and villages such as Eastbourne, Hastings, Jevington and Rotherfield.
Appropriately enough to the occasion the introduction to this volume by Mr. L. F. Salzman gives in brief outline the story, of the Sussex Record Society from the summer of 1900 when its formation was first mooted to the present day, From this story emerges the fact, which if it is not a record is none the less notable, that Mr. Salzman took his place as a member of the first council of the Society elected in February 1901 and has continued to serve on the council ever since, being now one of its two literary directors, and in that capacity he has been largely responsible for this charming Jubilee Volume.
On this occasion the Society has relaxed its rule and non-members can purchase a copy of this volume on application to the Assistant Secretary of the Sussex Record Society at Barbican House, Lewes, for £2 12s. 6d., and it may be said that any who may buy this book may congratulate himself on having obtained a striking collection of eighteenth century views most admirably reproduced. The Society may well congratulate itself on this work and on its fine series of publications, regularly and punctually produced in spite of steadily rising costs of printing. Perhaps the Sussex Archaeological Society may also admit to some pride and satisfaction in the work of the Society of which it is the parent.
Sussex Depicted: Views and Descriptions, 1600-1800, by John H. Farrant, published 2 June 2001 (vol. 85, xx + 390 pp., Sussex Record Society, ISBN-10: 0854450513 & ISBN-13: 9780854450510) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14470][Lib 14475] & The Keep [LIB/500462][Lib/508871] & R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:Every year through the 1780s, for the fortnight after Whitsun, the Swiss-born artist S. H. Grimm toured Sussex, sketching churches and their monuments, the remains of the medieval castles and abbeys and, particularly, the houses of the gentry. Commissioned by the lawyer and antiquary Sir William Burrell, the resulting 900 watercolours are an incomparable record of the county's buildings, as yet untouched by the Victorians' zealous restorations and demolitions.
This handsome book reproduces 116 of Grimm's pictures, together with 88 watercolours, oils and drawings by 40 other artists from the early 17th to the early 19th century - 16 of them in colour. Each picture is accompanied by a 200-word caption, often based on new research, on the building's history. The 40,000-word introduction, 'Antiquaries and artists in Sussex from 1585 to 1835', traces the progress of the county's depiction in both words and pictures, from William Camden's fieldwork in Queen Elizabeth's reign for his Britannia, through William Burrell's monumental but forlorn efforts to write a county history, to T. W. Horsfield's History, antiquities and topography of the County of Sussex published just before Queen Victoria's accession. Two accounts of tours through Sussex, in 1743 and 1777, are printed, along with prospectuses for Budgen's map of 1724 and the Bucks' engravings of 1737. The text is fully referenced and indexed, with a bibliography of 700 titles.
This handsome book reproduces 116 of Grimm's pictures, together with 88 watercolours, oils and drawings by 40 other artists from the early 17th to the early 19th century - 16 of them in colour. Each picture is accompanied by a 200-word caption, often based on new research, on the building's history. The 40,000-word introduction, 'Antiquaries and artists in Sussex from 1585 to 1835', traces the progress of the county's depiction in both words and pictures, from William Camden's fieldwork in Queen Elizabeth's reign for his Britannia, through William Burrell's monumental but forlorn efforts to write a county history, to T. W. Horsfield's History, antiquities and topography of the County of Sussex published just before Queen Victoria's accession. Two accounts of tours through Sussex, in 1743 and 1777, are printed, along with prospectuses for Budgen's map of 1724 and the Bucks' engravings of 1737. The text is fully referenced and indexed, with a bibliography of 700 titles.
The Burrell collection : exhibition of material relating to William Burrell (1732-96) and his artists, James Lambert (senior and junior) and Samuel Hieronymus Grimm, published (no date) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries
Exhibition presented to Eastbourne Library by E. Machell-Cox. Material contained in large folder.