John Barrell, Professor of English at Queen Mary University of London and the author of several ground-breaking volumes, has much enriched our understanding of British culture for more than forty years. This pioneering work, the first publication to consider the landscape and other images of Edward Pugh (17631813), a native of Ruthin, wholly steeped in the locality, and a Welsh speaker, is to be most warmly welcomed. This handsome volume, a real credit to the printing prowess and technical skill of Cambrian Printers of Aberystwyth, has been published as part of the ambitious and productive Wales and the French Revolution project of the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies of the University of Wales.Pugh produced a large number of insightful and striking images, mainly of his native Denbighshire, but also of other areas of north Wales, Monmouthshire and London. He also authored an impressive and revealing tour of Wales. The strength of Pugh''s work derives from his wide-ranging local knowledge and experience (at a time when almost all pictures of north Wales were the work of outsider Englishmen), which is reflected in his outstanding landscapes and many graphic contemporary allusions. Almost all the competing pictures and tours we have of north Wales were made by English artists and writers, none of whom can tell us about life in north Wales with the same insight as Pugh.Pugh exhibited some twenty-three pictures, including one of Thomas Edwards (Twm o''r Nant), at the Royal Academy.

His Cambria Depicta is a collection of Welsh landscapes, including one of Ruthin from Mwrog Street, one of Loggerheads and one of the Clwydian Hills from near Dyserth. Edward Pugh lived in London in the late 1700s and early 1800s, but is also known to have lived at some time in Chester. Described as a ''limner of Well Street'', he died in Ruthin on 20 July 1813.Among the themes which spring to life in his many paintings are the outcome of the enclosure of common land, the state of the poorer classes and industrial life as a result of the impact of the French wars, the urgent need to push ahead the industrial revolution in backward, impoverished north Wales, and the continuing strength and authority of the landowning classes.This outstandingly handsome volume publishes a very large number of Edward Pugh''s landscapes and a small number of his portraits, mostly very attractive miniatures, many in the custody of the National Library of Wales or the British Museum. In some cases the painter''s identity is uncertain. Professor Barrell has clearly gone to great lengths to piece together from disparate, often obscure, source materials a fine biographical account of Edward Pugh.In subsequent chapters, each painting is clearly and carefully placed in its historical context as the author delineates in particular the wide-ranging effects of the industrial and agrarian revolutions upon north-east Wales.

Edward Pugh''s remarkable views of north Wales not only captivate but also reveal the development of the Welsh economy and Welsh national consciousness.This impressive study is the first book to consider the work of this (until now) nearly forgotten Welsh artist and writer in detail, linking the history of art in Wales with the social history of the country. The underlying research is meticulous throughout the study, which is fully referenced, provides an admirable bibliography of the sources used, and has been indexed in detail.Professor Barrell is currently curating exhibitions of Edward Pugh''s work to be staged in Ruthin and at the 2013 National Eisteddfod in Denbigh. He is also writing a book on the artists of the Royal Academy and the politics of reform in the 1790s. We await eagerly.J. Graham JonesIt is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.

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