William Newton (architect, 1735)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Newton's Commentary on Vitruvius 1780

William Newton (born October 27, 1735 , † February 10, 1790 in Sidford near Sidmouth ) was a British architect.

His grandfather was a cousin of Isaac Newton and owned Gordon Mills at Kelso (Scotland) , his father was a cabinet maker from Holborn (London) and his mother Susanna was the daughter of Humphry Ditton . William Newton attended Christ's Hospital, a school in Horsham , and was an apprentice to the London architect William Jones. In 1766 he visited Italy and spent a long time in Rome. Back in England he designed representative houses in the London area and their interiors, mainly in the style of Palladio . From 1776 to 1780 he was involved in exhibitions at the Royal Academy. From 1765 to 1768 he supported William Jupp in the design of the London Tavern. In 1782 he became assistant to James Athenian Stuart in the rebuilding - after a fire - of the chapel of the Greenwich Hospital , where he was mainly responsible for the interior decoration. Stuart's architecture was based on the Greek model. After Stuart's death in 1788, he completed his work at Greenwich Hospital.

In 1771 he published the first English translation of the first five books of Vitruvius' architecture book. In 1780 a commentary on Vitruvius followed with many illustrations, which he published in French. After his death in 1791 his complete translation of Vitruvius followed in two volumes, edited by his brother James Newon.

He assisted James Stuart with the second volume of his Antiquities of Athens from 1787.

Web links