Letters from Joshua Reynolds to Lord Hertford about Somerset House

These two letters, dated 11 and 14 January 1772, are from Joshua Reynolds, who was the first president of the Royal Academy. The Academy had been founded in 1768 after a group of 36 artists and architects petitioned King George III to establish "a society for the promoting of Art and Design". In its early days, the Academy rented a 30 foot long gallery in Pall Mall, London. Since 1769, the Academy has held a popular annual exhibition (now known as the Summer Exhibition).

By the time that Reynolds wrote this letter the Academy were already seeking new space and had been promised some rooms in Somerset House on the Strand in London. Reynolds' letters show that the rooms on the enclosed diagram had not been handed over to the Academy. By this time, Somerset House, which had been built in the 1500s, was very dilapidated. It was knocked down in 1775 and a new palladian mansion was built in its place. This new Somerset House became the first official residence of the Royal Accademy.