TITLE: THE GRAND TOUR AND LATIN INSCRIPTIONS.
ABSTRACT: This paper is concerned with the Latin inscriptions that were added to the garden temples at Stourhead and seeks to situate them within the wider practice of collecting of ancient inscriptions in the eighteenth century. Latin inscriptions can be found in the majority of collections of antiquities made during the Grand Tour period, yet the role that they played in the Grand Tourists' experience of, and engagement with, antiquity has largely been ignored.  In this paper I shall give a brief overview of the kinds of inscriptions that were acquired over the course of the century, the process by which they were obtained and their display in England. The different intellectual and aesthetic value attributed to the inscriptions by the Tourists shall be clarified, from an antiquarian interest in their potential to deliver historical facts to their utility in aesthetically pleasing gallery arrangements. Although no ancient inscriptions were acquired by Henry Hoare, the construction of the classical temples and inscriptions at Stourhead shall be shown to be an extension of such perceptions, and reflective of the unique liminal quality that characterised epigraphic text in the eighteenth century. As both text and artefact, this paper will argue that Latin inscriptions played a vital role in the Grand Tourists' experience of antiquity.