Thomas Dempster - The Rescue of De Etruria Regali

The Rescue of De Etruria Regali

Dempster's greatest work was pulled from the brink of oblivion by the swift action of Thomas Coke (1697–1759), Earl of Leicester, a scion of the wealthy and powerful Coke family of Britain. The Cokes received their greatest impetus from Edward Coke (1552–1634).

During his life he collected estates so obsessively that when James I chided him for it he begged leave to buy a last one, which was bigger than all the others. It was the 4th son of Edward and his first wife, Bridget, who first acquired land at Holkham by marrying Merial Wheatley. Following his father's practice he made further purchases until in 1659 he owned all of Holkham Parish.

Eventually most of Edward's property and Holkham descended to a great-grandson Robert, whose only son, Edward, married Cary Newton, daughter of Sir John Newton. She collected books. Apart from having several children their lives were unmarked and short, both dying in 1707, he at 30 and she at 27. Their 10-year-old eldest son, Thomas, heir to the entire estate, was sent to Sir John to be raised.

At 15, grandfather permitting, Thomas began a grand tour of France, Germany, Holland, Flanders, Malta, Sicily and Italy, travelling in a coach and six, with adjunct carriages, a number of menservants and a companion, the young Lord Burlington. On the road he evidenced a maturity, judgement and taste beyond his years. His generosity caused him to become known as "Cavaliero Coke" in Italy. But more than that, his biographer says: "... they (the two lads) soon became on terms of great intimacy with all the most eminent scholars and artists of the day."

Following his mother's interest, Thomas learned Greek and Latin (on the road) and put his contacts on the lookout for rare classics manuscripts, especially Liviana. He purchased so many that he hired Antonio Maria Biscioni to take charge of the collection temporarily. From manuscripts he branched to statuary and paintings, always buying the best, always with impeccable taste. Already in his mind he was planning a great project: the construction of a magnificent palace at Holkham stocked with a library and the objets d'art in his now extensive collection, no expense spared.

In Etruria Thomas befriended the Grand Duke Cosimo III. Through him he discovered the existence of Dempster's manuscript, which he purchased from its then owner, Antonio Maria Salvini. This he published apparently at his own considerable expense; however, the publication was not exactly the original. Filippo Buonarroti of Florence emended the text and added a critical apparatus. The duke had his own engravers enhance Dempster's illustrations with new ones drawn from artefacts in various collections. In all the work came to contain about 100 copperplate engravings. It came out in two volumes, folio, at Florence, 1723–1724, under the comprehensive title:

"Thomae Dempsteri a Muresk Scoti Pandectarum in Pisano Lyceo Professoris Ordinarii de Etruria Regali libri septem, opus posthumum, in duas partes divisum, nunc primum editi curante Tho. Coke"

A Latin dedication to Cosimo III dated 1725, London, was added in 1726 by Coke. A folio supplement was published by Passeri, 1767. The publication of the book sparked the first public wave of interest in the Etruscans throughout academic Italy; it was, in other words, the opening gun in the field of Etruscology.

At the end of his tour in 1718 Thomas married suddenly Lady Margaret Tufton, Baroness Clifford, and turned his attention to the design of Holkham Hall, one of the better known monuments of Britain, reclaiming another 400 acres (1.6 km2) from the North Sea for its park and gardens. He did finally achieve the ideal of a suitable home to house his collections. It cannot be said that he lived happily ever after. All of his children but one died in infancy, and that one became a profligate, preceding him to the grave. He died at age 62 in a duel with an alcoholic neighbour, Colonel Townshend.