Dec^r By Gen'l Charges for hewn
Stone from M^r Nicholson[98] 65 16 4
1750 June By Gen'l Charges for
sundrys by the Marigold
By Do for freight of
Stones to my House 5
It is interesting to note that bricks, probably carried from England as
ballast, were brought by Captain Lyndon.
[Illustration: Figure 11.--FIREPLACE MANTELS illustrated in William
Salmon's _Palladio Londonensis_.
(_Courtesy of the Library of Congress._)]
Not all the hewn stone was fashioned in England. William Copein, a
Prince William County mason, and Job Wigley were employed together in
1749 to the amount of £2 8s. In 1750 Copein was paid by Mercer for 64
days of work at 3s. 1d. per day, totaling £9 17s. 4d. Copein was another
accomplished craftsman, the marks of whose skill still are to be seen in
the carved stone doorways of Aquia Church in Stafford County and in the
baptismal font at Pohick Church in Fairfax.
The design of the house will be considered in more detail later in the
light of both archeological and documentary evidence. It is already
quite clear, however, that the new mansion was remarkably elaborate,
reflecting the workmanship of some of Virginia's best craftsmen. The
most significant clues to its inspiration are found in the titles of
four books which Mercer purchased in 1747. These are listed in the
inventory of his books in Ledger G as follows:
"Hoppne's Architecture." This was probably _The Gentlemans and
Builders Repository on Architecture Displayed. Designs Regulated
and Drawn by E. Hoppus, and engraved by B. Cole. Containing useful
and requisite problems in geometry ... etc_, (1738). Edward Hoppus
was "Surveyor to the Corporation of the London Assurance." He also
edited Salmon's _Palladio Londonensis_. We find no writer on
architecture named Hoppne and assume this was a mistake.
"Salmon's Palladio Londonensis." _Palladio Londonensis: or the
London Art of Building_, by William Salmon, which appeared in at
least two editions, in 1734 and in 1738, had a profound influence
on the formal architecture of the colonies during the mid-century.
"Palladio's Architecture." The Italian Andrea Palladio was the
underlying source of English architectural thought from Christopher
Wren down to Robert Adam. Under the patronage of Lord Burlington,
this book was brought out in London in an English translation by
Giacomo Leoni under the title _The Architecture of A. Palladio; in
Four Books_. It had appeared in three editions prior to this
inventory, in 1715, 1721, and 1742, according to Fiske Kimball
(_Domestic Architecture of the American Colonies and of the Early
Republic_; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1924, p. 58). Mercer
probably owned one of these.
"Langley's City & Country Builder." _City and Country Builder's and
Workman's Treasury of Design_ by Battey Langley, 1740, 1745. This
was another copybook much used by builders and provincial
architects.
[Illustration: Figure 12.--DOORWAYS ILLUSTRATED IN WILLIAM SALMON'S
_Palladio Londonensis_ (the London Art of Building), one of the books
used by William Bromley, the chief joiner who worked on Mercer's
mansion. (_Courtesy of the Library of Congress._)]
All four of these books were listed in succession in the ledger and
bracketed together. Next to the bracket are the initials "WB," to
indicate that the books had been lent to someone who bore those
initials. In this case it is virtually certain that the initials are
those of William Bromley, to whom the books would have been of utmost
importance in designing the woodwork of the house.
Door hardware was purchased from William Jordan in June 1749, according
to an item for "Locks & Hinges" that amounted to the large sum of £13
8s. 8d.