William Gell

His best-known work is Pompeiana; the Topography, Edifices and Ornaments of Pompeii, published between 1817 and 1832.

Born at Hopton in Derbyshire, the son of Philip Gell and Dorothy Milnes (daughter and coheir of William Milnes of Aldercar Park). The Gell family was one of the oldest families in England with a tradition of service in the Army, Navy, Parliament and the Church going back to 1209, in the reign of King John. His great grandfather was the parliamentarian Sir John Gell and his uncle was Admiral John Gell. Gell was educated at Derby School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He matriculated there in 1793, took a BA degree in 1798 and an MA in 1804, and was elected a fellow of Emmanuel.

In 1801, at the age of 24, Gell was sent on his first diplomatic mission to Greece. From 1804 to 1806 he travelled in Greece, the neighbouring islands, and coastal Asia Minor. In 1804 he fixed the site of Troy at Bournabashi, some distance south—approximately six miles or nine-and-a-half kilometres directly, eight miles or thirteen kilometres by modern roads – of the modern consensus site at Hisarlik. He cited Jean Baptiste LeChevalier "and others" as his sources for the idea, which his own observations seemed to him to confirm, although he pointed out what he considered unresolved problems. He published The Topography of Troy and its vicinity illustrated and explained by drawings and descriptions etc. in 1804. Lord Byron mentions him in his work 'English Bards' thus: Of Dardan tours let dilettanti tell I leave topography to classic Gell.

From 1820 until his death, he resided in Rome, where he painted. He had another house in Naples, where he received visitors including his particular friends Sir William Drummond, the Hon. Keppel Craven, John Auldjo, Lady Blessington and Sir Walter Scott. Although crippled by gout, Sir William took Scott to Pompeii and showed him around the excavations. After Scott's death, Sir William drew up an account of their conversations in Naples, part of which is printed in Lockhart's 'Life of Scott'. It was then that he published some of his best known archaeological work including Pompeiana and The Topography of Troy. Gell died at Naples in 1836 and was buried in the English Cemetery, Naples. On his death he left all his personal belongings to Craven.

A Tour in the Lakes Made in 1797, [Edited by W. Rollinson, published 1986] The Topography of Troy and its vicinity illustrated and explained by drawings and descriptions etc.. London, 1804 The Geography and Antiquities of Ithaca. London, 1807 The Itinerary of Greece, with a commentary on Pausanias and Strabo, and an account of the Monuments of Antiquity at present existing in that country, compiled in the years 1801, 2, 5, 6 etc.. London, 1810. [2nd ed. containing a hundred routes in Attica, Boeotia, Phocis, 1827] The Itinerary of the Morea, being a description of the Routes of that Peninsula. London, 1817 Views in Barbary – taken in 1813. London, 1815 Pompeiana. The Topography of Edifices and Ornaments of Pompeii. 2 vols. London, 1817–8. [New ed. 1824. Further edition by Gell alone incorporating the results of latest excavations. London 1832 and 1852] Narrative of a Journey in the Morea. London, 1823 Le Mura di Roma disegnate sa Sir W. Gell, illustrate con testo e note da A. Nibby. Rome, 1820 Probestücke von Städtemauern des alten Griechenlands... Aus dem Englischen übersetzt. Munich, 1831 The Topography of Rome and its Vicinity with Map. 2 vols. London, 1834. [Rev. and enlarged by Edward Henry Banbury. London 1846] Analisi storico-topografico-antiquaria della carta de' dintorni di Roma secondo le osservazione di Sir W. Gell e del professore A. Nibby. Rome 1837 [2nd ed. 1848]