George Richardson was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 architectural and decorative draftsman

Drawing

Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...

 and writer on architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

.

One of his few remaining architectural works is St Mary Magdalene's Church

St Mary Magdalene's Church, Stapleford

St Mary Magdalene's Church, Stapleford, is a redundant Anglican church near the village of Stapleford, Leicestershire, England . It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust...

 at Stapleford, Leicestershire

Stapleford, Leicestershire

Stapleford is a village in the Melton district of Leicestershire, England, east of Melton Mowbray. It is just south of the River Eye, and is part of the civil parish of Freeby....

, built in 1783 for the Earl of Harborough

Earl of Harborough

Lord Sherard, Baron of Leitrim, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1627 for Sir William Sherard, of Stapleford, Leicestershire. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Baron. He sat as Member of Parliament for Leicestershire and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire...

.

His main output, however, was in the form of books. His publications were subscribed to not only by many leading architects of the day, but also by painters, sculptors and other craftsmen.

Selected works

• Book of Ceilings (1776)
• Iconology, or, A Collection of Emblematical Figures (2 vols., 1779), drawing largely from Cesare Ripa
  Cesare Ripa
  Cesare Ripa was an Italian aesthetician who worked for Cardinal Anton Maria Salviati as a cook and butler.Little is known about his life. He was born in Perugia and died in Rome. After the death of the cardinal, Ripa worked for his relatives...
  
  
• Treatise on the Five Orders of Architecture (1787)
• New Designs in Architecture (1792)