Unlike his teacher and fellow Devonian Francis Towne (1739/40-1816), Abbott remained an amateur and never went abroad; indeed he worked as a surgeon in Exeter and remained there all his life. His knowledge of the Old Masters was therefore largely dependent on engravings rather than the original paintings and sculptures, and it is clear that the groups of drawing in this collection, lots 96-99, were copied from engravings. Another group of such copies is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. This collection of drawings also includes fine examples in both monochrome and colour of views in and around Exeter, including his estate at Fordland, ranging in date from 1798 to 1732