ABOUT THIS BOOK

Eighteenth-century London was a wonder: the second largest city in the world by 1800, its relentless growth, fueled by Britain’s expanding empire, making it a site of constant transformation. And before the age of photography, the only means of creating a visual record of the capital amid that change was through engravings, drawings, and other illustrations, which today are invaluable for understanding what London was like in the period.

This book presents more than a hundred images of Greater London from before 1800, all from the Gough Collection of the Bodleian Library. We see prints of London before and after the Great Fire, images of the 1780 tornado, panoramas of the Thames, depictions of the building and destruction of landmark bridges, and much more. Making brilliant use of the most extensive collection of London images amassed by any private collector of the period, the book will be essential to anyone delving into the history of the city.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Bernard Nurse is the former librarian of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

REVIEWS

Bernard Nurse’s glorious book is divided into convenient sections, illustrating maps and scenes of the City, Westminster, the Thames, and London’s fashionable environs. . . . Miscellaneous prints which do not easily fit into this scheme instead form an interesting short section on topics such as law and order and London’s enthusiasm for firework displays. Each illustration is furnished with a useful commentary. Lavishly illustrated with full page reproduction.

— Brian Green, The Dulwch Society

This stunning large-format book reproduces over one hundred images from the Gough collection in the Bodleian Libraries, many of which are published here for the first time. By 1800 London was the second largest city in the world, its relentless growth fuelled by Britain’s expanding empire. However, compared to today, the built-up area was still comparatively small. Depicting the present Greater London area, this title offers images of town and countryside from more than two centuries ago which contrast graphically with what we see as the metropolis today. . . .With accompanying text detailing its history, this title offers a unique pictorial history of Georgian London that is visually rich, historically fascinating and of interest to Londoners and visitors alike.

— Fine Books Notes

This new book by Bernard Nurse, the distinguished former Librarian of the Society of Antiquaries, has many facets, not all of which are revealed by the title. At face value it provides a survey of the topographical works on paper depicting London up to 1800. Extending from this it gives an interesting overview on the nature, purpose and characteristics of topographical depiction in Britain touching upon the value of topographical records to the historian and how our understanding of that value has changed. The core of the book however consists of a general historical survey of London, based on the prints and drawings included in the book and organised geographically and thematically.

— Jeremy Smith, The London Journal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Topographical prints and drawings in the eighteenth century
Richard Gough (1735-1809): ‘the Father of British Topography’
I. Maps of London
II. The City of London
III. The Buck brothers’ panorama of London and Westminster, 1749
IV. Westminster
V. The Thames
VI. The environs of Georgian London
VII. London life: illustrating the news
Appendix I: Letters of Richard Gough
Appendix II: Using the Gough Collection
Notes
Bibliography
Picture sources
Index