[A spectacular pre-fire panorama of London]

HOLLAR, Wenceslaus.
London. London, R. Martin, 1832. Coloured. Lithograph, four sheets conjoined, total 450 x 2310mm.
A lithographed copy of Hollar's famous pre-Fire prospect of London, published by Danckerts in Amsterdam 1647. It is a perspective view, drawn as if the viewer was in the tower of St. Mary Overy in Southwark. The amount of detail is impressive: Inigo Jones' alterations to the south transept of St. Paul's are shown, despite only being finished 1642; there are examples of the different types of boats using the river above and below London Bridge (still with buildings across it); and the Globe and the bull-baiting ring can be seen in Southwark. The title is above the panorama in a decorative cartouche, with Mercury and other figures filling the skies. Putti, one of whom is trying to ride an ostrich, represent some of London's commercial interests abroad. Hollar started work on the original in London, but completed it in Antwerp: he had to flee England because his Royalist sympathies put him at risk during the Civil War, although he was able to return in 1652. HOWGEGO: p.8, 'the most accurate of the pre-Fire panoramas of London'.
[Ref: 10351]