Superbly-detailed map of Georgian London

CARY, John.

Cary's New and Accurate Plan of London and Westminster, the Borough of Southwark and parts adjacent; viz. Kensington, Chelsea, Islington, Hackney, Walworth, Newington, &c. with an Alphabetical List of upwards of 500 of the most principal Streets, with references to their Situation and Plans of the New London and East & West India Docks.
London, 1822. Fine original body colour. Dissected and laid on linen, as issued. 810 x 1510mm, with original slipcase.

A wonderful example of a large and detailed plan of London after nearly a decade of peace following the Battle of Waterloo. To the west the extent is the 'Kensington Gravel Pits' or Notting Hill Gate as it is known today; to the north are Canonbury, Kingsland and Homerton; to the east the map has been extended to show the Isle of Dogs and the new docks, with many details, including the River Lea, unfinished; and to the south are Kennington (with the Oval), Walworth and 'Battersea Common Fields'.

Of interest is the depiction of Regents Park, showing some of John Nash's proposals that were dropped: the Waterloo Monument, the 'Prince's Reservoir' and his palace. At the other end of the social spectrum is 'Tomlin's Town', a shanty town of nearly a hundred small wooden houses that had developed since 1790, in the marshy fields just north of Tyburn turnpike. These were let out at £7-12 per annum to journeymen, mostly Irish, who were building the terraces for the wealthy nearby. Despite a population of about 600 there was no drainage or sanitary arrangements, so Tomlin's New Town was a new-build slum, filthy and disease-ridden. However the 1816 Building Act evicted the residents to make way for the construction of 'Tyburnia', around Connaught Square.

HOWGEGO: 184. No. 18.
Stock ID : 19989