MOTCO Image Database

PROSPECTS OF WESTMINSTER AND LONDON c1710

These plates are catalogued by Bernard Adams in London Illustrated 1604-1851 (Series 22) as items 37 (Westminster) and 60 (London) in Mortier's Nouveau Théâtre de la Grande Bretagne. Various editions were published between 1707 and 1749, also under the title Britannia Illustrata. Adams comments that these are "the two best panoramic views from the South Bank to be published since those by Hollar and Morgan (London Actually Survey'd) of the previous century. There are a number of publication lines, none of which actually confirms the generally accepted attribution of these plates to Johannes Kip.

Adams comments on the dates as follows. In the Westminster view "St Clement Danes is shown without the Gibbs steeple added 1719-20. West of this the Maypole is shown where St Mary le Strand rose 1714-17 and St Anne, Soho appears without the spire added by Talman in 1717." Regarding the London view, "The Royal Arms are those current from 1707-14. St. Paul's Cathedral shown as completed with the exception of the scrolled parapet above the East apse, St Clement Danes lacks the upper stages added by Gibbs in 1719-20, and the Custom House is Wren's burned down in 1718. Moored off Bankside and flying the City flag is the 'Folly', a barge adapted as a floating concert room, usually anchored near the Savoy."

These Prospects each comprise two plates and were published separately. They were however drawn so that they join together to provide a single view of four plates. There is a key to buildings and other locations of interest on each plate and these use different series of letters and numbers in each case which avoids confusion when the two are joined.

HOW TO ACCESS THE PROSPECT

There is a small image of the complete prospect, see the index to the left. Whilst this is too small to show particular details it enables the overall layout to be viewed.

The prospect consists of four plates, two for Westminster and two for London with letters and numbers on the image relating to the index key of building and other names below the printed prospect. Larger images are available of these individual plates, on which most details can be seen, see the index to the left. When these images are displayed, the full index to the number and letter keys and place names is displayed in the index to the left. However the legend and the letters and numbers on the prospect for the key are difficult to read. There is therefore a second edited version of each image with the letters and numbers rewritten on a white background to improve legibility.

SOURCE AND COPYRIGHT

This feature is published using images from the Motco Image Database. The images were photographed from the collection of a private collector.

The images in the database are marked as Copyright Motco 2000. They may only be copied for personal use. If you require access to the images for commercial use, in hard copy or digital form, please contact Motco.