Book, Panoramic View of Old England, 1647
Maker
Walker, May & Co
Browne, Gracius J
Hollar, Wenceslaus
Hamel & Ferguson Printers
Production date
1879
Current rights
Public Domain
Object detail
Brief Description
The book titled: Panoramic View of Old England, 1647 was compiled and written by Gracius J Browne. The information corresponds to the lithographic panorama of London and the Thames drawn by Wenceslaus Hollar which is found at the back of the book.
An 1879 photo-lithographic reproduction of Wenceslaus Hollar's Panoramic View of London AD 1647, also called the Long View of London. The work was etched on six plates, with the two ends printed from a single plate so the impression must be cut in half to assemble the full panorama. The panorama includes, from left to right, on the north bank, on the first plate, the Palace of Whitehall, Scotland Yard, Suffolk House, York House, and Durham House; on the second plate, Salisbury House, the New Exchange on the Strand, the Savoy, Somerset House, Arundel House, Covent Garden, Essex House, the Temple and St Clement Danes, Blackfriars, and Baynard's Castle; on the third plate, Queenhithe, St Andrew's, Holborn, Old St Paul's Cathedral, with Highgate Hill behind in the distance; on the fourth plate, the Steelyard, Bow Church, the Guildhall, Coalharbour, All-Hallows-the-Great, St Laurence Pountney, the Royal Exchange, The Old Swan, St Michaels, St Peters, Fishmongers' Hall, St Magnus-the-Martyr, Old London Bridge, Greyfriars, St Dunstan-in-the-East, Billingsgate, All Hallows-by-the-Tower, the Customs House, the Tower of London, and meanders of the River Thames past St Katharine Docks towards Greenwich. On the south bank are the Bankside theatres the Globe and Hope (mislabelled), Winchester House, Southwark, and St Olave's. Each large sheet frames a particular view: the Bankside theatres, St Paul's Cathedral, the City and Southwark, the Bridge, and the Tower. Downstream of London Bridge, the Pool of London throngs filled with a variety of ocean-going vessels.
The view is not entirely accurate, with some alignments adjusted for aesthetic effect. For example, St Paul's Cathedral is depicted too far west, and St Olave's in line with the Tower. Hollar's dependence on old drawings is demonstrated by the presence of the Globe Theatre (mislabelled as: Beere bayting, that is the Beargarden) in a print made three years after it was demolished. Copying an error in the 1616 Visscher panorama, the round theatre labelled: The Globe, is actually the Hope). The Swan and the Rose theatres had fallen into disuse by the 1630s.
Various decorative elements are arranged around the scene. To the lower left of the first plate is a symbolic figure representing the law (with a sword) above a dedication to Mary, daughter of the Duke of York and wife of William of Orange, the future Queen Mary II, and a poem to: Nympha Britannorum, with an inset panel denoted with an asterisk continuing the panorama to the left past Westminster Hall and Westminster Abbey; overhead are three cherubs, one wearing a lion skin. The second plate has three cherubs in the sky with a pile of books, and one bearing aloft a caduceus. Above St Paul's in the third plate is a figure of Mercury in Roman costume, with winged boots and hat, holding a caduceus. The central fourth plate has a large decorative cartouche with the word: LONDON, with the arms of the City of London and lion supporters. A winged figure, possibly Fame, blows a trumpet at the top of the fifth plate. The sixth plate has three more cherubs, carrying a chain, a crown, a jewel chest, and a bird. The seventh plate has a river god above a 34 line Latin poem by Edward Benlowes, with another cherub in the sky above, dressed as an American Indian and leading with an ostrich.
Hollar's panorama was preceded by the Visscher panorama of 1616, which straightens out the river so the buildings on each bank are displayed in a line, and John Norden's Civitas Londini of 1600, both of which are composite drawings made from a variety of different viewpoints. Hollar published another panorama of London and Westminster in 1666, showing views of the city from Lambeth both before and after the Great Fire of London.
Date, 1879.
This copy has been bound by W J Lankshear, Lambton Key, Wellington.
An 1879 photo-lithographic reproduction of Wenceslaus Hollar's Panoramic View of London AD 1647, also called the Long View of London. The work was etched on six plates, with the two ends printed from a single plate so the impression must be cut in half to assemble the full panorama. The panorama includes, from left to right, on the north bank, on the first plate, the Palace of Whitehall, Scotland Yard, Suffolk House, York House, and Durham House; on the second plate, Salisbury House, the New Exchange on the Strand, the Savoy, Somerset House, Arundel House, Covent Garden, Essex House, the Temple and St Clement Danes, Blackfriars, and Baynard's Castle; on the third plate, Queenhithe, St Andrew's, Holborn, Old St Paul's Cathedral, with Highgate Hill behind in the distance; on the fourth plate, the Steelyard, Bow Church, the Guildhall, Coalharbour, All-Hallows-the-Great, St Laurence Pountney, the Royal Exchange, The Old Swan, St Michaels, St Peters, Fishmongers' Hall, St Magnus-the-Martyr, Old London Bridge, Greyfriars, St Dunstan-in-the-East, Billingsgate, All Hallows-by-the-Tower, the Customs House, the Tower of London, and meanders of the River Thames past St Katharine Docks towards Greenwich. On the south bank are the Bankside theatres the Globe and Hope (mislabelled), Winchester House, Southwark, and St Olave's. Each large sheet frames a particular view: the Bankside theatres, St Paul's Cathedral, the City and Southwark, the Bridge, and the Tower. Downstream of London Bridge, the Pool of London throngs filled with a variety of ocean-going vessels.
The view is not entirely accurate, with some alignments adjusted for aesthetic effect. For example, St Paul's Cathedral is depicted too far west, and St Olave's in line with the Tower. Hollar's dependence on old drawings is demonstrated by the presence of the Globe Theatre (mislabelled as: Beere bayting, that is the Beargarden) in a print made three years after it was demolished. Copying an error in the 1616 Visscher panorama, the round theatre labelled: The Globe, is actually the Hope). The Swan and the Rose theatres had fallen into disuse by the 1630s.
Various decorative elements are arranged around the scene. To the lower left of the first plate is a symbolic figure representing the law (with a sword) above a dedication to Mary, daughter of the Duke of York and wife of William of Orange, the future Queen Mary II, and a poem to: Nympha Britannorum, with an inset panel denoted with an asterisk continuing the panorama to the left past Westminster Hall and Westminster Abbey; overhead are three cherubs, one wearing a lion skin. The second plate has three cherubs in the sky with a pile of books, and one bearing aloft a caduceus. Above St Paul's in the third plate is a figure of Mercury in Roman costume, with winged boots and hat, holding a caduceus. The central fourth plate has a large decorative cartouche with the word: LONDON, with the arms of the City of London and lion supporters. A winged figure, possibly Fame, blows a trumpet at the top of the fifth plate. The sixth plate has three more cherubs, carrying a chain, a crown, a jewel chest, and a bird. The seventh plate has a river god above a 34 line Latin poem by Edward Benlowes, with another cherub in the sky above, dressed as an American Indian and leading with an ostrich.
Hollar's panorama was preceded by the Visscher panorama of 1616, which straightens out the river so the buildings on each bank are displayed in a line, and John Norden's Civitas Londini of 1600, both of which are composite drawings made from a variety of different viewpoints. Hollar published another panorama of London and Westminster in 1666, showing views of the city from Lambeth both before and after the Great Fire of London.
Date, 1879.
This copy has been bound by W J Lankshear, Lambton Key, Wellington.
Production date
1879
Production place
Production period
Production technique
Media/Materials description
Hard cover, printed on paper with black ink. The lithograph is printed on linen with black ink.
Media/Materials
Measurements
Height x Width: 553 x 330mm
Classification terms
Subject period
Subject date
1647
Current rights
Public Domain
Other number(s)
68633
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