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A Plan of London as in Queen Elizabeths Days: P.14788-R

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

A Plan of London as in Queen Elizabeths Days

Maker(s)

Printmaker: Bowles, Thomas II
Publisher: Bowles, John

Entities

Categories

Description

Composite etched and engraved plate, in three strips with visible plate mark. The upper part comprises two vertical strips of text to left and right of a plan of London as it appeared in the time of Queen Elizabeth I. The text describes the content of the three sections of the map: 'The first draught exhibits a View of / London about the Year 1560 [...] The ruins of the City was 436 acres, at a moderate computation the / Citizens lost more than nine Millions sterling.'. The plan shows Westminster Palace and St James's Park to the west, and Wapping to the east, with very little development evident below the river. A compass rose is located below 'The Bank Side', with lines radiating outwards. Two scrolls at upper left and upper right of the plan: 'A Plan of / LONDON / as in Q. Elizabeths / Days.'; 'London / Printed for J. Bowles at No. 13 / in Cornhill'. The second, narrower strip consists of five views of London, from left to right: 'Old buildings near ye Temple Gate in Fleet Str.'; 'Baynards Castle'; 'West View of Old St Pauls.'; 'Cheapside and the Cross as before the Fire 1666.'; 'Inside of the Royal Exchange.'. The third strip is a continuous view of London from 'the Temple' at the far left to 'the Tower [of London]' at the far right. The scene shows the extent of the destruction to buildings caused by the Great Fire of 1666, viewed from south of the River Thames. Inscriptions in graphite by Leonard Holder at lower left: '17thC & Elizabethan London - printed in 178?' and at lower right: 'Provenance unknown'. On the verso, an inscription in graphite by Leonard Holder: '_Provenance unknown_ / I was asked by the late / Principal Assistant to repair / this c.1935. I have no / idea from where it came. / L.A.Holder / Principal Assistant'. There are two oval-shaped inked stamps at upper right and lower centre: 'FITZWILLIAM / MUSEUM / LIBRARY'. Holder estimates the date as 1780s, but an impression in the BM has been given a date of 1723-1731, which makes more sense in terms of the career of Thomas Bowles II.

Legal notes

Unknown

Acquisition and important dates

by unknown

Dating

18th Century
Production date: circa AD 1780

Note

Height 390mm x width 590mm

School or Style

British

Techniques used in production

Engraving
Etching

Identification numbers

Accession number: P.14788-R
Primary reference Number: 225390
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Wednesday 5 September 2018 Updated: Tuesday 25 February 2020 Last processed: Friday 8 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "A Plan of London as in Queen Elizabeths Days" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/225390 Accessed: 2024-12-22 21:02:00

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/225390 |title=A Plan of London as in Queen Elizabeths Days |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-22 21:02:00|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-225390

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