A prospect of London after Wenceslaus Hollar

BENNING, R.

A View of London as it was in the Year 1647.
London: John Boydell, 1756. Coloured. Two sheets conjoined, total 300 x 950mm.

A magnificent view of pre-fire London, drawn and engraved by Benning after the famous 'Long View' by Wenceslas Hollar, published in Amsterdam in 1647. Taken from the roof of St Mary Overy, it shows London from Westminster Abbey east to the Tower of London and St Katherine's, with two keys of landmarks, one for each sheet, including the Norman St Paul's Cathedral and London Bridge covered with buildings.
In copying Hollar's prospect Benning has retained an original error: Hollar transposed the names of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and the nearby Bear Garden. Both hand been closed by the Puritans in 1642 and the Globe pulled down c.1645.
The publisher, John Boydell (1720-1804), was so successful that he became Lord Mayor of London in 1790. However the Napoleonic Wars ended his trade with the continent and he was close to bankruptcy when he died in 1804.


Stock ID : 21851