Watching the excellent series Unbuilt Britain on BBC4 reminded us of how often unsuccessful architectural and engineering proposals are preserved in printed form. Some material covered in the series has already been highlighted on this blog (such as our printed plans for rebuilding London by Wren and Evelyn ) but here we draw attention to other unsuccessful and aborted projects: London Bridge has changed a lot since the 19th century, but it is worth remembering the spectacular design submitted by Thomas Telford when a competition to improve the bridge was held in 1799-1801. Telford's scheme was 'for a single-span cast-iron bridge of 600ft. But not enough was known about the technical factors involved and the whole project was shelved' ( The London Encyclopaedia ). We have both an overhead plan and a large perspective view of Telford's audacious design: ...Design for A Cast Iron Bridge Drawn and Aquatinted by Tho.s Malton. The Bridge Engraved by Will....
A small time line of the life of Napoleon Bonaparte; this is by no means a complete history or the entirety of our Napoleonic stock, just an illustration of some of prints that we have to offer. August 15, 1769: ·Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio, Corsica. [Birth of Napoleon.] Naissance de Bonaparte [in ms below]. [Anon., c.1810] Etching with hand-colouring, 80 x 80mm (3 x 3"). Trimmed to image and glued to backing sheet. [Ref: 40365 ] May 17, 1779: ·Napoleon begins study at the royal military academy. Enfance de Napoleon. Napoleon naguit à Ajaccio le 15 Août 1769... Lith. de Jobert [after Horace Vernet]. [n.d., c.1825.] Lithograph. Printed area 185 x 200mm (7¼ x 8"). Foxing.Napoleon Bonaparte marshalling a snowball battle at his school. [Ref: 55796 ] June 13, 1793: ·Accused of being too pro-French, Napoleon and his family flee their household in Corsica...
Napoleon - The Man Who Changed Europe? [Napoleon.] Charlet. 1821. [Ref: 29444] £320.00 2015 marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo – the final undoing of brilliant French general and emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821). Our latest catalogue offers an insight into how Napoleon was depicted in print, by both allies and enemies, with portraits , satirical prints , and many more illustrations of Napoleonic scenes , battles and portraits of those closest to the Emperor . [Napoleone Buonaparte. First Consul of France] J.J. Masquerier. [Ref: 16029] £250.00 Above, an interesting and scarce portrait shows Napoleon as a youthful long-haired army commander, probably after his successes in the Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars, which saw his rise to prominence as both a military and political leader. [Portraits of Napoleon as a young and ...