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...
Henry ye VIIIth. King of England, France & Ireland. H. Holbein pinx. J.Faber jun.r Fecit. Cum privilegio Regis. Sold by E. Cooper at the 3 Pigeons in Bedford Street. Fine mezzotint. Sheet: 345 x 250mm (13½ x 9¾"). Trimmed and laid on album sheet at edges. A half-length portrait of Henry VIII set within an oval. CS 185.1. [Ref: 46319 ] £260.00 (£312.00 incl.VAT) The Exhibtion 'Six Lives The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens' at the National Portrait Gallery has sadly come to a close. The magnificent Tudor paintings by Hans Holbein the Younger were the main features however there were also contemporary photography by Hiroshi Sugimoto. If you visited this exhibition and are looking for a souvenir we have lots of prints after Holbein and of the Tudors . Please find some examples below: [Henry VIII and his six wives.] Alexander van der Werff pinx. [...