LONDON IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Thomas Shepherd

(With historical and descriptive text by James Elmes).

Bracken Books 1983.

In the early nineteenth century when the when the cities of Britain were expanding and changing at an unprecedented rate there arose a great interest inn the famous buildings that had survived from the past, as well as pride in the new developments which were taking place. This enthusiasm resulted in the production of a number of illustrated books describing the country’s most famous towns and cities, of which one of the best was London in the Nineteenth, published in 1837.

In this magnificent work, the artist Thomas H.Shepherd (1792 – 1834) collaborated with the architect and writer James Elmes (1782 – 1862) to produce an illustrated, historical and descriptive record of almost two hundred of London’s finest buildings. The result, printed in facsimile here, was a superb tribute to the achievements of one of the world’s greatest capitals at a high point in its long history.

159pp, high quality paper, medium 4to.

The dust jacket has minor shelf wear and light rubbing to the corners and has been price clipped. There are very tiny (miniscule) bumps to the front cover tips, very minor.

There is a small neat ink inscription in the top right corner of the fep. Other than this both the book and the dust jacket are in very good condition.

The end papers are decorated with scenic vignettes. The pages are spotless, a fine example of a scarce book. It is a heavy item and so surface mail might be a consideration if you live outside the UK.