Comments on: Thomas Onwyn’s London

By: Graham

Graham — Wed, 16 May 2018 16:19:12 +0000

Thanks for posting about this pamphlet. This appears to be the only copy currently traceable! On carefully reviewing your images, only two of the illustrations are by Thomas Onwhyn, viz: ‘The Medical Student’ and ‘The Basket Woman’. The remaining illustrations appear to be by various other artists, – I found 14 different artists’ signatures!
The pamphlet is very difficult to date. The publishers moved to the address given in 1844 and left due a fire in 1859 (they did return from 1861 to 1886). Looking at the style and comparing it to other works by Onwhyn and Rock publishing of the period, I would place the publication as being prior to 1859, and most probably in the ten years between 1848 and 1857.
Thanks again, your post has added one more item to my catalogue of works by Thomas Onwhyn (1811 to 1886) (according to his death certificate, and 1813 to 1886 according to the 1851 census!).

By: stephanie

stephanie — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 04:38:28 +0000

More interesting blasts from the past. For which I am very grateful.

Would be interesting to capture and view London life 2018 through the same captions. The charity dinner for one would look similar but so different thanks to our national collection of food banks. Today’s physician would be on a stretcher, in a corridor of course due to overwork with privatised sharks hovering, tails poised in the background…

By: Marcia Howard

Marcia Howard — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 23:20:43 +0000

Every picture tells a story. Wonderfully perceptive.

By: Hilda Kean

Hilda Kean — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 13:19:02 +0000

Interesting material but why are there only 2 dogs but no cats? No doubt he was avoiding images of the cats’ and dogs’ meat sellers!

By: Richard Smith

Richard Smith — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 12:07:41 +0000

A good commentary on Victorian Life! Anyone agree with me that the shopkeeper bears a remarkable resemblance to Stan Laurel?

By: Helen Breen

Helen Breen — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 11:35:48 +0000

Greetings from Boston,

GA, delightful images. Yet “The Parks-Day” and “The Parks – Night” provide a powerful social commentary for sure.

Interesting how Thomas Onwyn “won notoriety for supplying pictures to pirated editions” of Dickens’s work, a problem the novelist fought all his life. Much to his chagrin even “A Christmas Carol” was performed without copyright on stage within months of the novella’s success. But even Dickens had to chuckle at one version in which Scrooge marries his old flame Belle at the end.

By: Michael.Knight

Michael.Knight — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 11:10:21 +0000

If the link to Barron Maps does not work as given, then use simply http://www.barronmaps.com and navigate from there to Thomas Onwhyns’ 1856 Treaty Map.

By: Michael.Knight

Michael.Knight — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 11:03:27 +0000

Thank you for drawing attention to the work of the Victorian artist Thomas Onwhyn. As you rightly point out his social commentary on mid 19th century London, as expressed through his distinctive and subtle draughtmanship, is both satirical and at times poignant. Anyone interested in seeing further into his work, as well as into his political attitudes might be interested in his “1856 Treaty Map”- commenting on the Treaty of Paris that resulted from the conclusion of the Crimean War in that year. An article with a reproduction of this annotated map is at :

http://www.barronmaps.com/…/thomas-onwhyns-1856-treaty-map

By: Shawdian

Shawdian — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 08:20:34 +0000

A fine collection. It is the Park Night that hits out for me in this collection. The poor woman and child cold hungry and homeless in the dark scary night whilst the merry rich have a jolly old time in the light of the day. These prints hit home just how different life was without much middle balance on the wealth scale. Excellent detail in each one. Does any body know if this type of print is available in a book? Thank you Gentle Author.

By: Jim McDermott

Jim McDermott — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 05:18:55 +0000

Very poignant. He may have been a naughty boy re: pirated copies, but he and Dickens were singing from the same penny-sheet.