Comments on: The Microcosm Of London

By: Dr Jonathan van Halbert

Dr Jonathan van Halbert — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 21:50:38 +0000

How wonderful to see these two volumes of the Microcosm of London, shown to thePublic…

I have a first edition of both Volumes…

By: paul loften

paul loften — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 18:59:16 +0000

I am further amazed that I just looked amongst the few papers that had kept from my past work and came across the 5-page statement that I made to Suffolk Constabulary at the time along with witha list of some of the books that were amongst them. The earliest dated was 1560 Commentariorirum in Acta Apolostolorum. Libri Duo.

By: paul loften

paul loften — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 18:03:45 +0000

I just realised, although it may seem incredible, thinking back to 30 years at working at Camden libraries. I was involved in several cases of Operation Bumblebee the 1980s that must have included these volumes and antiquarian books and works of art that were stolen by an individual from specialist libraries including the British Library and public libraries all over London and the UK over a period of many years. I worked in cooperation with two detectives based at Vauxhall police station. On several occasions I had to drive to a police rifle range in Saxmundham in Suffolk which was full to the brim of thousands of stolen antiquarian books and identify them. When I first walked into the building accompanied by the police, I was stunned. It was packed tight with books from the roof to the floor It was a massive theft that involved hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of material. The thief certainly knew what he was doing as almost all the books were antiquarian and very valuable. I attended court as a witness for the prosecution. There were several cases that I dealt with under operation Bumblebee so I am sure these books must have been amongst them since I acted for as a representative for most of the other libraries involved, and was coordinating with police on their behalf. I organized the delivery and return of the stock to the libraries that they were taken from, It was a huge task that took years because the police needed to hold onto them for evidence even after the case came to court, as they believed other individuals were involved and they were very reluctant to release them. I recall getting annoyed at their slowness and several times phoning the police officer in charge asking when we could have them and I never thought they would see their way back to the library shelves again.

By: Esther

Esther — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 17:24:58 +0000

I was absolutely enchanted by your post of today; wonderful whimsical drawings of all the important places and buildings in London and all those characters 🙂

By: Claire Weiss

Claire Weiss — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 15:29:35 +0000

Utterly amazing. Auch a wide range of social situations and styles of architecture. Many thanks!

By: Colin Cohen

Colin Cohen — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 14:25:03 +0000

About a hour before reading this I gave a coloured engraving of the Board Room of the Admiralty [the building next to the Citadel] which had been my father’s when he was in the RN a century back and it is the spitting image of the RGS print above

By: Jill wilson

Jill wilson — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 13:57:01 +0000

These are great and I look forward to studying them in more detail later.

Also very interesting in respect of the fashions – for example in some of the scenes the men are still wearing wigs and in others the headgear is going towards top hats but they haven’t yet reached the Victorian extremes of height.

A fascinating insight into another turbulent time.

By: paul loften

paul loften — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 12:03:02 +0000

Thank you for these fantastic illustrations. Thankfully they are now back in the public domain for everybody to see and enjoy.

By: Helen Breen

Helen Breen — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 11:18:41 +0000

Greetings from Boston,

GA, what a great collection of Thomas Rowlandson’s (1757-1827) work in his collaboration with August Pugin in “Microcosm of London” published in 1809.

Rowlandson was a prolific illustrator. I particularly enjoyed seeing his many sketches throughout the Bank of England Museum near the Royal Exchange. The vibrant political satire and social observation in his works are delightful.

By: Caroline Murray

Caroline Murray — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 11:16:04 +0000

Thanks, GE, for this wonderful collection! How big are the originals? They are all just like stage sets, populated by Rowlandson’s genius. I wondered if the man in the RGS image, seated in profile to the right of the table, might be Sir Joseph Banks? And I was very interested in the Court of Bankruptcy – I didn’t know until quite recently that you had to be a trader to become bankrupt.