View of the Royal Exchange and Gresham College £10 (approx. 7.5 × 11.5 in)
These views come from Henry Chamberlain’s New and Compleat History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, c.1770), one of the earliest illustrated surveys of London.
The Royal Exchange, rebuilt after the Great Fire to designs by Edward Jarman, served as London’s principal commercial hub where merchants, brokers, and insurers gathered to conduct business under a classical colonnaded courtyard. Adjacent stands Gresham College, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1597 to provide free public lectures in subjects such as astronomy and geometry. Gresham College was later demolished in the nineteenth century during expansions of the financial district. The Royal Exchange visible here was itself burned in 1838 and replaced by the present structure of 1841.
Date: c. 1769–1772
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View of the South Sea House and View of the East India House £10 (approx. 7.5 × 11.5 in)
These views come from Henry Chamberlain’s New and Compleat History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, c.1770), one of the earliest illustrated surveys of London.
This leaf pairs two of the most consequential financial institutions of eighteenth-century Britain. South Sea House housed the South Sea Company, whose infamous 1720 speculation bubble reshaped British finance and led to major parliamentary reforms. East India House on Leadenhall Street was the headquarters of the English East India Company, from which Britain administered its expanding interests in Asia. East India House was rebuilt in the late eighteenth century and finally demolished in 1861. South Sea House was partly rebuilt after fire in 1826, with its remaining structures absorbed into later office developments.
Date: c. 1769–1772
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View of Grocer’s Hall and View of Goldsmiths’ Hall £10 (approx. 7.5 × 11.5 in)
These views come from Henry Chamberlain’s New and Compleat History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, c.1770), one of the earliest illustrated surveys of London.
Two of the City’s Great Twelve Livery Company halls are shown here, reflecting the guild system that regulated trade, apprenticeship, and civic ceremony. Grocers’ Hall served the Company associated with the spice and grocery trade, and later with banking, while Goldsmiths’ Hall housed the Company responsible for the assaying and hallmarking of precious metals. Both halls functioned as centres of regulation and as venues for mayoral feasts and civic display. The views capture the institutional machinery of London’s pre-industrial economy at the height of Georgian prosperity.
Date: c. 1769–1772
Notes: Goldsmiths’ Hall rebuilt 1829–35 and survives; Grocers’ Hall destroyed by bombing in 1940 and rebuilt post-war.
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View of Westminster Bridge, View of Blackfriars Bridge, and View of London Bridge £10 (approx. 7.5 × 11.5 in)
These views come from Henry Chamberlain’s New and Compleat History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, c.1770), one of the earliest illustrated surveys of London.
A triptych of Thames crossings during London’s era of infrastructure modernization. Westminster Bridge, completed 1750, was only the second bridge across the Thames in central London and redirected traffic westward. Blackfriars Bridge, begun 1760, formed part of new road schemes to rationalize transport across the river. London Bridge, the medieval crossing, remained the city’s primary artery even after the removal of its houses. The plate documents the shift from a medieval bottleneck to a deliberately engineered transport system.
Date: c. 1769–1772
Notes: All three bridges later replaced by nineteenth-century structures.
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View of the Tower from the River Thames and View of the Custom House £10 (approx. 7.5 × 11.5 in)
These views come from Henry Chamberlain’s New and Compleat History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, c.1770), one of the earliest illustrated surveys of London.
The Tower of London appears as part of a working riverside, with lighters and barges servicing the commercial quays. Opposite stands the Custom House, the Crown’s principal revenue office for imported goods entering the Port of London. Taken together the views express the fiscal and military foundations of Britain’s maritime power.
Date: c. 1769–1772
Notes: Custom House rebuilt multiple times after fires (notably 1814); Tower survives.
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The Mansion House and the Guildhall of London £10 (approx. 7.5 × 11.5 in)
These views come from Henry Chamberlain’s New and Compleat History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, c.1770), one of the earliest illustrated surveys of London.
This leaf pairs the Mansion House, official residence of the Lord Mayor, with the medieval Guildhall, seat of the City Corporation. The juxtaposition reflects London’s dual civic constitution: the ceremonial figure of the Mayor and the institutional power of the Court of Aldermen and Common Council. The Guildhall survived the Great Fire, while the Mansion House exemplifies Georgian civic architecture and the affluence of the City’s mercantile elite.
Date: c. 1769–1772
Notes: Both survive; Guildhall heavily damaged during the Blitz and subsequently restored.
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View of the City Gates as They Appeared Before They Were Pulled Down £10 (approx. 7.5 × 11.5 in)
These views come from Henry Chamberlain’s New and Compleat History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, c.1770), one of the earliest illustrated surveys of London.
An antiquarian survey of London’s medieval gates including Cripplegate, Ludgate, Moorgate, Newgate, Aldersgate, Aldgate, Bishopsgate, and Bridge Gate. Once integral to defense, taxation, and the regulation of movement, the gates were impediments to traffic by the mid-eighteenth century and removed between the 1760s and 1770.
Date: c. 1769–1772
Notes: All gates demolished by 1770; boundary of the City effectively shifted outward.
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View of the Treasury, Horse Guards, and the Banqueting House £10 (approx. 7.5 × 11.5 in)
These views come from Henry Chamberlain’s New and Compleat History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, c.1770), one of the earliest illustrated surveys of London.
The administrative buildings of Whitehall are shown not as a palace complex but as the bureaucratic and military core of the Georgian state. The Treasury managed Crown finance, Horse Guards housed ceremonial and command functions, and the Banqueting House provided the surviving fragment of the old royal palace.
Date: c. 1769–1772
Notes: Banqueting House survives; Treasury and Horse Guards replaced or expanded in the nineteenth century.
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House of Commons from the River Thames and View of the Office of Ordnance with the Entrance to the House of Lords £10 (approx. 7.5 × 11.5 in)
These views come from Henry Chamberlain’s New and Compleat History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, c.1770), one of the earliest illustrated surveys of London.
A rare mid-Georgian view of the parliamentary precinct before the 1834 fire. The Commons chamber occupied a rambling medieval and Tudor agglomeration, while the Office of Ordnance administered military supplies and artillery. The modest scale of the structures contrasts sharply with the monumental Gothic Revival complex that replaced them.
Date: c. 1769–1772
Notes: Buildings destroyed by the 1834 fire; present Pugin Houses of Parliament built 1840–76.
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St Christopher’s Church, the Bank of England, and St Bartholomew’s Church £10 (approx. 7.5 × 11.5 in)
These views come from Henry Chamberlain’s New and Compleat History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, c.1770), one of the earliest illustrated surveys of London.
Two City churches appear beside the early Bank of England, illustrating the coexistence of parish life and emergent financial capitalism in the urban core. Chamberlain’s leaf records the ecclesiastical density of the medieval City shortly before these transformations.
Date: c. 1769–1772
Notes: Both churches demolished; Bank rebuilt in monumental form under Sir John Soane (1788–1833).
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Dr Shaw Preaching at St Paul’s Cross £10 (approx. 7.5 × 11.5 in)
These views come from Henry Chamberlain’s New and Compleat History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, c.1770), one of the earliest illustrated surveys of London.
An antiquarian view of public preaching at St Paul’s Cross, historically London’s principal outdoor pulpit for sermons, proclamations, and political communication. Before mass print culture, civic religious oratory served as a means of shaping public opinion, regulating orthodoxy, and announcing royal policy. The pulpit was dismantled after the Restoration, and its functions absorbed into print and parish preaching.
Date: c. 1769–1772
Notes: Pulpit destroyed; modern symbolic cross erected in 1910 near original site.
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View of the Royal Stables and Part of St Martin’s Church and View of St George’s Church Bloomsbury £10 (approx. 7.5 × 11.5 in)
These views come from Henry Chamberlain’s New and Compleat History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, c.1770), one of the earliest illustrated surveys of London.
The royal stables at Charing Cross are paired with two prominent West End parish churches: St Martin-in-the-Fields by James Gibbs and St George’s Bloomsbury by Nicholas Hawksmoor. Together the views illustrate the transformation of the West End from court periphery to fashionable urban district. Both churches became anchors of polite Georgian parish life and architectural models widely imitated in Britain and abroad.
Date: c. 1769–1772
Notes: Royal stables demolished; both churches survive.
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View of St Paul’s Cathedral and View of St Paul’s School £10 (approx. 7.5 × 11.5 in)
These views come from Henry Chamberlain’s New and Compleat History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, c.1770), one of the earliest illustrated surveys of London.
Christopher Wren’s cathedral stands beside St Paul’s School, founded in 1509 by John Colet to provide humanist education irrespective of wealth. The pairing reflects the traditional association between the cathedral precinct and scholastic life. As commercial pressure intensified in the nineteenth century, the school relocated westward and the precinct lost its academic character.
Date: c. 1769–1772
Notes: Cathedral survives; school relocated and site redeveloped.
To purchase, email cordeliaprintsdecorativeart@gmail.com with the print title and your location. UK and international shipping available.