Catalogue of a collection of early drawings and pictures of London: With some contemporary furniture

In Short

This volume serves as the official catalog for a 1920 exhibition held by the Burlington Fine Arts Club, bringing together early drawings, watercolours, oil paintings, and contemporary furniture lent by private collectors, civic institutions, and the Crown. The text traces the evolution of London topography from early symbolic woodcuts to the precise, observed landscapes of Wenceslaus Hollar, Canaletto, Thomas Girtin, and J. M. W. Turner. By documenting lost landmarks, timber-framed halls, and changing Thames bridges alongside decorative artifacts, the catalog forms an irreplaceable record of the city's architectural inheritance and cultural memory.

The Story

The narrative of the catalog is one of topographical discovery and spatial preservation. It opens with an introductory essay by Dr. Philip Norman, who establishes the historical trajectory of London art. Early artists, Norman notes, rarely attempted to imitate physical reality directly. Woodcuts like those in Richard Pynson’s 1510 Cronycle of Englonde offered mere symbolic hints of old St. Paul’s or the Tower of London, subordinating accurate perspective to decorative convention. Illuminated manuscripts, such as the volume depicting Charles, Duke of Orleans imprisoned in the Tower, gradually introduced clearer environmental cues, yet accurate landscape portraiture remained rare until foreign topographers arrived in England.

The systematic cataloging of the exhibition begins near the entrance door and moves clockwise around the gallery, charting London's changing physical reality. Works by Wenceslaus Hollar introduce rigorous architectural draftsman skills, recording mid-seventeenth-century structures before the Great Fire of 1666 altered the city's core forever. Mid-eighteenth-century views by Canaletto document the rising masonry of the original Westminster Bridge, depicting the ruined arches and timber scaffolding caused by a settled pier in 1747. As the survey progresses into the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, watercolours by Paul Sandby, Thomas Malton, and Thomas Girtin record dynamic streetscapes: military encampments in Hyde Park during the 1780 Gordon Riots, crowds gathering outside the East India House in Leadenhall Street, and the crumbling medieval ruins of the Savoy Palace before its final clearance.

The narrative shifts from expansive public views to intimate urban interiors and social satire. Thomas Rowlandson’s satirical watercolours capture the chaotic energy of Bartholomew Fair in Smithfield, public lotteries held in the Rotunda of the Bank of England, and book auctions at Sotheby's. Elsewhere, quiet wash drawings capture hidden monastic remnants, such as the timber-roofed Hall of the Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity in Aldersgate or the fourteenth-century crypt beneath Ely Place.

The narrative concludes in the early nineteenth century with dramatic structural transformations: George Belton Moore’s 1830 watercolour catches old London Bridge still carrying traffic just feet from its rising stone replacement. Beyond the flat wall displays, the final section of the text inventories physical artifacts of civic governance and trade, including an upholstered East India Company director's chair carved with dolphins, an inscribed 1619 pewter inkstand from St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, and a 1549 Flemish master's bell from the Haberdashers' Company, grounding the visual records of London in tangible objects.

How It Unfolds

Symbolic beginnings The introductory text traces London’s earliest visual representations in printed chronicles and manuscript illuminations, where artists favored decorative symmetry over real-world accuracy. Royal manuscripts showing medieval prisoners in the Tower or Chaucer’s pilgrims setting out from the city wall provided only crude topographical clues.

The rise of accurate portraiture Topographical recording matures through Seventeenth-century masterworks, notably drawings by Wenceslaus Hollar and oil views by Thomas Wijck. These works move past symbolic conventions to capture exact riverbanks, timber-framed mansions, and royal precincts shortly after the Restoration.

Canaletto’s mid-century Thames Exhibited wash and pen drawings from the Royal Collection record mid-eighteenth-century developments along the river, including the construction of old Westminster Bridge. Canaletto captures both architectural grandeur and structural mishaps, such as the collapsing piers that delayed the bridge's opening for years.

Social life and civic institutions Watercolours by Thomas Rowlandson, Paul Sandby, and Thomas Malton record late eighteenth-century urban life. Scenes range from military encampments near the Serpentine during times of civil unrest to commercial auction rooms, public lotteries, and bustling trading centers.

Vanishing medieval remnants Subsequent catalogue entries document the destruction of historic Gothic structures during early nineteenth-century expansion. Drawings by John Carter and William Capon capture ancient crypts, private chapels, and monastic halls just before their demolition for modern street widenings.

The physical artifacts The catalogue closes with a descriptive listing of preserved decorative arts, furniture, and metalwork. These items—ranging from Tudor tables to East India Company armchairs—represent the surviving physical heritage of City guilds, hospitals, and trading houses.

The People

Because this volume is a non-fiction art exhibition catalog, its central figures are the topographers, artists, and antiquarians whose vision and collections preserved old London for posterity:

• Dr. Philip Norman: The author of the introductory essay and a committee member who lent numerous items. He argues passionately against critics who dismiss topographical art as mere copying, contending that true artistic spirit breathes life into exact spatial records.
• Wenceslaus Hollar: A Bohemian engraver whose seventeenth-century drawings provide the foundational baseline for accurate London topography. His precise linework captured medieval buildings that were destroyed shortly after by the Great Fire.
• Canaletto: The Venetian master whose views of the Thames brought dramatic scale, sharp light, and compositional rigor to eighteenth-century London vistas, recording key engineering feats like Westminster Bridge.
• Thomas Girtin: A short-lived watercolorist whose expressive wash drawings of Wapping and the Savoy ruins earned the profound admiration of J. M. W. Turner, bridging the gap between mere antiquarian recording and high art.
• Thomas Rowlandson: A prolific draftsman and satirist who documented the human chaos of London, using sweeping pen outlines and light washes to capture crowds at lotteries, fairs, and taverns.
• Sir Edward Coates: A Member of Parliament and major private contributor who lent scores of unique, previously unexhibited drawings documenting disappearing city gate-houses, churches, and theatres.

In Its Own Voice

“With an effort of faith we may believe that we are looking at representations of old St. Paul’s, the Tower, London Bridge, Ludgate, and the church of the Black Friars, but the design is symbolic rather than imitative.”

Dr. Philip Norman explains how early sixteenth-century woodcut printers depicted London without attempting to copy nature directly.

“Such work is supposed to be outside the region of art, as giving no play to the imagination. But surely ‘the originality of a subject is in its treatment.’”

Norman defends topographical artists against contemporary critics who looked down on accurate architectural draftsmanship.

“The arches in mid-distance most likely belong to Blackfriars Bridge... We may call to mind that the gifted artist who drew this, and died at the age of twenty-seven, was born in the same year as W. M. Turner.”

A catalog note reflects on a sepia wash drawing of the Savoy ruins by Thomas Girtin, citing Turner's famous tribute to his deceased peer.

What It's Really About

At its core, the book explores the tension between urban development and historical memory. It argues that topographical art is not merely a mechanical record, but a vital cultural act that captures the unique personality of a rapidly disappearing past. By assembling images of buildings that were burnt, demolished, or remodeled—such as the old timber structures on London Bridge, the medieval Savoy Palace, and the Tudor Cockpit at Whitehall—the volume reveals how modern London was built on layers of discarded history. Furthermore, it defends the artistic value of precision, asserting that an artist’s commitment to capturing a real street, riverbank, or church ceiling requires just as much imagination and soul as idealized landscape painting.

Why Read It Today

This catalog is ideal for urban historians, lovers of London lore, and readers interested in the evolution of British watercolour and architectural drawing. Rather than offering a dry list of museum holdings, the book reads like a guided tour through a lost city, providing fascinating structural details—such as how the old Savoy Palace served as a printing house and prison before its demolition, or how early lotteries were conducted inside the Bank of England.

Readers should be prepared for the formal, clipped format of an early twentieth-century auction or gallery publication. The text consists of brief, entry-by-entry descriptions containing exact dimensions, physical descriptions, and historical provenance rather than a continuous narrative. However, for those willing to parse its detailed entries, the catalog offers an atmospheric immersion into the physical texture of historical London, illuminated by the authoritative commentary of early twentieth-century antiquarians.