Microcosm of London

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Bank of England
Royal Opera House
Fleet Prison

Microcosm of London is a three volume book published in London between 1808 and 1810 . It is an illustrated book that wants to show the London of its time. The book was published by Rudolph Ackermann , the texts were by William Henry Pine (1st and 2nd volume) and William Combe (3rd volume), the pictures by Thomas Rowlandson (people) and Auguste Charles Pugin (architecture).

The book has a total of 32 chapters, which are devoted to various topics such as the Royal Academy of Arts , Christie's auction room, Carlton House , the market in Covent Garden or the Tower of London . The idea for the book came from Pugin. It was intended as much for Londoners, who should see the entire city they lived in, as it was for tourists. Just like modern travel guides, the work focuses primarily on the representative part of the city and ignores the everyday life of most of London's residents.

The book established Ackermann's reputation as a publisher of high quality images.

Web links

Commons : Microcosm of London  - collection of images, videos and audio files