Ad Londinum epitomen & ocellum [graphic] / Wenceslaus Hollar delineauit et fecit Londini et Antwerpiae, 1647.

Pennington title: London. The long view

[State 1 of 2].

Prostant Amstelodami : Apud Cornelium Danckers in via vitulina sub insigni, gratitudines ano. 1647.

6 prints forming 1 panorama : etching ; full image 275 x 2340 mm, plate marks 480 x 410 mm or smaller.

paper

View in seven sections, taken from the tower of St Mary Overy in Southwark, covering Westminster and London and reaching from Whitehall to beyond the Tower. Lettered with names of places shown. The first section features a distant view of Whitehall to Durham House; in the sky, there are three cherubs, one wearing a lion skin. Also a crowned female allegorical figure holding a sword and scales, sitting surrounded by books, a globe, orb, sceptre, crowns, etc. above Latin verses and a dedication (also in Latin) to Princess Mary, wife of William of Orange. Below, an inset view of Westminster from the perspective of Lambeth marsh. The second section shows the area of the Strand from Salisbury House to Baynard's Castle, with the Globe theatre [mislabeled "Beere bayting"] in the mid-ground; three cherubs in the sky with books and one holding a caduceus. The third section shows the old St Paul's Church in the centre and Winchester House in the foreground; River Thames in between; in the sky a figure of Mercury. The fourth section shows the area of the city from Bow Church to St Peter's, with Southwark in the foreground; in the sky a cartouche flanked by lions bears the title "LONDON" and is surmounted by the city arms. The fifth section shows London Bridge and the east of the city from St Magnus to Barking; in the sky a winged genius blowing a trumpet. The sixth section shows the Tower of London and the east end of the city, with St Olaf in the foreground; in the sky three cherubs with a parrot, jewel chest, crown and chain. The seventh and final section shows the region east of the Tower; in the sky, two cherubs, one dressed as an American Indian, with an ostrich. Below, a river god atop two columns of Latin verses by Edward Benlowes and below, the publisher's name and date.

Title from item.
State and dimensions from New Hollstein.
"One plate contains the two end views which would be separated, so that when assembled the panorama would consist of seven sections" --Pennington.
The circular building labelled "The Globe" is actually the Hope Theatre (also used for bear-baiting), and the larger circular building labelled "Beere bayting" is the second Globe Theatre of 1614, the replacement for Shakespeare's building which burned in 1613.
Hollar etched these plates while he was an emigre in Antwerp, on commission by an Amsterdam publisher, and must have been based on numerous drawings made before his departure from London in 1644.

Washington, D.C., Folger Shakespeare Library, 2012. Open City: London, 1500-1700.

Pennington, R. Descriptive catalogue of the etched work of Wenceslaus Hollar, 1014
New Hollstein German etchings, engravings and woodcuts, 1450-1700, Hollar 954

Great Britain -- England -- London.
Netherlands -- Amsterdam.

MAP L85c no.29 pt.1-2

Print 1 cut and pasted to ends of image; pasted in two sections; lacks print 4 (middle section)