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Londinum Antiqua
George Vertue - Enlarge image
Londinum Antiqua
- Object:
Print
- Place of origin:
London, England
- Date:
1737
- Artist/Maker:
George Vertue (Engraver)
Ralph Agas, born 1540 - died 1621 (Engraver)
The Society of Antiquaries of London (production) - Museum number:
29190:5
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E, case Z, shelf 18
This is one sheet of eight that come together to make a map of London. The map is a copy, engraved by George Vertue in 1737, of a famous map of London from the 16th Century supposedly by Ralph Agas a known land surveyor. The dating of the original map to 1560 and the attribution to Agas are now both questioned. The map shows the development of London from two separate cities of London and Westminster. It portrays clearly the division of the power of the court in Westminster and the institutions of the City of London itself bordered by Saint Paul's and the Tower of London. This map shows how the expanding city was beginning to breach its old medieval walls. The map is also full of charming incidental detail of everyday life: the swans bobbing on the river, women laying linen out to dry, farmers hunting, ship-building and driving cattle into the river. The decision by Vertue to engrave and publish this old map of London in the 18th century is indicative of their awareness of and interest in history. However, there are doubts as to the honesty with which Vertue re-engraved the older map. It has been suggested that Vertue doctored the map whilst copying it in order to make it appear older than it actually was in order to fool his antiquary contemporaries.
