The Thames Tunnel was one of the most popular British subjects for paper peepshows, and its enduring association with this kind of optical device can still be judged from one of its modern names, the ‘tunnel book’ (this term is most often used in the United States). The paper peepshow’s accordion shape would suggest a natural link to the form of the Tunnel, as the expanded bellows effectively create the depth impression that echoes the Tunnel archways. This homemade work is a manuscript copy of printed paper peepshows. When we look through the peep-hole of this work, we can see pedestrians and vehicles promenading in the bright underground passage.

The construction of the Thames Tunnel connecting Wapping on the north with Rotherhithe on the south was authorised in 1824. Work began on the Rotherhithe shaft in March 1825, and the first Thames Tunnel paper peepshow appeared as early as 16 June of the same year, showing how the finished work would look. Although the Tunnel officially opened on 25 March, 1843, the publishers’ interest in the topic would continue into the 1860s.

Similar to the Great Exhibition, the Thames Tunnel also spurred great public excitement both home and abroad, and the paper peepshow is but one part of the huge souvenir market this engineering feat gave rise to. There also appeared manuscript copies of printed works, of which this paper peepshow is one. This manuscript work is copied after Gestetner 195, and there are three other manuscript paper peepshows in the collection, Gestetner 202, Gestetner 203, and Gestetner 209, (see references).

This paper peepshow, like many others, was produced before the Tunnel was completed, and depicts the Tunnel as imagined. The horse-drawn carriages shown in the paper peepshow, for instance, were never able to enter the Tunnel in reality, as a ramp was never built.