Although the land of St James’s Park was acquired by Henry VIII, it was only laid out as a park by Charles II. He was impressed by the French garden style during his exile years in France, and ordered the redesign of St James’s Park adopting a more formal style. What is known as The Mall today derived its name from it originally being used as a field for playing Pall-Mall, a game resembling croquet, introduced to England in the seventeenth century. Although the game is no longer played, the name for the avenue remains in use today. The Mall later became a grand processional route in honour of Queen Victoria. It still serves this purpose today, witnessing various state and royal ceremonies and events.

Charles II also kept St James’s Park open to the public, and in the eighteenth century, the park became a favourite outing for the upper society. The Mall in particular was used by the fashionable class as a place to display themselves and observe others, not unlike the Promenade de Longchamp in Paris (represented in Gestetner 24). St James’s Park was further remodelled by commission of George IV. John Nash, who was also responsible for other ‘improvement’ works in London, including Regent’s Street and Regent’s Park (represented in Gestetner 193), oversaw the project. Not surprisingly, Nash brought into St James’s Park his vision of the picturesque, and, as commented by the publisher of this paper peepshow, ‘beautified’ the park.

The depiction of the picturesque metropolis in the paper peepshow appears to have been popular with customers. This paper peepshow was re-issued again in 1830 (Gestetner 216, see references) , and much of the content on the front-face and cut-out panels are re-used in other paper peepshows representing William IV and Queen Victoria going to the House of Lords (Gestetner 225 and Gestetner 232, (see references).