Perspective views of all the ancient churches, and other buildings, in the cities of London, and Westminster, and parts adjacent
Subtitle: within the bills of mortality
By: drawn by Robert West, and engraved by William Henry Toms. Part I ...
Contributors: Toms, W. H. (William Henry), approximately 1700-1765
Publisher: Printed for the proprietors, Robert West ... and William Henry Toms ...
Published: 1736
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 12
Subjects: Church buildings; Illustrations
Work titles: Perspective views. First series
Notes: This first series was probably published in the spring of 1737 (see Notes below).

Signature: 2:̲ [2 single leaves, unsigned].

: West produced his first drawings for this work - east and south-west views of the church of Saint Leonard, Shoreditch - in 1734 and 1735. Toms engraved plates from these drawings, but in 1734 the church had been declared unsafe, and it was demolished in 1736. For this reason these two early plates were not included in the published first series. Although the 12 plates ultimately included are all dated 16 March 1736, they were not published at this time, for printed 'Proposals For Publishing by Subscription, Perspective Views Of All The Ancient Churches And Other Buildings In the Cities of London and Westminster ...' were not issued until October of this year (a copy of the proposals, dated 'London, October, 1736', is at Chetham's Library, Manchester, and a photostat is in the John Johnson Collection at the Bodleian (Proposals & prospectuses folder IV); see also ESTC t224614). The terms of publication are given, including the promise to 'take Correct Drawings ... on the Spot, and to Engrave them after the best Manner ... each to be printed on a sheet of the best Demy Paper, and to be deliver'd in February next.' The work is described as 'in great Forwardness', and 'Drawings may be seen at Mr. West's, and some specimens of the Engraving ...'. This last suggests that, as late as October, some of the coppers had still not been completed. The whole was evidently not published until at least the spring of 1737, a dating confirmed by plate [5], which bears the date '1737' as that of the appointment of John Thompson as Lord Mayor (see Plates above). The proposals supply further details, promising 'a concise Account from History' of each church, and that 'The Whole will be divided into several Sets, consisting of 12 Plates each ... The Price to Subscribers will be Fifteen Shillings each Set; half to be paid at the Time of Subscribing and the Remainder on the Delivery of the said 12 Plates'. The publishers also draw attention to the recent success of 'the Views of all the Cathedrals, Abbies, Castles, &c. throughout England ...', probably being a reference to Browne Willis' Survey of the cathedrals (1727-1730; see Nos 3668 and 3669), and conclude by noting that subscriptions are taken by West and Toms 'and by no other Persons; nor will any Prints be disposed of afterwards ...' The series evidently proved moderately successful, for the second of the 'several Sets' planned followed in 1739 (see No.3608). In each case a list of subscribers was included (as promised in the proposals), the second series attracting more interest than the first. Despite this apparent success, no further series were produced. Plates [1], [3], [5], [7], [9] and [11] from the present work, and [1], [3], [5-7], [9] and [11] from the second series, were later reprinted for Robert Sayer. To these 13 were added the east view of Saint Leonard's which had originally been suppressed by the publishers (see Adams pp.80, 451). Sayer revised the imprint lines to reflect his ownership of these coppers, and published the suite, probably without a formal title-leaf, around 1775. It is not listed in Sayer and Flexney's catalogue of [1768] (No.2798), nor in the list of Sayer's books in Halfpenny's Twelve beautiful designs for farmhouses (1774; No.1452), although this last catalogue might have omitted the work as not being of immediate architectural interest. It is however included in a Sayer and Bennett catalogue of 1775, where the title is given as 'Fourteen Perspective Views of antient Churches and other Buildings, all now standing in London, which escaped the great fire ...' (quoted by Adams p.78). The inclusion of Saint Leonard's renders the statement 'all now standing in London' less than wholly accurate. The same 14 plates were reprinted as late as 1880, when Robert H. Laurie included them in a revised state in his {UN}Views of the city of London (Adams 191). Here the coppers were numbered 47-60 top right and bore the imprint 'London. Published by R.H. Laurie, N.̲ 53 Fleet Street' (the BAL copy of the second series includes one plate in this 1880 state; see No.3608). The subsequent fate of the coppers is not known. At the same time as the second series was being published, West and Toms supplied plates for Maitland's {UN}The history of London (1739; see No.2007), and some of the other plates in Maitland's work were copied from the present views. Few clear biographical details of Robert West have been found. He may have been the Waterford-born painter of this name who died in Ireland in 1770, and is known to have travelled in Europe, although no residence in London is recorded (see the DNB). Likewise, he may be the Robert West who is recorded as a minor architect in Denbighshire in 1738 and 1739 (see Colvin). It is likely that there was a familial link with James West (1704-1772), the antiquary, politician and proto-bibliographer, who is the dedicatee of plate [10] of the second series (No.3608); Robert may perhaps have been James West's brother (see the DNB). For further details, including notes on the ground-breaking format of the present work, see Adams (pp.78-80).

English short title catalogue (ESTC), t224614