“Now, notwithstanding this particular description of these new buildings, neither of the engravings which I have alluded to have any indications of them; although one of them was published in 1647, and the other in 1666. The first of these represents the North end of London Bridge, from St. Magnus’ Church to the houses beyond the first opening, as occupied by a _covered_ passage formed of planks, leaving recesses standing out from the main erection, which was supported by buttresses of wood fastened to platforms on the outside of the Bridge.
“We derive this view of the dilapidations of London Bridge from a very rare and magnificent print, well known to collectors and antiquaries, by the name of the ‘_Long Antwerp view of London_;’ for which, Mr. Geoffrey Barbican, if you ever meet with it, you may consider twenty guineas as a very moderate price. This famous engraving is an etching by the matchless Wenceslaus Hollar; it is in seven sheets, measuring two yards and an half in length, by 17-1/2 inches in height: it bears a dedication to Queen Henrietta Maria, and William Prince of Orange, with a copy of Latin verses written by Edward Benlowes, Esq.; and, though it was sold in London, the following publication line appears on one side written in Latin:--‘_Sold at Amsterdam by Cornelius Danckers, in Calf Street, at the sign of the Image of Gratitude, in the year 1647_.’ The e is, by the way, a pretty fair, but smaller copy of this view of London and Westminster in two sheets, in a series of prints commonly called ‘_Boydell’s Perspectives_,’ measuring 37-1/2 inches, by 10-1/4 inches, signed ‘_R. Benning, del. et sculp._,’ and entitled ‘_A View of London as it was in the year 1647_.’ The publication line is, ‘_Sold by J. Boydell, Engraver, at the Unicorn in Cheapside, London, 1756_.’ You will find both the original, and the copy, in the xiii.th and xiv.th volumes of Mr. Crowle’s Illustrated Pennant, which I have already cited to you, and the view takes in from above the Parliament House at Westminster to beyond St. Catherine’s; but the Bridge is the _keimelion_ of the plate, for that noble edifice is represented with all its buildings, from St. Magnus’ Church, down to the Southwark Tower, the size of 10 inches in length, with the principal buildings about two inches square. The other view to which I have alluded, was also etched by Hollar, upon two sheets measuring 27 inches by 4-1/4: and it consists of two prospects, one over the other, on the same plate, the upper one representing, ‘_London from St. Mary Overies Steeple in Southwark, in its flourishing condition before the Fire_;’ and the lower one entitled, ‘_Another prospect of the said City, taken from the same place, as it appeareth now after the said calamity and destruction by Fire_.’ Copies of these interesting etchings are, however, neither dear nor uncommon; though, if you would have so fine an impression as that in the Print Room of the British Museum, you will scarcely procure it under three Guineas. In the upper of these prospects, the Northern end of London Bridge is shewn to be a passage fenced by wooden palings without any houses, excepting one building, which occupies the whole width of the Bridge; having a gate in it surmounted by the King’s Arms, and standing immediately before the old Church of St. Magnus.