Antiquarian Auctions

Auction #114 begins on 11 Apr 2024

18th-century copper printing plate: a map of Clerkenwell, Saddler's Wells, London

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JOHNSON (plate maker). – [Unidentified engraver / cartographer]

[London, Clerkenwell, Saddler’s Wells, New River Head]  [An original intaglio copper printing plate, being a map of the New River Head development and the surrounding area]. [London (?): undated but 18th century]. Copper printing plate (8 ½ x 9 3/8 inches; 215 x 237mm), the verso with the plate-maker’s stamp ‘C. Iohnson’ [sic.].

A fascinating reminder of “a civil engineering achievement vital to the development of“ London.

“The site south-west of Sadler's Wells known as New River Head takes its name from the reservoir at the mouth of the New River, the channel cut in 1604–13 to supply London with water from springs in Hertfordshire—a civil engineering achievement vital to the development of the metropolis. From here, high in the fields of rural Clerkenwell, a network of wooden mains conveyed water to the cisterns of London. To begin with New River Head consisted merely of a reservoir, the Round Pond, and a single building known as the Water House. In time it became a comparatively sophisticated complex with outer ponds and associated structures covering seven acres—a roughly trapezoidal site, bounded latterly by Rosebery Avenue and Amwell Street on the east and west, Myddelton Passage and Hardwick Street on the north and south.”  (https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol47/pp165-184).

The 'round pond' in center of the plate is the site of the New River Head building on the site today. The 'New Pond' later became known as the Upper Pond, and is now the site of Claremont Square. Also shown are The Angel Inn, Myddleton Square Gardens and Sadler's Wells which is now the site of the theatre. I have not been able to confirm where this plate/map was published, or when, but ‘The Gentleman’s Magazine’  is one possibility.

  • Sold By: Shadowrock Rare Books
  • Contact Person: Adam Langlands
  • Country: United States
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Telephone: 001-860-248-1547
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