Title:

St James House

Description:

This engraving depicts St. James' Palace. The palace was commissioned by Henry VIII, on the site of a former leper hospital dedicated to Saint James the Less. The new palace, secondary in the king's interest to Henry's Whitehall Palace, was constructed between 1531 and 1536 as a smaller residence to escape formal court life. Much smaller than the nearby Whitehall, St James's was arranged around a number of courtyards, including the Colour Court, the Ambassador's Court and the Friary Court. The most recognizable feature is the north gatehouse; constructed with four storeys, the gatehouse has two crenelated flanking octagonal towers at its corners.

John Stow's "Survey" appeared first in 1598 and remained the major reference source on the city's history for decades. However, it was not until around 1700 that steps were taken to produce an up-dated edition with maps illustrating the areas described. Richard Blome (1641-1705) was charged with preparing a series of ward plans, copied from the detail of the recently published large-scale map of London by John Ogilby and William Morgan, frequently at a larger scale, thus with more clarity, and with major buildings shown pictorially in profile as "uprights". The plans were finally published in John Strype's "Survey Of The Cities Of London And Westminster ... ", being the first ward maps to be published.

Blank verso.

Publication: A Survey of the Cities of
London and Westminster: containing the original, antiquity, increase, modern estate and government of those Cities.
Written at first in the Year MDXCVIII.
By John Stow, citizen and native of London.
Since Reprinted and Augmented by the author now lastly corrected, improved, and very much enlarged: And the survey and
history brought down from the Year 1633, (being near Fourscore Years
since it was last printed) to the present time;
By John Strype, M.A. a native also of the said City.

Condition: Good. Mildly age toned. The sheet has been washed and pressed by a professional conservator. Repair to margin in bottom right. The attached photo is part of the item description, please examine carefully.

Color: Uncoloured.

Size (h x w): approx. 20.3 x 33.0 cm, (neat line)

Technique: Copperplate

Engraver: Kip. J,

Date: 1720

Ref:JJB2881