| You are considering a hard cover book, with its dust cover: OLD WESTMINSTER BRIDGE THE BRIDGE OF FOOLS by RJB Walker; PUBLISHER: David and Charles, Newton Abbot; 1979 copyright; 319 pages. For centuries there was no bridge over the Thames between London Bridge and Kingston, but with the advance of communications the need for another bridge in the heart of London became imperative. Various attempts in the 17th and early 18th centuries were frustrated either by the City, jealous of its privileges and commercial monopolies, or by the Company of Watermen, fearful for the livelihood of its members who operated ferries and river traffic generally. This book traces the struggles to overcome these prejudices, the battles in Parliament between rival MPs, and the eventual success of a 'Society of Gentlemen' determined to force the issue through. It describes the building of the bridge itself, it maintenance and its collapse not much more than a hundred years after the first stone had been laid. The author has made use of some thirty volumes of the Commissioners' Minutes, sources hitherto virtually untapped, and of comment and criticism in contemporary newspapers, supplemented by the vivid paintings of Canaletto, Samuel Scott and others, which follow the construction year by year. CONDITION: Have minor DJ wear. Pages tight and in good condition. Would be great for any collector. |
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