Sources of Prints

Many of the prints in Views of England and Wales were removed from books and other types of publication like periodicals. This is clearly indicated by the signs of bookbinding on some, as well as text on 260 of them stating the publication they were once in. See, for example, the print below depicting Hinton St. George, Somerset, which has part of the book it was taken from still attached! So, even though we cannot say with certainty who collected Views of England and Wales or how, we can get a strong impression of the original sources from which some of the material was drawn. In this section we will look at a few of the main sources of the prints.

Hinton St. George, Somerset

A print showing Hinton St. George, Somerset with evidence of bookbinding and a part of a book cover poking out from the bottom edge of the print.

The reverse of the print showing Hinton St. George, Somerset

The reverse of the print showing Hinton St. George, Somerset with evidence of bookbinding and clearly revealing part of a book cover attached!

Sources of Prints