Marrin's Bookshop

Synopsis

Illustrated with one hundred and twenty engravings on wood by g. w. bonner.

Item Description

12mo. 5.75 x 3.75 inches. [8], including publisher's advertisement + iii + [i] + 215 pp. + 1 pp. advertisement + [14] pp. publishers catalogue. Bound in quarter black leather, gilt, over brown watered silk, with brown printed paper label. Publisher's printed advertisement fixed to front pastedown. A little wear to extremities and hinges starting to crack, but otherwise a very good clean copy. Illustrated by engraved title, 18 wood engraved plates, including frontispiece, and by numerous charming wood engravings throughout. With over 120 views including head and tailpiece vignettes. This is a very good example of the steam packet guide, designed to fit the pocket of the traveller and it relates the journey from London Bridge down the Thames to Thanet, with various types of craft depicted. All aspects of the area, including the three principal towns, the coast and villages are described and illustrated with great detail; the wood engravings by George Wilmot Bonner (1796-1836), a wood engraver who worked in the style of Bewick, are particularly charming and skilful. The preface states that since the advent of steam packets, visitor numbers had increased from an average of 20,000 per season to 98,128 in 1830.