Bird's-Eye Plan of the West End of London, ca. 1660

{Legacy} Wenceslaus Hollar (1607–1677) Bird's Eye Plan of the West End of London Comprising roughly the modern districts WC1 & WC2 Etching. 353 x 457mm. Previously folded; mounted on 18th-century paper. [London: ca. 1660] The Folger has just acquired a previously unknown example of a proof sheet for Wenceslaus Hollar’s intended “monument and masterpiece,” Map of London and Westminister [London: ca. 1660], a 14 x 18 inch section of a bird's-eye view that was to have measured five feet high by ten feet wide. We already hold the only known copy of Hollar’s prospectus for this unusual aerial view of London, Propositions Concerning the Map of London and Westminster &c. which is in hand by Wentsel Hollar, (Folger X.d.454). Hollar prospectus, Folger X.d.454The prospectus also served as a receipt, in Hollar’s hand, “I acknowledge to have received of Sr. Edward Walker the Summe of 20 Shill[ing]es upon the Conditions aforesaid. Wenceslaus Hollar. 26 Jul. 1660.” The map was to show “the likeness” of all the buildings, and be the largest work ever envisaged by Hollar. But the map was never made. The Great Fire of 1666 rendered much of Hollar’s seven years of preparatory work obsolete, and the project could not be completed, despite the artist’s personal appeals for a royal subvention. Until now, it was thought that the only surviving trace of the monumental bird’s-eye view described in the Folger prospectus was a single sheet in the British Museum, an unfinished proof of the newly-developed West End. A second copy of this proof sheet recently came to light in the collection of the Earls of Macclesfield, and was offered for sale by Maggs Bros. Ltd., London. Uniting this rare surviving print with the only known copy of its prospectus—a prospectus receipted in the artist’s own hand, no less—was an opportunity not to be missed. It is highly unlikely that another copy of the print will ever surface. Not until the 18th century did printmakers begin exploiting the market for early proofs by pulling extra copies for collectors. Hollar’s proofs really were test impressions, not meant for sale. Both surviving copies were folded up at an early date, for convenient storage. They were not preserved as works of art, nor was there a market for them. Their survival, therefore, is accidental. The Library currently holds over 1,600 different etchings by Hollar, many in multiple copies or states, bringing our total collection to well over 2,000 items. In 1996, we devoted an exhibition to the artist’s life work, Impressions of Wenceslaus Hollar. Hollar’s oeuvre is such a targeted area in our collection development policy that we have acquired over 200 items in the last decade, more than any other single artist in the early modern period. Ours is the largest collection of Hollar’s work in the United States.