This beautifully produced book demands a leisurely browse so that one can take in both the informative text and the rewarding illustrations. The Bodleian Library must be congratulated in making this selection available from the huge bequest of 4,000 books, prints, maps and manuscripts on British subjects amassed by Richard Gough during a lifetime of collecting. Gough was named ‘Father of British Topography’ by his executor John Nichols; his Anecdotes of British Topography, published in Reference Gough1768 when he was only thirty-three, soon became a standard work of reference. As a collector, he acquired some much-prized rarities, among them the ‘Gough map’ of Britain, of c 1400, bought for 2s 6d, included here together with other less well-known maps and plans. But the chief focus is on prints, drawings and watercolours, the records of a pre-photographic age. As Nurse explains in his introduction, this selection reflects both the development of topographic recording during Gough’s lifetime, and a growing interest in the appearance of London, then by far the largest city in Europe.

Gough himself promoted meticulous recording, much of it in connection with the Society of Antiquaries, as he sought suitable illustrations for his historical research, notably Sepulchral Monuments in Great Britain (Reference Gough1786–96), commissioning James Basire, John Carter and Jacob Schnebbelie to produce detailed drawings. The selection in this book displays both his antiquarian concerns and his lively interest in the contemporary capital. The subjects are arranged in a leisurely tour of Georgian London, illuminated by informative comments from Nurse, as one progresses from the City (shown before and after the Great Fire), Westminster, the river and its bridges, to the churches and mansions of the rural environs. Skilful compositions featuring distinguished architectural masterpieces – the views by the Sandbys and Rooker are particularly notable – are enlivened by glimpses of street life with carriages and beggars; in the foreground of Greenwich Royal Hospital are six royal yachts – meticulously added by a nautical specialist – while an anonymous watercolour of the countryside near Canonbury includes a notice warning intruders of ‘mentraps and spring guns’.

Although in most cases the reproductions are smaller than the originals (it is a pity that size is not given), the subjects are reproduced on a generous scale and with a clarity that makes detailed scrutiny a delight. No less than five double spreads (and the dust jacket) are given to the Bucks’ ‘Prospect of London and Westminster’ (1749), shown clearly enough to read the tiny figures identifying the spires of the City churches and to count the houses on old London Bridge. Gough’s interest in contemporary London is demonstrated by an appendix with a selection from his letters and journals, including his account of the Gordon riots. Illustrations of London life range from executions, hangings and the damage wrought by the ‘Roehampton tornado’ of 1780 to more peaceable skating scenes, frost fairs on the Thames and some remarkable dark mezzotints showing firework celebrations. One can learn much about the London of Gough’s time, as well as about the art of topography.