Panorama of the Thames

In 1829, the London bookseller Samuel Leigh issued an unusual publication that consisted of two hand-coloured aquatint panoramas folded concertina-fashion between hard covers. It was sold as The Panorama of the Thames from London to Richmond. One panorama opened out to 60 feet, showing both banks of the Thames from Westminster to Richmond, and the other extended six feet and showed the City of London and the South Bank as viewed from the Old Adelphi buildings in the Strand.The Leigh panoramas are now rare and this book reproduces a selection of the finest and most interesting portions from both panoramas and makes them available to a wider audience for the first time. The book starts on the north bank at Twickenham, going down the river to Westminster, passing what were then just villages - Chiswick, Fulham and Chelsea, among others. Images from the six-foot Adelphi panorama continue the story round to the South Bank. Then the journey resumes back up the river along the Surrey bank past Wandsworth, Putney, Kew and elsewhere to Richmond. Each village section has an introductory history. All the waterside communities and most wharves, churches and stately homes are identified, and a gazetteer, divided by village, gives information on the most important landmarks. A special feature of the book is a fold-out reproduction of the entire View from the Adelphi panorama. With fascinating views of Georgian London, this is a history of how one of the world's great cities has been shaped by the river that runs through it.