Londinopolis; An Historicall Discourse or Perlustration Of the City of London, The Imperial Chamber, and chief Emporium of Great Britain: Whereunto Is added another of the City of Westminster, With The Courts of Justice, Antiquities, and new Buildings thereunto belonging. By Jam[es] Howel. London: Printed by J. Streater for Henry Twiford, 1657.
FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE EARLIEST PRINTED HISTORIES OF THE CITY OF LONDON, PRINTED IN A TUMULTOUS TIME IN BRITISH HISTORY AROUND THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION OF THE MONARCHY, THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON, AND THE GREAT PLAGUE.
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The 1657 first edition of Jam Howell's Londinopolis was compiled by James Howell, a remarkable Welsh figure celebrated for his diverse talents as an author, royalist, politician, and voyager. This edition emerged after Howell's release from an extensive imprisonment during the Interregnum era. Inside its pages, readers of the time encountered a rich tapestry of London's essence: from detailed accounts of St. Paul's Cathedral and ancient churches, to the intricacies of city governance, encompassing wards, precincts, walls, streets, gates, prisons, Inns of Court, the twelve esteemed livery companies, company halls, and iconic landmarks such as the Tower of London, the Royal Exchange, the Guildhall, Shakespeare's Globe, and more. The thorough exploration extended to the Thames, London Bridge, the mayoralty, Westminster city, the Abbey, the Strand, Covent Garden, Lincoln's Inn, Westminster Hall, Parliament, the Admiralty, and other significant places.
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Provenance:
Gift inscription to the head of the title page from Joseph ? in Wells, Norfolk to Bate __ in Cornhill, London. Dated 1786.
Samuel Martin (1817-1878), a congregationalist minister who lived in London and was the father of Alfred Trice Martin (below). Found inside the book was a loose piece of paper with some quotes of Bible verses. It is undated but the paper has a watermark dated to 1861 and we can assume this was done while the book was in the possession of Samuel Martin, and so he likely obtained this book during or prior to 1861.
Bookplate of Alfred Trice Martin covering an earlier ink inscription from the same dated 1878 when we can assume he inherited this book as this is the date of the death of his father, Samuel. He attended Oxford University and the ink inscription dates from the time of his attendance there, and he was the headmaster of Bath College and a writer on the history of the city of Bath.
Without internal reference, but certainly held at the beautiful 12th century former Cistercian monastery, Flaxley Abbey in Gloucestershire after Alfred Trice Martin's ownership of the book - perhaps he donated it there? Thus probably by descent of possession in the library of the Abbey - i.e. the Crawley-Boevey family, and then the Watkins family after 1960 until the sale of the contents at Dreweatts a few years ago. We know this from where we acquired this book which was from an individual who acquired much of the library from Flaxley Abbey from the aforementioned auction sale.
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A better condition example of this book recently sold at Forum Auctions 15th July 2021 lot 275 for £1,100 (GBP) / approx. $1,400 (USD)
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Size: 187 x 279 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[[10], pp.1-124, 301-407, [9]]
Textually collated as complete despite the seemingly random large jump in pagination from 124 to 301, this is as published and collates textually complete according to ESTC and the other usual sources listed below. Lacks the engraved frontispiece and foldout as common. Both boards are detached and the binding is a bit rough lacking much of the backstrip. The text block itself is toned throughout with some mild dampstaining as typical but generally presentable and internally fully legible. Very typical internal condition of similar 17th century books. If this book were rebound it has the potential to be very good.
[Wing H3091; ESTC R13420; Folger ID 134581; Pforzheimer 515; R. Hollar 1012].
