Chapter 06: Illustrations

The library has some 57,000 prints, drawings and photographs illustrating Westminster, Marylebone and Paddington, and dating from the 17th century. The collection is indexed topographically and to a lesser extent by subject. A separate index to illustrations in secondary sources and the early cuttings collections is also available (see also Chapter 3: Cuttings collections) as is a separate index of slides.

6.1 Prints

The prints collection is divided into sections:

• by parish with sub-divisions for churches, buildings, streets, etc
• the Gardner Collection, with the prints arranged by box number and item number
• the Ashbridge collection, which has its own classification scheme

You can view selected images from the Archives Centre's prints collection by visiting the Motco website.

6.2 Photographs

Most photographs are stored separately from the prints, using the same parish classification scheme as the main series of prints. Among the photographs there are approximately 400 aerial photographs, many of recent date, many dating back to the 1920s. A photographic survey of the whole city was begun in 1972 by David Trace; this comprises over 20,000 views.

6.3 Crace Collection

A copy of the Crace Collection of London Views in the British Museum is available. This special microfilm collection is a comprehensive graphical representation of London from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Eight reels of 35mm microfilm comprise almost 8,000 reproductions.

6.4 Reproduction

It is possible to arrange for copies of the prints and photographs in the collection to be made by our external photographer. Prices are available on application.

Alternatively, cheaper digitally scanned copies of A3 originals (or less) are available to order from our in-house digital image scanning & printing service.