Benjamin Cole for Stow's Survey.

St. James's Palace and Parts Adjacent.

18.5 x 13.5 inches

A copper plate engraving by Benjamin Cole issued in Stow's Survey of London in 1754.

This image of St. James's has the advantage of being both intimate in the detail it shows of the palace and gardens but also far reaching in the perspective it offers of the city beyond. The Mall, as we know it today, is shown as a tree lined avenue largely given over to the fashionable promenade. St. James's Church and the adjacent square can be seen to the rear left and the magnificent dome of St. Paul's Cathedral dominates the skyline in the far distance. This was a city proud of its achievements and in a state of rapid expansion; pitching to become one of the most commercially important and architecturally impressive places in Europe.

Stow's magnificent and comprehensive Survey of London first appeared in 1720 but such was its popularity and importance that it was reissued many times, including a fully updated version that appeared in 1754. The publishers announced with great pride that "It has now been brought down to the present time by Careful Hands". Many engravers and artists were employed both in the initial composition and in the later modifications. Many illustrations were copied from the work of Johannes Kip in The New Theatre of Great Britain and published on a reduced scale.