PRICE, John and 5 others.

A unique collection of eight pamphlets dated 1728-43 – I, III-VI and VIII in their first edition, I unrecorded – all devoted to plans and designs for the building of a stone bridge between Westminster and Lambeth. With 7 engraved folding plates illustrating various proposed designs. Westminster Bridge was built between 1739-50 by the Swiss Charles Labelye, after its plan had been opposed by the London guilds and waterman since the 1660s. Meanwhile, a wooden bridge had been built near Putney in 1729, to ease the traffic. Most of these pamphlets were written by major architects, such as Batty Langley and John James, later involved in the construction of the bridge. No similar collections appear to be recorded in any library worldwide, with some of these pamphlets absent from major bibliographies. It would be impossible now to replicate this collection. Together they illustrate the history of the long-standing debates on the construction and designs of this bridge.

Apparently unrecorded elsewhere, John Price’s ‘A Short History of Bridges’ (1728) discusses some of the most important bridges, ancient and modern, as an explanation to some drawings by Price, including one of London Bridge and the bridge at Rochester, which this pamphlet was supposed to accompany. Price also mentions his design for the bridge at Fulham, on which he was working at the time. Although the pamphlet bears ‘End of Part I’ as a last line, no other parts appear to have been published. In ‘Some Considerations’ (1736), here in its second, much enlarged edition, Price illustrated his proposed design for a nine-arch Westminster Bridge, with detail on its dimensions and construction, and an engraved folding plate.

Batty Langley’s ‘Design for the New Bridge’ (1736) was a thorough proposal for a plan of Westminster Bridge, using ‘chain arches’ instead of semi-circular ones, as others had suggested, to maximise the weight the bridge could carry. In particular, the pamphlet addresses how the river tides would affect the building, with detailed calculations; methods for laying the foundations of the piers; the total amount of stone required and its cost; and the use of horizontal cylinders ‘for adjusting an equal pressure on the sides of each arch’. The total cost for the bridge was estimated at £24,174.

John James’ ‘Short Review’ (1736) engaged with the designs and calculations of Langley and Hawksmoor, and the enthusiastic and knowledgeable contemporary annotator often agreed with him (e.g., ‘a notable remark!’). In particular, James criticised the design of the arches in relation to the calculated width of the river amd the ebbs and flows of the tides. Langley answered with his ‘Reply to Mr John James’ (1737), where he accused James of being ‘absolutely a stranger to geometry’, and of not understanding the construction of the arches (here illustrated), nor the calculations of the tides, which Langley explained here at length.

 ‘A Short Narrative’ (1738), written by an anonymous but expert author, summarised the deliberations of the Commissioners, in the summer of 1737, who had been appointed to oversee the planning and construction of Westminster Bridge. Written in the form of a letter to an MP, it concerned the suggestion (widely ridiculed) of Thomas Ripley, the official of the Board of Works in charge of reporting to Parliament, as he thought a wooden bridge would be sufficient. The pamphlet includes the MP’s reply, probably composed by the same anonymous author.

‘The Present State’ (1743) is attributed to the Swiss Charles Labelye, eventually appointed to build Westminster Bridge. It includes a description of the bridge, as agreed with Parliament, and an account of the works that had been hitherto carried out, since construction began in 1739. The last pamphlet – ‘A Short Account’ (1739) – was also written by Labelye, and focused on the methods used to lay the foundations of Westminster Bridge in the same year, with plans, sections and elevations illustrated in 4 large engraved plates. This copy appears to be the only one, after that of the Royal Society, to include the four plates (see BAL).  

A unique sammelband of scarce pamphlets detailing the story of a major public work in C18 London.