THE MONUMENT TO THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON
[TAYLOR, John.]
The Column called the Monument, described, erected to perpetuate the dreadful Fire of London in the Year 1666; of the Rebuilding the City under the Inspection of that great Architect Sir Christopher Wren, Knt [etc.] … London, printed by J.
Bryan … for Samuel Arnott, Keeper of the Monument. [1805?]
12mo, pp. 22, [2 (blank)], with a woodcut frontispiece (A1); a fine copy, uncut, in the original blue paper wrappers.
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The Column called the Monument, described, erected to perpetuate the dreadful Fire of London in the Year 1666; of the Rebuilding the City under the Inspection of that great Architect Sir Christopher Wren, Knt [etc.] … London, printed by J.
Third edition (first 1787) of this guidebook to London’s Monument, with an account of the Great Fire of 1666 which it commemorates, authored by the Monument’s first keeper.
The Monument is the tallest isolated stone column in the world, at 202 feet high – the exact distance from its base to the site of the bakery where the Great Fire began. A century or so after its construction in 1671-7, ‘The Corporation of the City of London, has lately at a great Expence, caused this famous Pillar to be thoroughly repaired and beautified, so as to be perfectly secured from accidents, the Iron Railing on the top New, the Steps and Railing up the Same repaired, the large Flame on the top of Copper, new and gilt, and indeed the whole inside and without is in the best condition’; tourists seeking access to some of the best views of London could buy this guide from the Monument’s first keeper, John Taylor, appointed at the age of seventy-seven.
The very rare first edition (two in ESTC, dated ‘1785?’, but the dedication is dated 1787), was followed by one in 1792 for the next keeper, William Hunt (two in ESTC), and then by the present edition for Samuel Arnott, and several more later in the century. The text remained unchanged.
ESTC N14849.
