Vue d'optique - L'Abbaye de Westminster et de l'Eglise Sainte Marguerite à Londres

Original engraving. Optical view heightened in watercolors, representing a view of Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret's Church in London. Optical views, also called views, perspectives or "mondo nuovo", are engravings that were very fashionable between the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They were intended to be observed through a set of several mirrors or by means of a Zograscope, an instrument consisting of a mirror and a lens. Optical views can be considered as the forerunners of three-dimensional images and stereoscopes which enjoyed great success from the 19th century onwards. Optical views seem to appear in the 1740s and were parlor entertainments. The process developed first in Paris, then London and finally in Germany and focused on representing - in an idealized manner - the most famous panoramas and landscapes of East and West.
Some minor foxing, otherwise a fine impression with very fresh colors.