A fascinating record of Poole, Dorset, a historic maritime port situated in one of the largest natural harbours in Europe. The site of the Roman invasion by Vespasian in 43 AD, it has long been recognised as an important region. Despite its natural advantages the town was not in the Domesday Book, indeed it received its Charter in 1239. One of the more notable plates illustrates the first Poole Bridge across the busy waterway. Built in 1834 at a cost of £9,612, the wooden toll bridge proved to have too steep a gradient for horses and was replaced in 1885 by a swing bridge. There is a fine large vignette of ‘Parkstone & Poole Harbour from Constitution Hill’, along with four views of Branksea Island which is situated in the harbour.

“The early Vicorian age also saw a rapid growth in the popularity of the small steel-engraved vignette. These were sometimes used in guidebooks; they also appeared without text in booklet collections or singly as embellishments to notepaper’ (Russell). One of the earliest firms to meet this demand were J. & F. Harwood. Newman & Co., publishers of this work were another, but none achieved the scale of Rock & Co. in production.

John Newman (1813?-96) was born in Cripplegate, London. He is recorded as an engraver in the 1841 census. A couple of early partnerships culminated in the firm Newman & Co. who were recorded as a publisher and wholesale stationer in 1861. In the 1881 Census he was employing 16 men and five boys. These largely works were largely produced for tourists and as such their survival rate in good condition is severely limited. This is in excellent condition. Adams (1983) refer nos. 204, 205; Russell (1979) pp. 138-40; Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).