Original antique engraving by Robert Wilkinson. Published in Londina Illustrata in 1819-1825.
The image shows the interior of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in 1794. This was the second theatre on the site. It was completely destroyed by fire in the early hours of September 20, 1808. The fire broke out shortly after a performance of Pizarro and spread with such speed that the building was in ruins by 5 a.m. Between 20 and 30 people died, many of whom were firemen crushed by the falling roof.
The fire destroyed the building's entire material library, including Handel’s original organ and many of his unpublished manuscripts. A new theatre, designed by Robert Smirke, was constructed in just nine months and opened on September 18, 1809.
The site is now occupied by the Royal Opera House.
Robert Wilkinson 1758 - 1825) was a London based map and atlas publisher active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Most of Wilkinson's maps were derived from the earlier work of John Bowles, one of the preeminent English map publishers of the 18th century.
Wilkinson's acquired the Bowles map plate library following that cartographer's death in 1779. Wilkinson updated and retooled the Bowles plates over several years until, in 1794, he issued his first fully original atlas, The General Atlas of the World.
This popular atlas was profitably reissued in numerous editions until about 1825 when Wilkinson died. In the course of his nearly 45 years in the map and print trade, Wilkinson issued also published numerous independently issued large format wall, case, and folding maps. Wilkinson's core cartographic corpus includes Bowen and Kitchin's Large English Atlas (1785), Speer's West Indies (1796), Atlas Classica (1797), and the General Atlas of the World (1794, 1802, and 1809), as well as independent issue maps of New Holland (1820), and North America ( 1823)
Wilkinson's offices were based at no. 58 Cornhill, London form 1792 to 1816, following which he relocated to 125 Frenchurch Street, also in London, where he remained until 1823. Following his 1825 death, Wilkinson's business and map plates were acquired by William Darton, an innovative map publisher who reissued the General Atlas with his own imprint well into the 19th century.
He also published the “Londina Illustrata”, published around 1819-1825, is a significant two-volume collection of engravings depicting London's historic and modern landmarks, theaters, monasteries, and public spaces, offering rare graphic records of 19th-century London and earlier sites, often bound in calf with marbled boards. It's a scarce and sought-after work for collectors, featuring detailed copperplate engravings, including interior theatre scenes and historic views, making it a key resource for London history.
It is an important work as it provides invaluable visual records in the form of engravings of buildings and places no longer existing or significantly changed and some of the theatre engravings even show detailed views of shows and stage activity, offering an insight as to how theatres were used and the stage sets that were created in the staging of performances. In some instances it even shows the audiences, and how they were placed in the theatre, and some indication as to their behaviour and their reactions to what is happening on the stage.
