Benjamin Read's Splendid Views

Reproductions of six aquatints produced by tailor Benjamin Read:

• 1. View near the Colosseum in the Regent's Park, 1829/30
• 2. Views near the Pavilion, Brighton, summer 1831
• 3. View of Carlton Terrace near the York Pillar, London, winter 1837-38
• 4. Views in Windsor Park, summer 1838
• 5. View in the Regent's Park, winter 1838-39
• 6. The Queen returning from the House of Lords, summer 1839

Tailor Benjamin Read had premises on Hart Street, Bloomsbury, London. He was an early adopter of the image as advertisement, issuing two large colour plates each year demonstrating winter and summer fashions. The plates show men, women and children in the latest attire set against a fashionable backdrop such as Brighton or Regent's Park. Read produced the prints from the mid-1820s to the 1840s.

The reproductions featured here were published in 1984 by the Guildhall Library and the Costume Society, with an introduction and explanation of the fashions featured in each plate. The prints were likely collected as a resource for the fashion and textiles courses taught at Leicester Polytechnic, a predecessor of De Montfort University.

Open and available for general access.

Transferred to Special Collections from main Library stock.

The reproductions are large in size and need to be handled with care.

Copies or photographs may be made for research purposes only, according to copyright regulations and depending on the condition of the material.

The prints are part of a number of resources relating to the history of fashion held in DMU Special Collections, including journals, books, drawings, textile samples and fashion plates.

These are reproductions of original plates held in various locations, including Guildhall Library, Westminster Public Libraries and Brighton Art Gallery.