The 1683-4 frost fair

by mercuriuspoliticus

I was supposed to be searching for early modern satirical prints on the British Museum “flat art” database, but looking at the freezing Cornish landscape outside my window I got distracted and ended up searching for winter scenes. I found some wonderful images of the frost fair that took place from December 1683 to February 1684 when the Thames froze solid near London Bridge.

For more on images of the fair see Joseph Monteyne, The Printed Image in Early Modern London (Ashgate, 2007).

wonders-on-the-deep

Wonders on the Deep; Or, The most Exact Description of the Frozen River of Thames (1683-4), AN288334001, © The Trustees of the British Museum.

gods-works

God’s Works is the Worlds Wonder (1684), AN250639001, © The Trustees of the British Museum.

great-britains-wonder

Great Britains Wonder: or, Londons Admiration (1684), AN501914001, © The Trustees of the British Museum.

an-exact-and-lively-mapp

An Exact and Lively Mapp or Representation of Booths and all the varieties of showes and humours upon the Ice on the River of Thames by London … Anno Dm. MDCLXXXIII (1684), AN163816001, © The Trustees of the British Museum.