Society for Photographing Relics of Old London

One of the society's photos of the Oxford Arms, which started the project

The Society for Photographing Relics of Old London was founded in 1875 in London, England, initially with the purpose of recording the Oxford Arms, a traditional galleried public house on Warwick Lane that was to be demolished as part of the redevelopment of the Old Bailey.[1][2][3][4]

Alfred & John Bool took the photographs, and when the project was announced in a letter to The Times, the news received such a positive response that the society's work was continued, with a total of twelve issues being produced over twelve years, containing a total of 120 photographs.[5]

The photographs were commissioned to preserve an architectural record of buildings, some of which were built before the Great Fire of London in 1666, and which were scheduled for demolition as part of the city's urban redevelopment measures at the end of the 19th century. It was important to choose a photographic technique that would last for generations.

In 1870, the pigment printing process was invented. Society member Henry Dixon mastered the process, and the photographic images are still of excellent technical quality today. The group continued to document the old buildings of London threatened with demolition until its dissolution in 1886.

  1. ^ "Photographs of old London". British Library. UK. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Society for Photographing Relics of Old London". Bishopsgate Institute. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  3. ^ Kim, Betsy (6 June 2016). "Photographs reveal 'Relics of Old London'". Yale News. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  4. ^ Bush, Graham William Arthur; Dixon, Henry; Bool, Alfred; Bool, John; Society for Photographing Relics of Old London (1975). Old London: photographed by Henry Dixon and Alfred & John Bool for the Society for Photographing Relics of Old London. London; New York: Academy Editions ; St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0856701505. OCLC 2090719.
  5. ^ "Society for Photographing Relics of Old London". www.royalacademy.org.uk.