Panoramas, 1787–1900:

Texts and Contexts

In 1787, the entrepreneur Robert Barker patented a new form of entertainment that would intrigue the public for the century to come. The panorama was a massive circular painting whose effect on the viewer was deliberately enhanced through an original apparatus for viewing it. The early exhibitions of these paintings were so successful that Barker erected a purpose-built rotunda in Leicester Square. Others soon joined or competed with Barker, with other venues cropping up across London in the Strand, Spring Gardens and Regent’s Park. Panoramas then spread to America and the rest of Europe, initiating a fascinating exchange across seas and cultures, only receding in popularity with the advent of film.

The panorama is primarily a visual medium, but a variety of forms of print culture mediated its viewing; these included adverts in newspapers, reviews, handbills, “short accounts” of views on display and most importantly, a descriptive programme accompanied by an annotated key to the canvas. This is the first ever collection of texts related to the panorama, and the majority of materials presented here have not been reprinted since their original publication.

• Provides access to a wide range of rare primary source material
• All original material is reproduced in facsimile and includes pictorial keys from the panorama programmes where possible
• Editorial apparatus includes a general introduction, volume introductions, headnotes and endnotes
• Includes an appendix of mini-biographies of key figures discussed and a list of the extant programmes, as well as a bibliography and an index

Contents

Panoramas in Britain

Stable Panoramas
Panoramas at Leicester Square and the Strand – Short Accounts: Anon., The Present Subject is a View of the Grand Fleet Moored at Spithead [n.d.]; Anon., ‘Specification of a Patent Granted to Mr Robert Barker’, Repertory of Arts and Manufacturers (1794); Anon., A short Account of Lord Nelson’s Defeat of the French at the Nile (1799); Anon., A View of Constantinople and the Surrounding Country (1801); Anon., A View of Naples Including Vesuvius (1806); Henry Aston Barker, The View of Flushing during the Siege (1811). Narrative Programmes: Anon., An Explanation of the View of Rome taken from the Tower of the Capitol ([1802]); Henry Aston Barker, A Short Account of the View of Lisbon (1812); Henry Aston Barker, A Short Description of the Island of Elba and Town of Porto-Ferrajo (1815); Anon., A Description of the Defeat of the French Army, under the Command of Napoleon Bonaparte, by the Allied Armies, Commanded by Field Marshall his Grace the Duke of Wellington (1816); James Jennings and Henry Aston Barker, Description of Lord Exmouth’s Attack upon Algiers (1818); Henry Aston Barker, Description of the Panorama of Venice, Taken, and Painted by Messrs Barker and Burford, from the Piazza di S. Marco (1819); Henry Aston Barker, Description of a View of the North Coast of Spitzbergen (1819); John Burford and Thomas Leverton Donaldson, Description of a View of the Ruins of the City of Pompeii, and Surrounding Country ... Painted from Drawings Taken on the Spot by Mr Burford (1824); Description of a Second View of Pompeii (1824); Robert Burford, Description of a View of the City of Edinburgh, and Surrounding Country (1826); Robert Burford and William Bullock, Description of a View of the City of Mexico, and Surrounding Country (1826); Robert Burford, Description of a View of the City of St. Sebastian, and the Bay of Rio Janeiro (1828); Robert Burford, Description of a View of the Town of Sydney, New South Wales, the Harbour of Port Jackson, and Surrounding Country (1829); Robert Burford, Description of a View of the City of Calcutta (1830); Robert Burford, Description of a View of the City of Florence (1831); Robert Burford, Description of a View of the Falls of Niagara (1833); Robert Burford, Description of a View of the Cemetery of Père la Chaise (1834); Robert Burford, Description of a View of the City of New York (1834); Robert Burford, Description of a View of the Great Temple of Karnak and the Surrounding City of Thebes (1835); Robert Burford, Description of a View of Mont Blanc, the Valley of Chamonix, and the Surrounding Mountains (1837); Robert Burford, Description of a View of Canton (1838); Robert Burford, Description of a View of Rome ... taken from the Tower of the Capitol (1839); Robert Burford, Description of a View of ... Benares, and the Sacred Ganges (1840); Robert Burford, Description of a View of the City of Jerusalem (1841); Robert Burford and Henry Aston Barker, Description of a View of the Battle of Waterloo (1842); Robert Burford, Description of a View of the City of Cabul, the Capital of Affghanistan, with the Surrounding Country (1842); Robert Burford, Henry Courtenay Selous and Frederick John White, Description of a View of the Island and Bay of Hong Kong (1844); Robert Burford, Description of the Ruins of the Temples of Baalbec (1844); Robert Burford and Henry Courtenay Selous, Description of a View of Athens (1845); Anon., Description of a View of Constantinople, with its European and Asiatic Suburbs (1846); Robert Burford, Description of a View of the Battle of Sobraon with the Defeat of the Sikh Army of the Punjab (1846); Robert Burford and Henry Courtenay Selous, Description of a View of the Himalaya Mountains (1847); Robert Burford and Henry Courtenay Selous, Description of a View of ... Cairo (1847); Robert Burford and Henry Courtenay Selous, Description of a View of ... Paris (1848); Robert Burford, Summer and Winter Views of the Polar Regions, as seen during the Expedition of Capt James Clark Ross, Kt., FRS in 1848–9 (1850); Robert Burford, Description of a View of Berlin (1854); Robert Burford and Henry Courtenay Selous, Description of a View of ... Sebastopol (1855); George Corner, The Panorama (Leicester Square): With Memoirs of its Inventor, Robert Barker, and his Son, Henry Aston Barker (1857)

Stable Panoramas in Competing Venues – Lyceum: Robert Ker Porter, An Historical Sketch of the Battle of Alexandria ... Illustrative of the Great Picture now Exhibiting at the Lyceum, Strand (1802). Colosseum: Thomas Horner, Prospectus. View of London and the Surrounding Country, taken with Mathematical Accuracy from an Observatory Purposely Erected over the Cross of St Paul’s Cathedral (1823); John Britton, A Brief Account of the Colosseum, in the Regent’s Park, London: Comprising a Description of the Building, the Panoramic View from the Top of St Paul’s Cathedral (1829); Anon., A Picturesque Guide to the Regent’s Park. With ... Descriptions of the Colosseum, the Diorama, and the Zoological Gardens (1829). Egyptian Hall: William Bullock, Catalogue of the Exhibition Called Modern Mexico, Containing a Panoramic View of the City (1824); William Bullock, An Account of the Family of Laplanders ... with their ... residences ... Herd of Living Reindeer; and a Panoramic View of the North Cape (1825). The Crystal Palace: William Grist, Panorama of the Siege of Paris (1881)

Moving Panoramas
Moving Panoramas by Messrs Marshall: Anon., Description of Messrs Marshall’s Peristrephic Panorama of the Polar Regions, etc (1820); Anon., Description of Messrs Marchall’s Grand Marine Peristrephic Panorama of the Shipwreck of the Medusa (1821); Anon., Description of the Peristrephic Panorama ... Illustrative of the Principle Events that have Occurred to Bonaparte ([1822]); Anon., Description of Messrs Marshall’s Grand Historical Peristrephic Panorama of Nine Views of the Coronation of Her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria (1838). Charles Brees’ Panorama of New Zealand: Samuel Charles Brees, Guide and Description of the Panorama of New Zealand ([1849]). Moving Panoramas at the Egyptian Hall: Joseph Bonomi, Grand Moving Panoramic Picture of the Nile ([1849]); Albert Smith, A Handbook of Mr Smith’s Ascent of Mont Blanc ([1856]); Anon., The Mont Blanc Gazette and Illustrated Egyptian Hall Advertiser (1858); Anon., Programmes of Entertainments including ‘Mont Blanc’ (1858–60)

American Panoramas

Descriptive Pamphlets: John Vanderlyn, Description of the Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles (1819); John Banvard, Description of Banvard’s Panorama of the Mississippi, Painted on Three Miles of Canvas (1847); Anon., Description of Lane’s Panorama of the Hudson or North River (1848); Charles Gayler, A Description of Lewis’ Mammouth Panorama of the Mississippi River (1849); William Wells Brown, A Description of William Wells Brown’s Original Panoramic Views of Scenes in the Life of an American Slave (1850); William Burr, Descriptive and Historical View of Burr’s Moving Mirror (1850); John Skirving, Description of Colonel Fremont’s Overland Route to Oregon and California (1850); Anon., Dr Kane’s Arctic Voyage: Explanatory of a Pictorial Illustration of the Second Grinnell Expedition (1857); Otis A Bullard, Description of Bullard’s Panorama of New York City (1850s); Anon., Descriptive Catalogue of the Battles of Vicksburg (1886). Contextual Materials: Anon., On the Foreground: Being a Description with Illustrations of the New and Marvelous Features Recently Added to the Merrimac and Monitor Naval Battle (1887); Anon., Historiscope Lecture: Lecture included in a Milton Bradley Children’s Game called The Historiscope [n.d.]; John Stevens, Panorama of the Black Hills and of the Indian Massacre of 1862 [lecture] (1870s); Albert Norton, A Brief Sketch of the life of O A Bullard (1851)

Related titles

• Popular Exhibitions, Science and Showmanship, 1840–1910
• The Great Exhibition : A Documentary History

Leaflets

• Leaflet

Return to top