Spooner's Protean Views: The Thames Tunnel changing Queen Victoria’s 1837 Coronation Procession from Buckingham Palace
Published by William Spooner, 377 Strand, London. n.d. [c1839]
Lithograph changing picture Transparency - Image13.2x18cm on sheet 23x29cm
Hand-colored aquatint
# 28 of Spooner's Protean Views. It includes a holograph - like picture which changes from the Thames Tunnel to the Coronation Procession as it is held to a light at different angles
Condition: Fine - At the top of the card, in Victorian handwriting, are the words "needs to be held in front of a strong light"
Collector's Corner:
About: Spooner, William Publisher.
William Matthias Spooner (1796-1882) actively participated in the print market from 1831 to 1850, and subsequently shifted his focus to the book trade. He started -36 at 259 Regent Street, then 1837-46 at 377 Strand then 1847-54 at 379 Strand London.
Other than Dean & Son, Spooner was the most prolific publisher of mechanical prints in the nineteenth century The majority of his printed works were created between 1833 and 1846, during which he produced a substantial amount of popular lithographs, movable prints, transformations, board games, and educational books for children. After 1846, Spooner's print production gradually declined, and it appears to have completely ceased by the late 1850s.There is evidence suggesting that he had an arrangement with printer William Kohler (active in the 1830s). Many inscriptions on Spooner's lithographs indicate that they were printed by Kohler, either through their partnership as Lefevre & Kohler (active from 1830 to 1838) or later under Kohler's individual name.
Spooner was best known for his "protean views," showcasing remarkable transformation scenes that undergo a complete change in character when illuminated. Examples include the burning down of the Royal Exchange, the emergence of the new Houses of Parliament from the remains of the old, the disappearance of a Swiss village under an avalanche, Napoleon at the Battle of Wagram’, changing into ‘The Conflagration of Moscow’, among others.
Spooner’s Protean Views include:
No. 1 View on the Red Sea changing to The Finding of Moses in the Bul-rushes
No. 2, 'A Snow Scene," changing to the "Thames Tunnel "
NO. 4. The City of Jerusalem. Changing to the Entry of Our Saviour.
no. 5. The magic lantern
NO. 7, "Windermere," changing t a "Viaduct of Greenwich Railroad"
No. ? An Italian Scene," changing to "A Funeral' Procession
No. 8 Saint George Chapel changing to "Interment of William the 4th"
No. 10 "At sunset on St. Helena, Napoleon dreams."
No. 11 'The Entrance to Green Park'
NO. 12, The Union of the Flowers or the Royal Marriage
No. 13. The Magic Mirror.
No. 14, Alloway Kirk and Burns's Monument," changing to "Tam o' Shanter and the Witches." 1838
NO. 15, "Temple Bar," changing to Guildhall and the Queen's Visit to the City."
. No. 16. The London Mail obstructed by a Snowdrift. Changing to a scene in Autumn with a Fox Chace in the Distance
No.17 'Rein Deer Travelling in Lapland'
No. 18 The Hospice of St. Bernard with the Halt of Napoleon and his Army on Crossing the Alps
No. 19 St. Mark's Venice changing to the Carnival
No. 20. The Royal Exchange, London changing to it being destroyed by fire
No. 21. Napoleon at the Battle of Wagram, Changing to The Conflagration of Moscow.
No. 22. Chartres Cathedral, With the Procession of the Host
No. 23 The Interior of a Catherdral, with the Celebration of Midnight Mass.
No. 24. Guildhall London
No. 25. The new houses of Parliament
, NO. 26. St. Paul's Cathedral.
NO. 27. Westminster Abbey fitted up for the Coronation of Queen Victoria, Changing to the Ceremony of Homage.
No. 28, The Thames tunnel changing to the coronation procession from Buckingham Palace
NO. 29. Poet's. Corner, Westminster Abbey
No.30. Greenwich Hospital. Changing to The. Battle of Trafalgar
no.31 : The tomb of Napoleon in St. Helena
No.32, The pass of the Tete Noire : changing to brigands preparing to attack a party of travellers
NO. 33. Kenilworth Castle Restored. Changing to Queen Elisabeth’s Visit to the Earl of Leicester.
No. 37 Eglinton Castle changing to the tournament of the 19th century. (which took place in 1839)
No. 38 Roslin Chapel changing to iron works
No. 39 St. Jean d'Acri changing to the bombardment by the British & allied fleet, Nov.r 3.d 1840
No. 41 A Swiss Village Before And After An Avalanche.
Later on Spooner produced other more elaborate changing views such as Spooner's Panoramic View of the Queen's Marriage and Spooner's Panoramic View of the Procession of Queen Victoria
Other references:
“Dictionary of Panoramists of the English-SpeakingWorld “
by Ralph Hyde page 279
Wood, Sileas. “Moving Pictures: Nineteenth-Century British Mechanical Prints.” Print Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 2, 2017, pp. 162–76. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/45137227. Accessed 2 June 2