'In this admirably fresh and important work, Monteyne firmly locates the print output of later seventeenth-century London within the confines of its immediate Metropolitan birthplace. From the ashes of traditional art-historians' neglect, a picture of the City itself rises. Here, for the first time, the sensational depictions of the anti-Catholic processions of the early 1680s, the extraordinary Frost Fair held on the Thames during the winter of 1683/4, the important new institution of the Coffee House, the Great Fire and the periodic plagues are discussed in proper detail. This is a book no historian of seventeenth-century English culture can afford to ignore.' Malcolm Jones, University of Sheffield, UK
Monteyne has read widely in social, religious and political history; in art history, literary theory and urban sociology; and employs a wide range of visual and textual sources to good effect. The result is a fantastic book that guides the reader from one interesting idea to the next through a series of insightful connections, much like a tourist navigating the metropolis by its landmarks. I hope this book will become a classic text for all scholars of early modern London. Journal of the Printing Historical Society