Sectional View of the Observatory erected over the Cross of St Paul's Cathedral, by Mr Thos. Hornor.

Sectional View of the Observatory erected over the Cross of St Paul's Cathedral, by Mr Thos. Hornor. The engraving has informative captions. "In 1821, in order to make a panoramic painting of London, the Hull-born artist Thomas Hornor climbed to the top of the cross on the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, and built a crow's nest. From here, where Hornor bivouacked for the time it took, he made a 360-degree picture of London. He used a telescope to examine details, and calculated the perspective to position the viewer convincingly in the scene." - from The Desert of the Real by Marina Warner, The Guardian 25/9/2004. Hornor (1785-1844) produced a panorama which when displayed in the Colosseum in Regent’s Park when it opened in 1829 attracted a million visitors. It was reproduced in book form and entitled "View of London and the surrounding country: taken with mathematical accuracy from an observatory purposely erected over the cross of St. Paul's".