A collection of twenty engraved and letterpress British inn bills completed in manuscript in various hands from regions throughout England and Wales, dating between circa 1780 and 1841. Many are printed with menus listing food and drinks as well as services, providing insight into what travellers at the end of the Georgian era were offered in any given region in this period; they are also early examples of the growing tourism trade. Beside tea, coffee, milk, soda water, lemonade, cider (cyder), and a wide range of spirits, other options for speciality drinks include: negus, punch, Geneva, perry, and malt liquors. Many of the various services relate to the care and maintenance of horses and carriages; besides blacksmithing, farrier and saddling services, many of the inns offered hay and corn, rush lights, etc. Also on offer were "servant's eating and ale", beds with extra charges for "fires in a bed chamber", and washing; other services listed included "Chaise hire", servants, providers were sometimes available. Other common services and goods included writing materials, postage, tobacco, and, of course, meals with various foods like fruit listed separately. The printed invoices and menus include some with engraved designs or woodcuts that incorporate a representation of a local attraction or motifs indicative of the trade. Several of the bills also include the imprint of the provincial printer. The majority have manuscript annotations and Two invoices from Welsh business are produced by "Watton, Printer, Shrewsbury Chronicle" for Bedd Gelert Hotel, Carnarvonshire A. Prichard and Harod Arms Hotel, Devil's Bridge, a village and community in Ceredigion, Wales, both of which are illustrated on the fronts and backs, with the same image on the back: The Iron Suspension Bridge, completed and opened on Monday, Januaray 30th, 1826, over the Menai Strait from Carnarvonshire into Anglesey. The fronts include the advertisements for the individual business but also include other natural wonders of the area: Cataracts and Aber Glaslyb Bridge, the Salmon Leap and the Pass in Snowden
Description:
Title from dealer's catalog., In English., and For further information, consult library staff.
On an engraved billhead illustrated with a medallion of St. Luke mixing paint on a palette, Joseph Bell's itemized invoice to Charles Wren dated 20 July 1782. Motto at the head of the sheet: "Pictures carefully cleaned, lined & repaired, & funeral achievements accurately painted, and picture frames neatly executed in oil, or burnished in gold."
Description:
In English. and For further information, consult library staff.
Engraved billhead completed in a single hand for the sale of "1 fine" cheese and signed by the clerk. The billhead is decorated at the top with an engraving of a black boy
Billhead from M. & J. Callendar nursery and seedsmen with itemized merchandise sold to Thomas Adams of Alnwick for his estate at Eshott in Northumberland. The vignette and engraved capitals are from the workshop of Thomas Bewick. Docketed and dated 1779 -1780 by Adams on verso. Signed and dated by Callendar Sept. 2 1780
Description:
In English. and For further information, consult library staff.
Billhead from M. & J. Callendar nursery and seedsmen with itemized merchandise sold to Thomas Adams of Alnwick for his estate at Eshott in Northumberland. The vignette and engraved capitals are from the workshop of Thomas Bewick. Docketed and dated 1779 -1780 by Adams on verso. Signed and dated by Callendar Sept. 2 1780
Description:
In English. and For further information, consult library staff.
"Bill-head for the benefit of Mr Giardini; on the left, Melpomene seated on a parapet, holding a dagger in her right hand; two putti at her feet: one lying dead, the other standing and scratching his hair; on the right, Thalia standing, accompanied by a putto who holds a torch; after Cipriani; open-letter state."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
For the benefit of Mr. Giardini
Description:
Title supplied by cataloger., Date from British Museum online catalogue, Cf. museum registration no. 1897,1231.275., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., and On page numbered 4 in an album of 116 prints: [Bartolozzi and his pupils].
