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Description: | Geoffrey Of Monmouth (c.1100-1154) wrote completed his History it in its final form in 1147. Although it purports to be a book of historical fact, it is more a collection of ancient tales and legends, concerning, for example, King Arthur and Merlin. This manuscript has detailed pencil sketches of a number towns added in some of its margins; these are exceptionally early examples of eye-witness 'cityscapes'. Some of them seem to have been executed in two stages: first with faint grey pencil, and later with darker brown 'crayon'.
The text just above the marginal sketch concerns King Belinus, who 'made a gate of wonderful structure . . . upon the bank of the Thames, which the citizens call after his name Billingsgate to this day. Over it he built a prodigiously large tower . . .' | License: | http://www.bl.uk/services/copy/permission.html | Rights holder: | British Library | Source: | Collect Britain | Identifier: | http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personal... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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