Tombleson & Co Circa 1840 Hand Coloured Steel Engraved Print Old Southwark Iron Bridge (demolished WW1) over Thames

ON AUCTION IS A UNIQUELY HAND COLOURED STEEL ENGRAVED PRINT OF THE OLD SOUTHWARK BRIDGE OVER THE THAMES BEFORE IT WAS DEMOLISHED IN WORLD WAR 1. DRAWN BY WILLIAM TOMBLESON AND PUBLISHED BY TOMBLESON  CO. CIRCA 1840. WITH A STEAMBOAT AND OTHER PASSENGER BOATS ON THE THAMES AND WALKWAY ON THE RIGHT BANK.
 
WITH GOOD COLOURS BUT WITH SOME FOXING BROWN SPOTS AROUND.  THE ARTIST WAS WILLIAM TOMBLESON. IT WAS ENGRAVED OR SCULPTURED BY J HOWE. IT WAS PUBLISHED BY TOMBLESON & CO. IN EIGHTY PICTURESQUE VIEWS OF THE THAMES AND MEDWAY.
 
At 215 miles (346km) long, the River Thames is the second longest river in the UK (after the river Severn) it even has 45 different locks and over 180 islands, including large, lush marshlands and tiny islets!
 
The initial Southwark Bridge was a cast iron bridge designed by John Rennie that was opened in 1819 but sadly demolished around the time of World War 1. It was initially labelled as Queen Street Bridge but subsequent maps labeled it as Southwark Bridge. The bridge consisted of three large cast-iron spans supported by granite piers. The bridge was notable for having the longest cast iron span, 73 m, ever made. Unsurprisingly, it became known colloquially as "The Iron Bridge" as mentioned inter alia in Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit". 
 
MARKINGS: HAND COLOURED STEEL PLATE ENGRAVING CIRCA 1840
THIS PRINT IS GUARANTEED TO BE MORE THAN A 100 YEARS OLD
 
SIZE: LINE ENGRAVING 19.5CM WIDE 16.5CM HIGH
BACKBOARD 33CM WIDE 29.5CM HIGH

CONDITION: ARTWORK WITH HAND COLOURING STILL BEAUTIFUL. HAND COLOURED LINE ENGRAVING WAS MOUNTED OR PASTED ONTO A HARDBOARD WITH PLASTIC COVERING. LARGE TEAR TO FRONT PLASTIC COVERING. THERE ARE SOME FOXING (BROWN SPOTS) VISIBLE O ENGRAVING AND AROUND.
 
FOXING: Foxing is a generic term used to describe a range of deterioration mechanisms in paper and photographic documents  the thing they have in common is that they all tend to appear as small brown spots.
The causes of foxing are not well understood. One theory is that foxing is caused by a fungal  growth on the paper. Another theory is that foxing is caused by the effect on certain papers of the oxidation of iron, copper  or other substances in the pulp from which the paper was made. It is possible that multiple factors are involved. High humidity may contribute to foxing.
Luckily foxing appears to spread dimensionally through the paper sheets, not over it. So it does not tend to spread all over the page. It is possible to treat the foxing by washing and chemically treating the pages.
 
WILLIAM TOMBLESON (1795-1845):
William Tombleson was an English topographical and architecture artist, illustrator, copper and steel engraver, writer and printmaker, and publisher based in London. 
In the 1830s, his topographical drawings of the upper and middle River Rhine in Germany and of the rivers Thames and Medway in England were published as engraved prints and in books.
Engravers who worked on Tombleson's drawings included Thomas Clark, John Cleghorn, T. Cox, R. Harris, W. Hood, J. Howe, W. Lacey, O. Smith, Shenfield, J. Stokes, D. Thompson, W. Watts, R. Wilson, H Winkles and others.
 
PLEASE ALSO SEE MY OTHER ITEMS LISTED. I HAVE 4 OTHER ANTIQUE HAND COLOURED STEEL ENGRAVED PRINTS ON AUCTION THIS WEEK. ALSO A RARE HAND COLOURED WORLD MAP OF 1532 WITH CANNIBALS AND SEA MONSTERS. COPY THE URL UNDERNEATH AND PASTE INTO GOOGLE AND IT WILL TAKE YOU DIRECTLY TO ALL MY LISTINGS THIS WEEK. NOTE ALL MY AUCTIONS END AT 22H30 SO IT IS ADVISABLE TO PUT IN AN AUTOMATIC BID (HIGHEST PRICE YOU ARE WILLING TO PAY) EARLY.
https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/seller/3685641/ErnRex1545