• Title : Le Portail de la grande Eglise de St Paul de Londre...a Paris chez Mondhare ru st Jacques
• Ref #:  93460
• Size: 15in x 9 1/2in (380mm x 235mm)
• Date : 1770
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This original hand coloured copper plate engraved antique print of St Pauls Cathedral, London was engraved and published by Louis-Joseph Mondhare in Paris in 1770

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Blue, pink, red, green, yellow
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 15in x 9 1/2in (380mm x 235mm)
Plate size: - 13in x 9in (330mm x 230mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
The task of designing a replacement structure was officially assigned to Sir Christopher Wren on 30 July 1669. He had previously been put in charge of the rebuilding of churches to replace those lost in the Great Fire. More than 50 City churches are attributable to Wren. Concurrent with designing St Pauls, Wren was engaged in the production of his five Tracts on Architecture.
Wren had begun advising on the repair of the Old St Pauls in 1661, five years before the fire in 1666. The proposed work included renovations to interior and exterior to complement the classical facade designed by Inigo Jones in 1630. Wren planned to replace the dilapidated tower with a dome, using the existing structure as a scaffold. He produced a drawing of the proposed dome which shows his idea that it should span nave and aisles at the crossing. After the Fire, it was at first thought possible to retain a substantial part of the old cathedral, but ultimately the entire structure was demolished in the early 1670s.
In July 1668 Dean William Sancroft wrote to Wren that he was charged by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in agreement with the Bishops of London and Oxford, to design a new cathedral that was Handsome and noble to all the ends of it and to the reputation of the City and the nation. The design process took several years, but a design was finally settled and attached to a royal warrant, with the proviso that Wren was permitted to make any further changes that he deemed necessary. The result was the present St Pauls Cathedral, still the second largest church in Britain, with a dome proclaimed as the finest in the world. The building was financed by a tax on coal, and was completed within its architects lifetime with many of the major contractors engaged for the duration.
The topping out of the cathedral (when the final stone was placed on the lantern) took place on 26 October 1708, performed by Wrens son Christopher Jr and the son of one of the masons. The cathedral was declared officially complete by Parliament on 25 December 1711 (Christmas Day). In fact, construction continued for several years after that, with the statues on the roof added in the 1720s. In 1716 the total costs amounted to £1,095,556 (£165 million in 2019).
On 2 December 1697, 31 years and 3 months after the Great Fire destroyed Old St Pauls, the new cathedral was consecrated for use. The Right Reverend Henry Compton, Bishop of London, preached the sermon. It was based on the text of Psalm 122, I was glad when they said unto me: Let us go into the house of the Lord. The first regular service was held on the following Sunday.
Opinions of Wrens cathedral differed, with some loving it: Without, within, below, above, the eye / Is filled with unrestrained delight, while others hated it: There was an air of Popery about the gilded capitals, the heavy arches ... They were unfamiliar, un-English

Mondhare & Jean (active 1759 - 1829)
Louis-Joseph Mondhare (1734 - Paris 1799) & Pierre Jean (1754 - 1829) were prominent Parisian publishers, engravers, print and map sellers who were active in Paris in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
In 1784 Jean married the daughter of Mondhare, who formed a partnership with his son in law, changing forming a very successful partnership thereafter as Mondhare & Jean.
After Mondhare retirement in 1796, Jean carried on with the publishing & printing business, having inherited all of the printing plates that also included many map plates from the likes of Nolin, Clouet, D Anville , Delsile and others. Both Mondhare and Jean were responsible for the engraving and printing of the very decorative large wall maps by J B Nolin & J B L Clouet, as well as single plate maps and atlases. Mondares premises were located at Rue St Jacques, à lHôtel Saumur later movin