A Plan for Rebuilding the CITY after the fire Design'd by that Great Architect SR CHRISTOPHR WREN and approv'd of by King and PARLIAMENT

This is an 18th-Century copy of Sir Christopher Wren's 1666 plan for the rebuilding of London after the great fire destroyed seven-eighths of the city. The two panoramic views of London, before and after the fire, are based on views by Wenceslaus Hollar. The plan is reduced from the one Wren presented to Charles II. The narrow streets that had helped the fire spread are here replaced by wide avenues. The influence of the classical buildings and formal street plans Wren had studied in Paris are a clear influence. When Wren made his plan, he was an Oxford astronomer with comparatively little architectural experience. Perhaps due to his eagerness to produce a plan quickly, he was innacurate in drawing his ground plan and did not consider contours adequately. Neither king nor parliment were to ever take it seriously despite the title's assertion that it was an approved plan.