‘1st. Every Subscriber paying half a Crown at the time of subscription, shall have a Prospect pasted on Cloath in a Black Frame, paying half a Crown more at the receipt thereof.
‘2dly. Every Subscriber paying one shilling at the time of subscription, shall have one of the Prospects on Paper only, paying one shilling more at the receipt thereof.
‘3dly. He that subscribes, or procures subscriptions, for six framed ones, shall have a seventh in a Frame, Gratis; and he that subscribes, or procures subscriptions, for six in sheets, shall have a seventh in sheets, Gratis.
‘4thly. Any person that desires it, may see a Drawing of the same in the hands of Sutton Nicholls, Ingraver, against the George Inn, in Aldersgate Street, London, where subscriptions are taken in. At the same place is taught the Art of Drawing, by Sight, Measure, or Instrument; also the Art of Writing: Prints and Mapps, Surveys, Ground Plotts, Uprights, and Perspectives, are there Drawn and Coloured at reasonable rates.’ This view of London Bridge is mentioned by Gough, in his ‘British Topography,’ volume i., page 734.
“Although the Thames was again frozen over at intervals in the year 1709, and some persons crossed it on the ice, yet the frost was neither so intense nor so permanent as to cause another fair; though, in the illustrated Pennant in the British Museum, there is an impression of a coarse bill, within a wood-cut border of rural subjects, containing the words ‘Mr. John Heaton, Printed on the Thames at Westminster, Jan. the 7th, 1709. The Art and Mystery of Printing first invented by John Guttemberg, in Harlem, in 1440, and brought into England by John Islip.’ 7 inches by 5¾.
“About the end of November 1715, however, a very severe frost commenced, which continued until the 9th of the following February, when the sports of 1683 were all renewed; but of this I shall mention only the few curious memorials of it to be found in Mr. Crowle’s London collections in the British Museum.
“A copper-plate, 6 inches by 7¼, representing a view of London from the opposite shore, with London Bridge on the right hand, and a line of tents on the left, leading from ‘Temple Stairs.’ In front, another line of tents marked ‘Thames Street,’ and the various sports, &c. before them: below the print are alphabetical references, with the words ‘Printed on the Thames 1716⁄15;’ and above it, ‘Frost Fair on the River Thames.’
“A copper-plate, 16 inches by 20¼, representing London at St. Paul’s, with the tents, &c. and with alphabetical references; ‘Printed and Sold by John Bowles, at the Black Horse, in Cornhill.’ In the right hand corner above, the arms and supporters of the City; and in the left, a cartouche with the words ‘Frost Fayre, being a True Prospect of the Great varietie of Shops and Booths for Tradesmen, with other curiosities and humors, on the Frozen River of Thames, as it appeared before the City of London, in that memorable Frost in ye second year of the Reigne of Our Sovereigne Lord King George, Anno Domini 1716.’
“‘Frost Fair: or a View of the booths on the frozen Thames, in the 2nd Year of King George, 1716.’ A wood-cut.