An extra large framed and mounted print showing the two cities of Westminster and London and the Surrey shore at Lambeth as viewed from an early hot-air balloon. Originally published in the Graphic magazine in 1884 by William Wylie and H. W. Brewer.

The Graphic magazine was a pioneering weekly illustrated magazine founded in 1869 by William Luson Thomas. Being a penny dearer than the Illustrated London News it positioned itself as the superior pictorial periodical, employing the leading artists of the day, and had a wide in influnce on late 19th Century art and visual culture.

W. L. Wyllie (1851-1931) was a French born English artistic prodigy. Accepted at the Royal Academy Schools at the age of 15, at 18 he was awarded the Turner Gold Medal for his oil painting “Dawn after a Storm”. Offered a position at The Graphic he specialised in maritime and naval scenes as well as depictions of the London River and shipping.