Plague broadsheet by John Dunstall

ID:

42.39/142

Production date:

1666; 17th century

Location:

In Store

In 1665 London was struck by a terrifying plague that killed around 100,000 people. The text summarises bills of mortality (lists of the number of dead) in the 1665 and previous plague visitations.  < ...Read more

In 1665 London was struck by a terrifying plague that killed around 100,000 people. The text summarises bills of mortality (lists of the number of dead) in the 1665 and previous plague visitations.

This broadsheet has nine illustrations of the plague:

1) The sick at home.
2) Shutting up the houses - once the plague had infected one member of a family, they were all locked into the house to prevent the disease spreading.
3) Fleeing London by boat - 10,000 people camped on boats in the Thames to avoid infection.
4) Fleeing London by land - wealthy citizens, including the King and his court, escaped to uninfected areas.
5) Carrying the corpses.
6) Carrying the dead in carts.
7) Burying the dead - the ground level in London's cemeteries rose by several feet due to the number of dead buried in them.
8) Funeral procession.
9) Return to London - by October 1665 the number of deaths started to decrease and people gradually returned to London. < Hide

Measurements

H 478 mm; W 373 mm; D 23 mm (framed) (overall), H 455 mm; W 354 mm; T 2 mm (on mount), H 450 mm; W 333 mm (overall)

Materials

paper

Last Updated

2024-03-14