A Thames Tunnel Peepshow by S.F. Gouyn published in 1828

GOUYN, S. F. A View of the Tunnel under the Thames, as it will appear when completed. London: S. F. Gouyn, 1 February 1828.
 
Hand-coloured paper peepshow comprising seven accordion-fold panels including title panel, extending to approximately 600 mm when fully opened; original printed slipcase present. Dimensions approximately 114 x 143 mm. Oval viewing aperture to the title panel creating a perspective view through the tunnel interior. Contemporary hand-colouring throughout. Housed in the original card case with printed label. One small figure apparently lacking from the second panel at right. Some rubbing and wear to case, occasional creasing and light age-toning; a very good example of a fragile survival.
 
A souvenir of one of the great engineering projects of the nineteenth century. Designed as a paper peepshow or "tunnel book", the work depicts the projected interior of Marc Isambard Brunel's Thames Tunnel, then under construction between Rotherhithe and Wapping. The accordion format creates an illusion of depth, echoing the tunnel's arched passageways and allowing the viewer to look down the completed route from one shaft to the other.
 
Particularly interesting is the inclusion of the dramatic flooding of 18 May 1827. Beneath the viewing aperture the printed explanation notes that the vignette represents both a section of the tunnel and "the hole in the bed of the River which inundated the works", showing the manner in which the breach was stopped with bags of clay. The disaster nearly cost the life of the young Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who escaped only moments before the workings were overwhelmed by water. The incident became one of the most widely reported episodes in the tunnel's construction and contributed to public fascination with the project.
 
Published in February 1828, fifteen years before the tunnel finally opened in 1843.  Surviving examples are uncommon, especially with the original printed slipcase, with a copy placed in the V&A.