Plan of a street proposed from Charing Cross to Portland Place by John Nash 1814
THE MAP THAT CREATED REGENT STREET
NASH (John). FADEN (William), publisher. Plan of a Street Proposed from Charing Cross to Portland Place. Designed by J. Nash Esq. London: Published by William Faden, Geographer to His Majesty and to H.R.H. the Prince Regent, Charing Cross, 11 May 1814.
Large engraved map with original hand-colour, 330 x 470 mm. Engraved by Thomson. Printed on laid paper. A very good example with contemporary hand-colour. Scattered foxing and spotting, otherwise clean. Unmounted.
An important separately-issued proposal map documenting the earliest phase of John Nash's celebrated scheme for what would become Regent Street. Published only months after the passing of the New Street Act (1813), the plan records Nash's proposed ceremonial route linking Carlton House, the Prince Regent's London residence, with Portland Place and the new developments around Regent's Park. The route shown here predates the more developed reduction plans published the following year, representing the project at its formative stage before construction was fully underway.
The colouring distinguishes Crown property (shown in blue) from land requiring acquisition under the provisions of the 1813 Act, illustrating the immense scale of the redevelopment. Far more than a new thoroughfare, Nash conceived the street as the centrepiece of a comprehensive reordering of Regency London, creating a grand processional avenue while simultaneously encouraging commercial development, relieving congestion around Charing Cross and Piccadilly, and establishing a physical and social boundary between the fashionable districts of St James and Mayfair and the crowded streets of Soho.
Published by William Faden (1749-1836), Geographer to George III and the Prince Regent, and one of Britain's foremost cartographic publishers, this map represents the official presentation of Nash's proposal at the outset of one of the defining architectural and urban planning projects of the Regency period. Regent Street remains one of London's most recognisable streets and one of the enduring monuments of Nash's vision. A scarce separately-issued Regency planning map issued before the appearance of the more detailed 1815 reduction of Nash's proposal. A copy is placed in the British Library.