FOLKESTONE HARBOUR AND STADE.

Lithograph, 12 x 9 inches. Two small areas of damage to the sky, and traces of old folds. Printed on India paper and trimmed close to the margin. A very rare separately published lithograph taken from the pier head looking east to the town, showing the fishermen's beach and the buildings on the Stade before the improvements to the harbour made by William Cubitt in the 1840's. Also shown in good detail is the land now occupied by the Burstin Hotel, which was at this time a collection of fishermen's dwellings and pubs, and also the customs and excise station with its flagstaff. This is a view of the harbour after it had been improved by the building of South Quay by Jessop, between 1806 and 1825 Whilst the quay improved conditions in the harbour for a few years, it soon became choked with silt and shingle. The company which built it went bankrupt some five years after this view was drawn. At this point the government put the harbour up for sale, the South Eastern Railway Company bought the harbour, and the rest is well-documented history. So rare is this view that, in more than 50 years of trading in Folkestone, this is the only example we have ever seen. We originally sold it in 1970s to Dr Bishop, the historian of the town, and after his death we repurchased it and then sold it to Mrs Nevill, a more recent historian of the town. Once again, it has returned to us.…