C. Shoosmith

This 19th-century printmaker carved scenes straight onto woodblocks. H Beard Print Collection (9th May 1817) shows a busy London street in crisp black-ink lines, carpenters’ tools scattered on a workbench, and a cat frozen mid-leap across sunlit cobbles. Each print feels like a snapshot from a day when London’s alleys hummed with tradesmen and the smell of hot metal lingered in the air.

Step closer and you can trace the grain of the beech block that carried every scratch. Want the next slice? Tap into the same box of wood-engraved snapshots behind the scenes.