Bourne Gallery

Construction of the Kilsby Tunnel on the London & Birmingham Railway, 8 July 1839. Artist: John Cooke Bourne

Construction of the Kilsby Tunnel on the London & Birmingham Railway, 8 July 1837 (1839). Robert Stephenson (1803-1859) was appointed chief engineer of the London & Birmingham Railway (LBR), the first railway into London. Running between Curzon Street Station, Birmingham, and Euston Station, London, the 112 mile long line took 20, 000 men nearly five years to build, at a cost of five and a half million pounds. The excavation of the tunnel at Kilsby, Northamptonshire was one of the greatest engineering challenges on the LBR, due to problems with quicksand. The LBR opened on 17 September 1838. From Drawings of the London and Birmingham Railway by J Bourne, 1839

© Oxford Science Archive / Heritage-Images

Charles II, 1886. Artist: Herbert Bourne

Charles II, 1886. Charles II (1630-1685), King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1660. After the execution of his father, Charles I, in 1649 during the English Civil War, Charles II went into exile. After the death of Oliver Cromwell and the fall of the Protectorate in 1659 a restoration of the monarchy was negotiated and Charles made a triumphal entry into London on 29 May 1660, his birthday. After Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723). From Illustration of English and Scottish History, Volume I by Thomas Archer. [Blackie & Son, London, Glasgow and Edinburgh, 1886]

© The Print Collector

Wycliffe on his Sick-Bed Assailed by the Friars, 1886. Artist: Herbert K Bourne

Wycliffe on his Sick-Bed Assailed by the Friars, 1886. Wycliffe (c1329-1384) embarked on a translation of the Bible into English in order to bypass the established Church and make the word of God accessible to all literate people. A controversial opponent of the established Catholic Church who questioned the doctrine of transubstantiation, he was the leader of the religious movement known as the Lollards (Mumblers). Wycliffe was blamed by his ecclesiastical superiors for inciting the Peasant's Revolt of 1381, and many of his writings were banned. His works were an inspiration to the leaders of the Reformation, including Martin Luther. After George Thomas. From Illustration of English and Scottish History, Volume I by Thomas Archer. [Blackie & Son, London, Glasgow and Edinburgh, 1886]

© The Print Collector