Mayson Beeton Gallery

Defoe in the pillory N110160

MAYSON BEETON COLLECTION. Engraving of Daniel Defoe in the pillory at Temple Bar, July 1703. In December 1702 Defoe had published a political pamplet entitled "Shortest Way with the Dissenters" which satirised the high-church arguments of those Tories who wished to abolish the practice of occasional conformity (which allowed Dissenters to hold office). In May 1703, when his authorship was discovered, Defoe was arrested for seditious libel and was sentenced to a large fine, to stand in the pillory three times and was sent to Newgate prison. Defoe stood in the pillory on 29, 30, and 31 July, ringed with protective supporters

© Historic England

Samuel Pepys N110036

MAYSON BEETON COLLECTION. Samuel Pepys, Clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board, and diarist, 1666. His secret diary presents a compelling first hand account of the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-7), the Great Plague (1665), and the Great Fire of London (1666). Engraving from the Mayson Beeton Collection

© Historic England

Engraving

Whitehall Palace, 1650 6C_WHI_1650

Palace of Whitehall from the River Thames, Westminster, London. Whitehall Palace was the main royal residence in London between 1530 and 1698. The Latin text reads: 'The palace of the King near London, commonly known as Whitehall.' Etching. A late issue of the W. Hollar plate, probably 18th century. Mayson Beeton Collection

© Historic England