Roche

réf. 11224 — London: Rock Brothers & Payne. 1856. No binding. Fair. Octavo 210 x 140 mm. with ornate blind embossed thick paper binding. With six pages containing 12 steel engraved vignette views lower half of spine split verso with tear repaired otherwise in good condition. A fascinating record of Bournemouth only shortly after it was first developed. Ten of the views relate to Bournemouth and Branksome with the final two of Poole and Parkstone. William Frederick Rock 1802-90 and Henry Rock 1806-68 were the sons of the shoemaker Henry Rock from Barnstaple Devon. William Rock began his career working in a bank in the 1820's and lodged with the printer Thomas De La Rue 1793-1866 whose business flourishes to this day. He then worked for De La Rue eventually becoming a partner until it was dissolved in 1833. That same year the Rock brothers entered partnership as stationers. The firm grew rapidly employing 140 people by 1851. One of their fortes would be topographical prints on pictorial note paper. They produced over 7000 topographical prints which were numbered on each plate as seen here. Another brother Richard also joined the firm and in 1845 they had been joined by John Payne as Rock Brothers & Payne who married their sister Prudence in 1851 she and another sister Ann ran a stationery shop in Greenwich. William Rock retired in 1883 having outlived his partners and the extremely successful firm was taken over by John Dickinson who retained the business name. Provenance: New England c.1985; private English collection. Adams 1983 refer nos. 204 205; Hyde 2002 'A Year for Celebrating W. F. Rock' in 'Print Quarterly vol. 19 no. 4 pp. 341-52; Russell 1979 p. 138; Worms & Baynton-Williams 2011. Rock Brothers & Payne. 1856 unknown