Meet Alice Austin, Conservator. She is writing a chapter on the history of tunnel books, along with artist Emily Martin, for the next volume of Suave Mechanicals, a scholarly publication covering different aspects of book binding history.
LCP owns just one tunnel book and it is a stunner! Drawn by hand, it most probably depicts the Thames tunnel in London. Most tunnel books were sold as souvenirs to commemorate an important event. The Thames tunnel was the first tunnel to be built under a river. It opened to the public in 1843 and was a huge tourist attraction, described as the Eighth Wonder of the World.