The original of an engraving which is in the first volume of “Vetusta Monumenta,” published by the Society of Antiquaries, the latter having on it the date 1725. This building stood at the north end of King Street and north-east corner of Downing Street, some little distance south of the so-called Holbein or Whitehall Gate-house, and although less ornate was of some beauty and importance, as may here be seen. It also dated from the time of Henry VIII, and was demolished in 1723 to improve the approaches to Westminster. George Vertue was in 1717 appointed engraver to the Society of Antiquaries, and did many excellent engravings for them; he also, as we see, practised in watercolour, and his literary works are of value. He collected a mass of memoranda relating to former artists, and this collection, now in the British Museum, having been bought after his death by Horace Walpole, formed the basis of the latter’s “Anecdotes of Painting in England.” Vertue lived and died a strict Roman Catholic. By G. VERTUE, 1723 (1684-1756). _Lent by H.M. the King._ 26 THE OLD PLAYHOUSE, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS. Watercolour. 8½ by 7½ in. A brick building, with stone dressings and a tiled roof. It was on the site of a former theatre and dated from 1714. Here “The Beggar’s Opera” was produced, and ran for sixty nights. After various vicissitudes it became a store-place for Messrs. Copeland and Spode’s china, and was finally demolished for the enlargement of the Museum of the College of Surgeons. _Lent by H.M. the King._ 27 CUPER’S GARDENS, LAMBETH, FROM THE RIVER. Watercolour. 15½ by 6¾ in. These gardens, over against Somerset House in the Strand, were named after Boydell Cuper, gardener to Thomas, Earl of Arundel, who, when Arundel House was taken down, moved some of the mutilated marbles there, and opened them as a place of popular amusement. It continued to be thus used, and was famous for its fireworks. Degenerating in character, it was suppressed about the year 1753. On the site Messrs. Beaufoy established their works; they moved to South Lambeth when Waterloo Bridge (which runs over part of the gardens) was erected. The watercolour hardly looks as if it were earlier than the date of the closing of the gardens. Perhaps there was no great change in the entrance for some years. _Lent by Sir E. Coates._ 28 THE NURSERY, GOLDEN LANE. Watercolour. 6¼ by 8¼ in. Wrongly named the Fortune Play House, Golden Lane. The latter, originally built for Henslowe and Alleyn according to contract, “the frame to be sett square,” was destroyed by fire in 1621, and was replaced by a fabric of circular plan soon afterwards. In 1661 its site was advertised to be let for building.