Rudolph Ackermann published his Microcosm in three volumes between 1808 and 1810. Descriptions of notable London institutions by William Henry Pyne were accompanied by illustrations by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson. The entries were arranged alphabetically, to allow the book to be used as ‘a sort of dictionary’. Pugin and Rowlandson worked collaboratively, with the former providing the architecture and the latter peopling the scenes with figures. The Microcosm was dedicated to the Prince of Wales who had ‘already honoured’ it ‘by His Approbation’. This is the copy owned by the Prince. Cat. 72