I had the privilege of studying prints in the British Museum on a postgraduate degree course in the History of the Print run by the University of London, which I can highly recommend.

We will continue to develop this web site, not only to sell prints but as an educational site for students and others interested in the processes involved in creating fine prints and the identification of the methods used by artists/engavers/printers in creating the finished article.

Our primary aim at Middlegate Prints, apart from making a fair profit, is to enjoy working with prints and satisfying our customers .

We sincerely want our customers to be delighted when they receive a print from us. If for any reason a customer is disappointed with a print we have sent, providing we are notified within 14days and the print is returned within 30 days of despatch, we will refund the cost of the print less postage/packing costs.

If you do not find what you are looking for on our site, please email your requirements. We may be able to help you find it. We would also suggest you look at Steve Bartrick's site, particularly if you are interested in maps or nineteenth century prints. Steve's web site is www.antiqueprints.com . Steve has been very helpful to us in setting up this site in conjunction with our original web site designer Vega Castro.
Any comments or suggestions for improvements are welcome.

We intend to expand and improve our site and update it regularly so please come back soon.

Currently we are only displaying a small fraction of our stock. Please let us know your interests. If we can't help we probably know someone who can. We will certainly try to assist.

We have no objection to students downloading our prints to accompany their essays, an ackowlegment to middlegateprints.com would be appreciated , perhaps in a footnote.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Notes on condition of prints

If you were 150 years old you would probably be a little frayed around the edges; this is often the case with antiquarian prints. Frequently, prints have minor faults, for example minor tears outside the image area , We will not note this . However if the print has deep creases, partual staining of foxing I will mention this and price the print accordingly.
The 'bottom line' is that we want our customers to be completely satisfied.

Colouring of Prints

Some prints, particularly topographical prints from around 1800, fashion, botanical and satirical prints, were originally coloured and some were even coloured by unscrupulous publishers to hide a worn plate! The 1851 census in British identifies 184 'Print Colourists' and only 514 picture framemakers - a clear indication that even as late as the mid nineteenth century print colouring in Britain remained popular. However, many prints, particularly the cheaper topographical engravings, which were originally issued uncoloured have subsequently been coloured.

Restoration

Some prints require cleaning; for fine or valuable prints I use Philippa Ellison an experienced conservator of art on paper. Her address will be supplied on request.

Viewing online

Please bear in mind when viewing the images on your screen, the scanned image will only give an indication of the quality of the print. All I can say is the original will look much better. Colour can also vary between different monitors so again the colour you see on your screen may be slightly different.

Our prints range from valuable collectable items to the more common decorative print. We find it particularly satisfying to find a requested print.