John Britton's fifteen volume The Beauties of England and Wales and his nine-volume, The Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain, issued in supplements between 1801 and 1815, were the gargantuans in the publishing field of picturesque and antiquarian views in which Turner excelled.

In spite of Britton's known admiration for Turner's work, the artist provided only one plate to each project, suggesting that he avoided the publishers in these years until he could secure control of the production of engravings after his own work.