9th. 10th. & 11th. Windows North Aisle

This illustration, created by John White to accompany William Combe's written history of Westminster, gives an interior view of the Abbey and depicts several of its monuments. The bottom border of the image includes the names of the persons to whom the monuments are dedicated, along with corresponding numbers for identification.

The titular 9th, 10th, and 11th windows of the North Aisle of Westminster Abbey form the background of the print. In the foreground, a variety of people walk around and look at the monuments along the walls. In the right corner, there is a short female in black, her face covered by her bonnet. A man wearing breeches, a green shirt, and a long white apron stands behind a couple in the center of the print; all three stand with their backs to the viewer. A religious man in white robes with red vestment, a man in a blue coat with crutches, and a man in a black gown carrying a staff are all moving towards the left. A male figure in traveling clothes, walking stick in hand, moves beneath the arch at the far left. Beyond this arch, a woman in white stands before the railing, accompanied by a man in a black frock coat who points towards something.

John White and F. Mackenzie’s illustrations for Combe’s The History of the Abbey reconstruct the structure and monuments of Westminster not simply as architecture but as art, representing the Abbey as a gallery to tour. These intricate illustrations, combined with Combe's detailed accounts of Westminster's history, architecture, and monuments, serve as an extensive guidebook to the Abbey. However, given the physical size of The History, the text ultimately functions as a substitute for the Abbey itself, taking on the role of "tour" books that enable readers to virtually, rather than physically, visit a site. This is further reinforced by the seemingly unmediated nature of The History's content: the text presents the Abbey as an immediate presence by providing numbers that correspond to the depicted monuments and by directly quoting their epitaphs without giving supplemental translations.

Mackenzie’s illustrations emphasize the grand architecture of Westminster Abbey by depicting tiny figures positioned unobtrusively in doorways and arches. However, these figures, who are supposedly touring the Abbey, seem more involved in their conversations than their surroundings, barely lifting their heads to examine the fan vaulted ceiling of the Henry VII chapel. Meanwhile, White portrays the Abbey as a successful site of tourism, depicting groups of people who appear to purposefully view and discuss the monuments along the main aisles. Moreover, he does so using a variety of spectators: men and women, members of the working class, academics, religious men, and travelers. Consequently, within one work and at one site, there are portrayed different ways of interacting with a "spectacle": by treating it as an opportunity to study grand architecture or personal histories; by losing oneself in the absorbing splendor of its art; by using it as an event of sociality and conversation; or, finally, by privately experiencing it as a virtual site through text and illustrations.