First edition, and intended as a continuation of the 'Designs for Public Improvements in London and Westminster' (1827) which had been printed in only twenty-five examples.

This album is a visual summary of Sir John Soane's (1753-1837) career, beginning on the title-page, which includes a vignette of Soane's design for a "triumphal bridge", which won him a gold medal at the Royal Academy in 1776, and honorary membership of the Parma Academy in 1780. All the designs were exhibited at the Royal Academy, and include some of his most famous: designs for the new Law Courts, the House of Lords, Dulwich College, and the Bank of England.

Soane had been appointed Architect to the Bank of England as early as 1788, a post which he held until as late as 1833, "by which time he had doubled its size to 3½ acres. He cannot have guessed in 1788 how lucrative and extensive his work there would be, for the expansion of the bank was partly promoted by the fact that Pitt used it to raise funds to finance the Napoleonic wars... Regarded as a major national monument, the bank was illuminated on great public events such as the peace of Amiens in 1802, the visit to London of the allied sovereigns in 1814, and the battle of Waterloo in 1815" (Watkin).