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ANTIQUE ENGRAVINGS
 “FERIA DE SANTANDER. REGATAS” F. PRADILLA - B. RICO (MADRID, 1871)
 The collection of Cantabrian engravings starts with one of a view of Santander by the Belgian artist Joris Hoefnagel, who travelled around Spain in the 1560s. This panoramic view is included in De praecipuis totius universi urbibus. Liber secundus, el Civitates Orbis Terrarum, the most outstanding work of the Renaissance press, which was published by editors George Braun and Franz Hogenberg in Cologne from 1572.
This illustration, which is a point of reference of all the views of  Santander, was later reproduced by different editors with some modifications in its approach, as it appears in a series of engravings from the collection: Rota (Venecia, 1579), Meisner (Frankfurt, 1631), Van der Aa (Leiden, 1707) or Huquier Fils (París, ca. 1750), amongst others.
From the first half of the 19th century, we can highlight four engravings. Two of them depict Santoña: “A View of Santoña, in Spain…” is a large aquatint which was printed by Edward Orme (London, 1813); “Vue de Santona” is a lithograph produced at Langlumé’s studio (Paris, 1840). The other two illustrations (lithographs) are “Santander, a Sea Port, on the north coast of Spain…,” which appear in Views in Spain and Portugal, by George Cumberland (London, 1823) and “Vue de
Santander. Ports de mer d´Europe-Espagne”, which is by Adolphe Jourdan. The latter was printed and published by the Parisian businessman Turgis circa 1860.
From 1850 onwards, the collection reflects a series of aspects  that provide it with a documentary and testimonial value of Cantabria at that time. There are images of palaces, large houses, monuments, social or historic events, the Baños del Sardinero, royal visits, Santander fairs and festivals, urban landscapes and seventy images related to the "Machichaco" disaster that happened in November, 1893, published in magazines from Paris, Milan, Frankfurt, Barcelona and Madrid. In addition, the collection also contains views from Santoña, Laredo, Castro Urdiales, Santillana del Mar, Comillas and San Vicente de la Barquera. These illustrations show us the richness of some images pictured in the 19th century by artists like Pérez del Camino, Pellicer, Gil, Vázquez, Riudavets, Balaca, Vierge, Caula, Meléndez or Miranda and important engravers like Laporta, Rico, Capuz, Manchón, Marichal, Severini or Vilaplana.
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