Old city plan map of Belfast, 1910

Step into the world of early 20th-century knowledge with this striking page from the Enciclopedia Seguí, published in Barcelona around 1910 and featuring a fascinating historical view of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Produced during an era when illustrated encyclopedias served as important sources of education and visual reference, the work combines informative text with detailed imagery to present the character, architecture, and urban development of one of Ireland’s most important industrial cities. At the beginning of the 20th century, Belfast was experiencing a period of remarkable growth. Its shipbuilding industry, engineering works, linen production, and busy port had transformed the city into a major centre of commerce and manufacturing. The famous Harland and Wolff shipyard was expanding rapidly during this period, while Belfast’s distinctive Victorian and Edwardian architecture reflected its growing prosperity and importance. The Seguí encyclopedic publications are particularly appealing to collectors of historical prints because they capture the visual culture of their period. Printed before the widespread dominance of modern photography and mass-produced digital imagery, these illustrated plates were designed to make distant cities, monuments, landscapes, and historical subjects accessible to readers throughout the Spanish-speaking world. This Belfast plate offers more than a decorative image—it is a genuine historical document showing how the city was represented to European audiences approximately a century ago. Its typography, engraving-style imagery, paper texture, and period composition contribute to an authentic early-20th-century aesthetic.