Marvellous Maps

Among the earliest maps of Britain is the manuscript maps drawn and compiled by Matthew Paris of St. Albans in about 1250.  The product of years of research it was achieved by talking to travellers on the pilgrim road to Dover.  Considering the period the work was done, the map is astonishing for there can be no mistaking the outline of Britain.  Now it rests safely in the British Museum where it may be pored over by scholars after its years of use as a working tool.

Ronnie

There is a sense of romance surrounding all maps, and that is one of the reasons, no doubt, why so many people collect them.  Looking at maps from the 15th century onwards and watching the world unfold is fascinating to say the least.  Indeed to see examples of the mapping of your own immediate geographical area is interesting enough and again there are many collectors who seek out all the different maps of their own county. 

The best known early mapmakers are undoubtedly John Nordon (1548 – 1626), John Speed (1552 – 1629), and Christopher Saxton (c. 1542 – 1606).   It was Christopher Saxton who completed a fine atlas of the counties of England and introduced a method of grading with the use of large and smaller italics to indicate the comparative importance of a town or other settlement.

Saxton’s map of Cornwall, however, appears to be all ships and sea monsters, as though the map itself was something of an afterthought.  The first mapmaker to mark the principal roads was John Norden.

Charles I hung maps on his walls and perhaps set the fashion for all of us.  As always, fine early objects tend to more difficult to find and thus more expensive, so most of us, I suspect unless we settle for a copy, will look for something rather later in date which in its own way will be equally interesting and perhaps more relevant to the landscape we know.

John Ogilvy (1600 – 76) was born in Edinburgh, and it was he who invented the use of strip road maps.  It was a superb achievement that unfolded the road ahead, noting the miles and pointing out landmarks to the traveller.  Later editions of the Ogilvy road maps are not too difficult to find.

In Britain towns were expanding in the 19th century with the industrial revolution and railways cut new routes across the countryside.  These later maps may often be obtained very cheaply.  If the idea of collecting maps appeals to you then the best advice would be to seek out the leading map dealers where stocks are truly comprehensive.

Old maps were either coloured or left plain, although most of the plain maps were coloured at a later date.  The fashion for colour emanated from the Netherlands where map colouring was virtually a natural progression from illuminating manuscripts in earlier centuries.  Most of the paper used in those days was well watermarked and the presence of a watermark can help to date an unusual map, but whether such a mark is present or not has no influence on the value of a map.  Another feature to look for is the mesh effect caused by the wire trays on which the hand-produced paper was dried.  This network of lines is easily seen when a map is held to the light.

Written by Ronnie in 2012