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Believe it or not, there is a name for all of us who love to pore over and, dare I say, collect maps. Yes, we’re all ‘cartophiles’, and the cartophiles at Country House Library have a special penchant for the vintage variety of map. Unlike our stamp-collecting or coin-collecting brethren, there aren’t as many of us map-collectors, so fascinating rarities of our cartological past are possible to unearth at prices that won’t break the bank.
Established as a British National Park in 1951 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017, this 912 square miles in the north-west of England resonates with its millions of visitors over the years. Whether you’re a camper, fell-walker, water sport enthusiast, or just someone who relishes the natural beauty and scenery, ‘the lakes’ will be held in your memory for a lifetime.
This pre Second World War Penguin Guide from 1939, predating the National Park status, details The Lake District of a truly bygone era – villages rather than towns, country roads rather than main arteries, no motorways, and fell paths more used by the shepherds and local farmworkers, than by day-glo clad hikers. This was only the 6th in the series on Penguin Guides, and the last issue before the UK government banned the production of maps for the general public on the grounds on national wartime secrecy. A rare item for the home, vintage map collection.
Geographia was a London based cartographic publishing company, in operation from 1910 to 1985, started by Alexander Gross, a Hungarian immigrant to the UK. The company specialised in folding pocket maps and globes, many drawn by a rather mysterious ‘Mr Fountain’ about which little is known. Following financial problems in the 1940’s the company relocated to New York in the US where the Gross’s went on to publish a large body of US based maps and city plans. Gross’s daughter, Phyllis (Pearsall), 1906-96, founded the A-Z map company in London, which went on to be the largest map publisher in the UK.
This 1927 issue of the English south-west counties including Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, and South Gloucestershire, and the South Wales counties including Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Monmouthshire and modern-day Glamorgan, all printed on cloth, is a wonderful glimpse back in time to one of Britain’s most beautiful regions, and a nostalgic peek back at dearly held holiday memories for millions of us. Outstanding value at less than £20!
With history stretching back to the mid-18th century, the UK Government’s response to the Jacobite Uprisings and the threat from Napoleon, was the creation of the military ‘Ordnance Survey’. A careful mapping of strategically important areas of the British Isles. Fast forward two centuries, and The Ordnance Survey was producing these superb, one inch to one mile, maps for the people – every bit as popular to this day.
This no 1930’s, sheet no 82, covers an area of rural Warwickshire around the famous birthplace of playwright William Shakespeare. These vintage OS maps are perfect for framing, making a unique and valuable decorative piece and fascinating talking-point.
This 64 year old collector’s piece is a multi-faceted gem to be relished by any fan of maps and guidebooks, or by anyone interested in the history of one of the world’s great capital cities – London. Illustrated throughout by much loved newspaper cartoonists, Sir Osbert Lancaster (1908 - 86), this book tells you how to see a murder trial or a newspaper printed; where to find a jazz club, a tartan kilt or a Turkish bath; City taverns and ducal homes to visit; where to buy caviar or a hat, bagpipes or riding boots. Things may have changed since 1958, but this is a fascinating glimpse back to a long-buried London. The words of Vogue magazine on the end-papers sum things up perfectly, “...among the wittiest, prettiest and most knowledgeable of its kind, informal yet immensely suave, like Sherlock Holmes in his dressing gown.”
No longer a household name in publishing, George Newnes Ltd was a major force in British media production until the mid-1960’s, bringing out numerous popular magazine titles and promoting the works of authors such as Enid Blyton, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, P G. Wodehouse and John Wyndham. The company’s founder, George Newnes, is considered to be one of the founding fathers of popular journalism – his legacy continuing after his death with million-selling periodical titles such as Woman’s Own, Tit-Bits and Practical Mechanics.
With sections on the whole of the British Isles, this tourist atlas and route guide from the post WW1 years, is an absorbing read for anyone interested in travel and tourism from yester-year.
With a history going back to London in 1854, Ebenezer Ward and George Lock founded one of the most successful family-owned publishers in the UK, bringing out first works from the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle, Mrs Beeton’s Cookbooks and Oscar Wilde. Responding to the growth of railway and the British new-found love for travel, Ward Lock introduced their series of guides books in 1896. They were priced at one shilling and by 1954, some 136 Ward Lock Red Guides, had been published.
As popular today as a tourist destination as it was in the 1930’s, this edition covers the southern section of North Wales, including Snowdonia, and towns such as Aberystwyth, Bala and Llangollen. If you’re lucky enough to live in this special area of Britain, or a visitor, this Ward Lock illustrated guidebook is a natural addition to your collection of vintage books.
Hutchinson & Co (Publishers) Ltd survived a one hundred year history from 1887 to 1985, publishing a range of books and magazines, including this short series of pocket guides from the 1930’s. Among the famous authors they published were H. G. Wells and Vladimir Nabokov. There were nine pocket guides produced, this one of Cumberland, Westmoreland, Northumberland and North Lancashire was the 8th in the series.
A special chapter is devoted to the traditional ways of life in each of the ancient counties. There’s also a comprehensive index in which each place name is given its map reference indicating the square in which the name can be found on the large, full-colour, folding map. This historical guide also contains vintage photography throughout. If you’re a lover of the romantic north of England and beautifully designed vintage maps, this rare find is for you!
The Edinburgh based Bartholomew map-making business started life in 1797 and continued through five generations, until 1989. They managed a prolific output and variety of maps and atlases for academic, commercial and travel purposes, including this, the popular 62-sheet Half-Inch to One Mile map series of Great Britain. John Bartholomew (son of the founder, John, senior) invented the hypsometric system of colour tinting contours on a map – high areas in brown, lower areas in green, which is now standard cartographical practice. The cartophiles at Country House Library have selected this one of The New Forest on England’s south coast, but we recommend you peruse the whole vintage Bartholomew collection here - perfect for picture-framing or absorbing historical study.
The etymology of the term ‘Home Counties’ remains unclear. One theory relates back to Tudor times, with “home counties” describing the rural areas where the rich and powerful built their stately homes – within horse-riding distance of the Royal courts of London, when called for by the Monarch. What we can be sure of is that the counties of Kent, Surrey, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Essex and Buckinghamshire are all covered in comprehensive detail in this 1951 guide by publishers, Collins. Founded in Scotland in 1819 by William Collins, a presbyterian schoolteacher, Collins started out primarily as publishers of Bibles, but diversified into many other areas, including guidebooks.
In contrast to the mass-produced maps and guidebooks from the major cartographic publishers, regional community presses also produced their own, more concentrated, guides to welcome and help both tourists and local businesses. This charming (undated) publication by the ‘Porlock Publicity Association’ covers territory from Porlock Weir to Selworthy Moors, with maps, photographs and period advertisements. Whether you’re Somerset born and bred, or an enthusiastic visitor to this delightful corner of south-west England, lose yourself in Lorna Doone country (R. D. Blackmore, 1869) with this rare survivor.
Vintage and antique maps and guidebooks are a fascinating depository of history as much as for their intended use of geography. Politics, science, conflict, discovery and demographics are all present on a well draughted map, whether they’re centuries old, or just a few decades. Most of the above selection from the extensive Country House Library collection of vintage maps are priced at less than £20, making them amazing value as works of art to either treasure in their original condition, or to use as a source for unique, framed wall-hangings and conversation pieces, at home or in the workplace.
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