Part of West Riring. The Calder and Hebble Navigation was a part of a wider scheme to improve trans-Pennine canal transport. It covered a distance of 21.5 miles to link Wakefield and Sowerby Bridge. Work began around 1760 and the new canal was opened in 1770. About half of the mileage used the River Calder, the rest involving new cuts. When the Rochdale canal from Manchester to Sowerby Bridge, opened in 1804, it was then possible to travel by river and canal from the Humber to the Mersey. This map shows a short section of the route from Halifax Brook's mouth to Sowerby Bridge. The route had been surveyed by John Eyes and the map was engraved by J. Evans. The date of 1758 may suggest that this map was part of a set included in the papers required for Parliamentary scrutiny.

London Environs. In 1831 Joseph Hutchins Colton set up a publishing company in New York, which grew to be one of the leading US map publishers of the 19th century. After producing a number of individaul maps, Colton's first atlas was issued in 1855, initially titled Colton's Atlas of the World, but changed to Colton's General Atlas from 1857. There were a number of editions up until 1888. This map of the Environs of London - the first London map to be published in the USA - is from the 1859 edition of the work. Around this time Colton seems to have entered into a collaborative venture with with the book seller and publishers Johnson and Browning, who are credited as publishers of the 1859 edition of Colton's atlas. In return, Colton was credited as the publisher of the first 2 editions of Johnson's Family Atlas published in 1860 and 1861. Collaboration subsequently turned into competition.

London Environs/NW Kent. This single sheet is one of four that together make up a larger map of the London Environs, titled An Accurate Map of the Country Sixteen Miles Round London, Drawn and Engrav'd from an Accurate Survey. The sheets were included in 4 separate numbers (January, April, May & June, 1764) of Vol 34 of the Gentleman's Magazine. They were intended to be conjoined into a single map to be bound into the completed volume at the year end. This is the lower/right sheet of the four, and mainly covers part of north-west Kent. No engraver is named. A rare survivor.

Scarborough Environs. This map of the area surrounding Scarborough was one of several small maps drawn and engraved for Blacks' Guide to the County of York, published c 1888, though several editions were probably issued over some years. It is marked as Plate 32, Page 296. The engraver is not named.

Sketch-Map of Devon. An anonymous small map of Devon from an unidentified source. It is titled simply "Sketch-Map of Devon", and is printed by lithography. Tentatively dated to the second half of the 19th century.

London to Bristol (Great Western Railway?). I have not yet been able to trace the source of this map, which is without title or signatures, but would appear to be intended as a railway map, tracing the course of the Great Western Railway from London to Bristol. The appearance of other, short-lived railway companies on the map (notably the Bristol & Gloucester Railway and the Cheltenham, Great Western Union Railway) suggest a date of c1844. Original colour. A small repair to an internal hole.

East Coast of England - Norfolk, Lincolnshire and the Wash. When the Napoleonic wars broke out between England and France the French Admiralty (Depot de la Marine) acquired and copied a number of coastal charts of Britain by various marine surveyors. These were then in c1804/5 collected into volumes which were supplied to the captains of French ships in anticipation of Napoleon's invasion of England (which was eventually called off). This chart of the English east coast, from Lowestoft to the Humber estuary, was one of these charts. It was engraved in 1798 by Etienne Collin, copying an English chart of 1789 by Hamilton Moore. Centrefold and another old, soft fold. Some nibbles and short tears to the outer margins, but otherwise OK.

Doncaster. This plan was drawn to support the sale by auction of 13 individual lots, in central Doncaster and Balby, adjoining Thorne Road, The Town Field, and Balby Road. A contemporary newspaper report of the sale is affixed to the plan. Original colour. Old folds with three minor repairs to a short tear along a fold, and two small holes where folds meet.

Cambridge - Jesus College Chapel Interior. In 1860 a new edition of Le Keux's Memorials of Cambridge was published. As well as the original Le Keux steel engravings, the work contained 9 new etchings by R.H. Farren, a local artist of note who worked in oils and etched. This example of Farren's work shows the interior of Jesus College's chapel..

Cambridge - Trinity College Avenue. Picturesque Europe was a serialised patwork, designed as a showcase for steel and wood engravings after and by significant artists of the day. The 60 parts were published monthly from 1875 to 1880.When sets of parts were completed, they were also sold as complete volumes, building to a full 5-volume set, 2 volumes of which were devoted to the British Isles.This wood-cut print shows the approach to Trinity College from the Backs and Queen's Road, and appeared in part part 19 of the work in 1776/7. It was engraved by J.W. Whymper after a drawing by W.H.J. Boot.

St. John's College - Cloister Gate, New Buildings. Uncoloured lithograph.

Cumnor Place, Wytham. Cumnor Place was originally a grange (outlying farm) belonging to Abingdon Abbey. It dated from the 14th cnetury, but was finally demolished by the Earl of Abingdon in 1810. This etching bears no signatures, and its source publication has not been identified.

Waltham Abbey. The History and Topgraphy of the County of Essex was a serialised partwork, authored by T. Wright, which was issued from 1831. This print shows the Abbey Church and surrounding buildings, and was engraved by Barber after a drawing by W.H. Bartlett.

Sandywell Park, the seat of Walter Lawrence, near Cheltenham. Samuel Young Griffith's book covers the topography and history of Chentenham and the surrounding country to a radius of c30 miles. Sandywell Park is located a few miles to the SE of Chetenham. The house was build around 1704 for Henry Brett, with wings being added some 20 years later. Griffith's text states that further improvements had been made by the then-present owner, Walter Lawrence. The house survives today as private, residential apartments. Some copies of Griffith's work were graced by proof copies of the prints on superior paper, and this print is marked as such. It was engraved by W. Radclyffe after drawings by C. Barber and H. Lamb. A little foxing, but not too noticeable.

Otter's Pool, Watford. The European Magazine was published from 1792 until 1826, eventually building into 89 volumes. It offered an range of content and competed with the Gentleman's Magazine and others. There are no artist or engraver's signatures, the imprint bearing only the name of the publisher J. Sewell, who founded the magazine. Otterspool is a small settlement on the river Colne to the east of Watford town centre. It was clearly once a rural idyll.