Contents
The Tourist Maps of Devon
 Guide Book and Folding Maps 1810 - 1901

 

Plan of the Coast from Jackson's Guide (see Crossing)

Foreword (see below)                             

Preface (see below)    

Acknowledgements (see below)                        

Click the heading to access the appropriate section (in blue). Click The Tourist Books of Devon to access the catalogue of maps so far uploaded.

Introduction   -         The Guide Book                    

                                   Devon Guide Books                 

                                   Centres of Production - London        

                                   Centres of Production - Edinburgh        

                                   Centres of Production - Plymouth             

                                   Centres of Production - Ilfracombe    

                                   Centres of Production - Exeter            

                                   Centres of Production - Teignmouth and Torquay     

Explanation        

Catalogue References         

The Tourist Maps of Devon     - the catalogue - START HERE

Appendix I: Catalogue of Maps listed by Alphabetical Order of Area shown      

Appendix II: County Maps used in Guide Books or issued as Folding Maps       

Illustration from Nettleton's Guide to Plymouth (see Nettleton)

Foreword

The present work is an attempt to identify every map which was published with the potential tourist in mind before 1901 but excluding county maps. You will find a description of every folding map which has been discovered which can be construed as a tourist map. A full catalogue is given at the end (Appendix I) listed by town or area as given in the map title or shown on a map where no title was included. As I would like this to be as full a listing as posible, I hope that visitors will add to the information as they come across new maps or new variations in their own researches.

The intened omissions in this respect will only be those maps which were full representations of the county: these can still be found in the Appendix II at the end of this blog site together with a reference to the map in either The Printed Maps of Devon, or more likely, The Victorian Maps of Devon, both published by Kit Batten and Francis Bennett in 1996 and 2000 respectively. 

A number of maps published for tourists had their origins in maps already published within atlases, e.g. those of Bacon, Cary or Bartholomew. For this reason there are a number of atlas maps included with information on their subsequent history as tourist maps. The first Ordnance Survey of the county was carried out prior to 1809 when the sheets covering Devon were published. During the later 1800s further surveying led to revised sheets being issued. The work of the OS is beyond the scope of this work, but maps specifically published with the tourist industry in mind have been included.

Last, and not least, this work was an early attempt to catalogue my own collection. Consequently, I have taken one or two liberties in my choice of maps to include. I became very interested in the work of John Cooke at an early stage and although some of his work cannot be considered as tourist material I have decided to include all his output executed during his life in Devonshire. I believe he was an important publisher as well as engraver and his work should receive more recognition.

 Kit Batten

Stuttgart, December 2020    

Illustration of four guide book and map covers

Preface 

Devonshire is probably the English county which has been most intensely examined in terms of its mapping history. Margery Rowe and Mary Ravenhill have done an enormous amount of work on the manuscript maps. They have catalogued, and continue to catalogue, the wealth of manuscript material which has been discovered and which continues to turn up. Roger Kain has provided an atlas of tithe mapping. Elisabeth Stewart published a concise work on Plymouth maps and charts, both manuscript and printed. As far as printed material is concerned the Printed Maps of Devonshire 1575 - 1837 appeared in 1996 and the continuation The Victorian Maps of Devon 1838 – 1901 was published in 2000 by Kit Batten and Francis Bennett. In addition Francis Bennett has privately published two books on road maps, both of which go into some detail on Devon history of road mapping. This present volume attempts to catalogue the wealth of map material contained in the guide books or published as folding maps for tourists during the nineteenth century and until the death of Queen Victoria in 1901.

Queen Victoria ruled from 1838, coinciding both with the evolution of the railway (especially in Devon) and the rise in tourism. However, if I had chosen this period I would have missed a number of interesting guides published before this time. In the present volume I have attempted to follow the progress of the map as a tool for the tourist, and hence its inclusion in guide books and, with it, the publishing of those folding maps which would have been designed primarily for tourists.

The first guide I have found with a map was published by John Wallis of Sidmouth in 1810 and in the 91 years covered in this present volume I have identified almost 250 separate plates, listed over 400 states and referenced nearly 600 sources of guide books and maps. I hope I will be forgiven for the quality of some of the illustrations. The images here have been collected over the years and some have been scanned from photocopies or maps have been photographed in situ (to help protect the original guide book). The aim was to help researchers, collectors and the occasional dealer to assign a particular (loose) map to a guide or to gain an idea of exactly how many maps might be extant of a particular area. The reader will find over 330 illustrations within these pages, of which more than one third are in colour.

I would once again like to take this opportunity to thank all those without whose help this cartobibliography could not have been completed: firstly those individuals who have so generously given me access to their collections or who have, so often, resolved difficult problems. Thanks above all to the Exeter Westcountry Studies Library and all the staff; to the librarians and curators who have helped me examine their collections or answered my queries; to the late Eugene Burden and to Tony Burgess for access to their collections and many letters; and finally great thanks are due to the late Francis Bennett whose, friendship, encouragement and help kept me going.

In the course of my research I may have omitted something, overlooked a source or falsely interpreted my notes. I apologise for any errors and welcome correspondence from fellow enthusiasts and collectors.

The Guide to Ifracombe was not dated but headers (above) can help date issues to c.1888, c.1893 and c.1897. See Twiss 1.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following for their permission to use illustrations making it possible for this to be a fully-illustrated carto-bibliography. The staff of all the following instutions have been extremely helpful, not only in providing images, but also in answering correspondence or checking details for me. The numbers refer to entry numbers:

The Westcountry Studies Library in Exeter - now the Devon Archives and Local Studies Service at the Devon Heritage Centre - provided images as photocopies or photographs or allowed the author to photocopy or photograph the following maps: Anon 1 - British Association, Banfield 1, Bartholomew for Charles Pearson, Cay Improved Map 5 (Doidge), Cooke 5 and 6, Culverwell, Featherstone 1 and 2, Heydon 1 and 2, Hutchinson 1, Rowes, E Smith, Torquay Times, Trythall 1 and 2, Vincent, Ward & Lock 10 and 11, Wheaton 1.

Anon 3 - Watering Places, Cockrem 3 and Cockrem 4 are reproduced by permission of the Trustees of the British Library.

Bartholomew for Abel Heywood is reproduced by permission of Manchester City Library.

Bartholomew for W H Smith state 3 and Cooke 3 are reproduced by permission of the late Francis Bennett.

Bartholomew Imperial Maps 3a to 3d, Cassell 3 and Hearder - Plymouth 1 are reproduced by permission of the late Tony Burgess.

Brendon & Son and J Smith are reproduced by permission of the Trustees of the National Library of Scotland.

Brownlow, Cockrem 6, Cranford, Heywood 2, Iredale, OS1 - Torquay 1 and OS 5 - Torquay 2 are reproduced by permission of Torquay Public Library with special thanks to Mark Pool.

Cary Improved Map 3, Ward & Lock 9 and Wyld are reproduced by permission of Torquay Natural History Society (Torquay Museum).

Cooke 1 is reproduced by permission of McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Cooke 11 and Cooke 13.1 are reproduced by permission of West Devon Record Office, Plymouth.

Cooke 15 is reproduced by permission of Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Germany.

In addition: Fig. 5. The page excerpt taken from stock inventory register held by Murray in 1901 was very kindly provided by Ms V Murray (of the John Murray family).

All other illustrations are taken from maps that are or were in possession of the author.

Where I have inadvertently inserted an image from one of the above sources or any other source without mentioning the original ownership, I apologise and would be grateful if the discerning reader could let me know for deletion or mention of source.

Illustration from Nettleton's Guide to Plymouth (see Nettleton)