The Guide Book
Devon Guide Books
Centres of Production - London
Centres of Production - Edinburgh
Centres of Production - Plymouth
Centres of Production - The “Library” at Ilfracombe
Centres of Production - Exeter
Centres of Production - Teignmouth and Torquay
Introduction
One of the interesting developments of the Victorian age was that of the
guide book. From earliest times some people had travelled, and travelled widely.
There are numerous accounts of early travellers who journeyed long distances.
Whether it was Julius Caesar in search of conquest, Arab treasure hunters
seeking archaeological sites, merchant venturers such as Marco Polo in search
of new trade routes or trading partners or people like John Bill, commissioned by Sir Thomas Bodley to travel to the Frankfurt Book
Fair in order to buy the latest
bestseller anno 1600, few either had maps or left maps behind or had the use of
a travel guide in the modern sense. Perhaps the earliest “tourists” were the
countless pilgrims on their journeys to Rome, Santiago de Compostela, Mecca or
the Ganges River. Even in the so-called Dark
Ages not only did people travel but they exchanged information giving rise
to extraordinary maps of the time such as the Hereford Mappa Mundi. Probably the first
European volume to deserve to be called a guide book was Martin Zeiller´s Fidus Acates or Getreuer
Reisegefert of 1653 (literally Faithful Travelling Companion): a description of numerous travel
routes through Germany and Europe accompanied by a map of central Europe.
The presence of a map and a description of the route together with
descriptions of sights worth visiting are essential ingredients of any modern travel
guide. Interestingly, some facets of today's guide books did appear in Britain very
early, for example John Norden's triangular table of distances for
each county - a must for any modern motoring or cycling guide - first appeared
in 1625. And even though this was copied and published together with county
maps by Matthew Simons in 1636 there was little resemblance to a
guide book. John Ogilby (1675) produced the first modern “road map“ which portrayed
only the single road being travelled in strip form with its junctions, bridges
and hills. Like the famous Peutinger Table this was designed more for the
traveller than the tourist but took on a life of its own. Owen and Bowen in 1720 took
the strip form a step further when they added county maps and filled gaps in
the maps with descriptions of towns and places. Their road books, and the many
frequent imitators, at least provided the traveller with a book that would fit
the pocket, another aspect of the modern guide book.
The eighteenth century doctor, lawyer or teacher was avidly interested
in science, history and geography and to satisfy this appetite many of the English
county atlases produced in the late 1700s were more than simply topographical
with accounts of the geography and history of the area, often with their text
taken from Camden’s Britannia[1]. John Cary’s atlases from 1787 onwards were good
examples. The New British Traveller, for
example, published by G A Walpoole in 1784 was actually a monumental work,
combining maps and views with historical information and geography but was not
the sort of book to take outside of one’s own library! One or two British
writers began to introduce places to visit in their historical and geographical
descriptions of the country; for example, Francis Grose in his 1787 Antiquities gave a list of those sites ‘in this county worth notice’ but the maps, reprints of John Seller's 1694 originals,
were not exactly up-to-date, had no roads and would have been a highly
unsatisfactory to any aspiring tourist. It
was not until 1771 with the publication of Daniel Paterson's New and Accurate
Description of the Direct and Principal Cross Roads in England and Wales that a book in English described the actual routes to be taken. He
followed this in 1785 with his British
Itinerary which included a full set of road
strip maps (similar to Owen and Bowen and to be revived by Gall & Inglis in the late nineteenth century).
In 1789 John Cary's Traveller's Companion was published and this included
for the first time county maps which showed all the main coach and post roads
which a traveller would meet. Cary followed his Companion in 1798 with his New
Itinerary, ideally to be kept, if not bound, together with the former work.
These two works taken together were sophisticated road books. Although very dry to today’s readers, each combined volume included a
map of Great Britain, an index of all main routes from London with branch roads
and cross roads, lists of coach routes, inns and staging points on the way, giving the traveller a complete picture of the
route, local estates and houses, with descriptions of the principal towns and
local history.
Bulky works by anyone's standards, Paterson's and Cary's works were
colossal achievements compared to their forerunners. Even so they remained very
much a route book, one where the route to be taken by the traveller is the
focal point, rather than the sightseeing along the way. Additionally, none of these works were arranged in the manner we would
expect to find in today´s typical guide book; an up-to-date map of the area and
of towns along a recommended route with information on things to see and
places worth visiting.
It was not until circa 1805, when G A Cooke's Topographical Survey began to appear, that it was possible
to purchase handy, pocket-sized guides incorporating a map. Cooke´s county
series was available as individual county volumes or in groups of adjoining
counties. The Topographical and
Statistical Description of the County of Devon for example included an
itinerary of the roads, a description of the rivers, agriculture etc, accounts
of the main towns and a small pocket-sized map of the county. This was possibly
the first guide book with the emphasis on scenery rather than the road. Previous
to this there were a large number of dictionaries or gazetteers on the market:
Luckombe’s England’s Gazetteer of 1790 or the General Gazetteer by Brookes, published by Rivington in 1791 (and still on sale by Ward Lock in
1876) were typical, but these again were not guides in the strict sense. In the
manner of an encyclopaedia they listed all towns and villages in alphabetical
order, but often included maps - one general map of England and Wales in the
former and six maps in the latter. It was only after circa 1830 that sets of
county maps were almost always included.Fullarton's A New and Comprehensive
Gazetteer of 1833 with Scott's map of Devon for Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England of 1835 with maps by Creighton are good examples.
As John Vaughan writes[2] the period of the formation of the English guide book (c.1780 to 1870) coincided with the
revitalising of cartography in England. The Ordnance Survey was established in 1791 and in
1801 produced the first of its one-inch county maps, a series completed by
1867, with Devon appearing in 1809. It is also true that many guide book
proprietors saw the advantage of the work of the Ordnance Survey and sought to
use Survey material in their own publications. However, both Paterson and Cary
had surveyed the roads in the late eighteenth century and Cary's maps and
itinerary were commissioned by the Post Master General and were original maps
also much copied by other publishers of the day. And the Greenwood brothers in the nineteenth century, despite
the availability of the Ordnance Survey results, still persevered and produced
their own survey of England and Wales. But, it is true that when and if
Victorian maps contained new and up-to-date information, it was highly likely
that it was based on either Ordnance Survey work or Cary or Greenwood´s mapping as its source material.
A number of travellers journeyed through Devon leaving records of their
travels. Celia Fiennes journeyed “by side saddle”
through the county in 1698 and described everything she saw in notebooks which
were not published until 1888.[3] Daniel Defoe recounted how important the serge
industry in Exeter was and his admiration for Plymouth and the pilchard
industry when he travelled through the county in the 1720s.[4] Dr Samuel Johnson and (later Sir) Joshua Reynolds toured Devon together for 6 weeks
in 1762. However, these semi-biographical writings either focussed on the
traveller, or recounted anecdotes in no particular order, and were not designed
to explain to a future traveller what to expect in terms of sightseeing, accommodation
or suggested routes to take. Perhaps William Wynne was more typical of the traveller
when he made a journey in 1755 from his home in Chelsea to visit land and
property he had inherited in Cornwall. A barrister and judge on the Welsh
circuit he travelled through Devon, recording his itinerary in a diary, during
the period July to September. The trip seems to have been typical for one of
the upper middle class or the landed gentry: a mix of business and pleasure,
not a holiday in the modern sense. He was accompanied by family and servants
and stopped off along the way spending a day in Exeter sightseeing, i.e.
admiring the cathedral and looking for a copy of the Domesday Book in the
cathedral library (he was unsuccessful). In Plymouth on his return journey he did what
many before him had done; he visited the dockyards. The next day, at Mount
Edgcumbe, he was given permission to view the house and gardens and even
invited to dine by the Lord (which he declined).[5] This show of hospitality was typical of the day. If someone was
travelling and had time to view a stately home, then the traveller was
obviously of the right social class to be entertained.
During the late 1700s another sort of guide book appeared: this was what
could be termed the artistic diary.
Both on the continent (especially along the River Rhine) and in Britain,
literate and artistic travellers described in pictures the sights they had
seen. T H Williams Picturesque Excursions in Devonshire and Cornwall (published by John Murray in 1804, Fig. 4) is typical,
being 108 pages describing some of the scenery of the county accompanied by
superb engravings taken from drawings he made along the way. Born in 1752 in
Ashburton the Reverend John Swete journeyed extensively throughout
Devon from 1789 to 1800 producing wonderful watercolours and sketches along the
way.[6] J M W Turner is known to have visited Devon at
least three times (in 1811, 1813 and 1814) and the sketches he made inspired
paintings he executed for years afterwards. However, the sketch books and notes
these artists made were either not published (or published at the time) or were
hardly what we would today call a tourist guide.
Fig. 4: Title page and vignette to Picturesque Excursions (T H Williams, 1804).
Another popular type of literary work around this time and which
continued into the 1800s was the historical description of a town or
neighbourhood. Richard Izacke had published his Antiquities of the City of Exeter as early as 1677. A comprehensive
account of the history of that city, with a map and copious records of events,
it was never intended as a guide. The
History and Description of the City of Exeter by Alexander Jenkins over a hundred years later (published
1806) continued Izacke’s work in the same vein but was never a tourist guide.
Other towns received similar coverage: Martin Dunsford writing about Tiverton
(1792) or John Watkins An Essay Towards a History of Bideford (1793).
The development of the guide book probably had more to do with the
increase in leisure time enjoyed by the working class and coincided with the
availability of several first class map products. Indeed with the arrival of
steam, either in the form of trains as in Great Britain, or in the form of
steamers as seen on the River Rhine at about the same time, travel increased
exponentially over the next decades. And increased travel required books
explaining the ways and means of travel and the expected sights along the way –
it required guide books.
A major factor that undoubtedly led to increased demand for guide books was
the steady decrease in the number of hours being worked. The Bank Holidays Act was first passed in 1871. Before
then, although some seasonal workers might migrate
looking for work, the working classes rarely travelled much further than to the
nearest market town. Employers were not known for being generous in providing
leisure for their employees: Sunday was still very much a day of rest, and
Christmas and Good Friday were both traditional holidays.
From 1834 there were two further recognised bank holidays (1st
May and 1st November). However, Boxing
Day, Easter Monday and Whit Monday were only holidays according to the whim of
the employer. Sir John Lubbock[7] promoted the
Act of 1871 to include these three days (in England, Wales and Scotland), hence
they were sometimes popularly known as St Lubbock's Days, but the immediate
impact was slight. The Act was extended by the Holidays Extension Act of 1875.
William Collins, an influential publisher, seems to have
been something of a leader in recognising the importance of increased leisure
time for workers: in the mid-1800s he reduced the weekly working hours of his
printers from sixty-six to sixty hours a week - an example quickly followed by
the other master printers of Glasgow. And by the end of 1870 he had reduced
them again to fifty-seven - an announcement which his workers greeted, said a
contemporary report, with ‘immense applause’. By 1895 his workers were working
fifty two and a half hours a week.[9]
With reduced working hours came more leisure time. The advent of the
railway also provided a quick and easy method of travelling for the masses.
Instead of walking or riding a horse and cart to the next village, a short
train journey might take them to the nearest coast or into the countryside. Although
not cheap, Torquay to Exeter return 3rd class for the Agricultural
Show in 1850 would still cost 2s 1d,
it would now attract the growing middle classes. While a scullery maid might
earn £1 a month, the cook £50 a year and a gardener as much as £90 per annum
the working class household earned some £58 per year and the middle class
family income was £154 on average. The tourist industry was born. Tourist maps
and guide books were needed. The end of the nineteenth century also saw a
tremendous rise in the popularity of cycling and with it an enormous output of
mapping material associated with the new sport. Many maps that had originally
been produced for guide books or atlases were adapted to show information vital
to the cyclist such as repair stations and accommodation or the gradients of
hills, eg Bartholomew's map for Pattisons, or Gall & Inglis' Contour Road Maps. So popular was the
sport that printing runs of 60,000 cycling maps were not uncommon.[10]
The word guide in the sense of
one who shows the way has been around since the 14th century,
derived from old French meaning of to guide, lead or conduct. The word was in
use in the 18th century for a book but the term guide book is probably more recent. Lord Byron mentions the term guide-book in
his poem Don Juan in 1823:
While
Nature, tortured twenty thousand ways,
Resigns
herself with exemplary patience
To guide-books, rhymes, tours,
sketches, illustrations.
Earlier writers had used the word Guide, with Christopher Anstey (1724-1802) publishing his New Bath Guide in 1766 (also mentioned in Don Juan). The names Survey, Panorama
or Picture were also often used but
the word guide quickly caught on and
publishers proceeded to use it regularly. In Exeter, Henry
Besley preferred the name Route Book and indeed many other writers used the idea of
the route to plan the descriptions of those sights worth seeing. Another term
that became popular from 1850 was Handbook[11], a term used by both John Murray II and Henry Besley about this time
and later adopted by Nelson's and then by Thomas Cook & Sons.
Devon Guide Books
Between 1800 and Victoria’s accession in 1838 there was a subtle change
from the purely historical or artistic volume to the informative
tourist-centred guide format and the modern guide started to take shape.
In 1812 two separate guides to the Plymouth area appeared. A View of Plymouth-Dock, Plymouth and the
adjacent Country was published by A Granville & Son of Plymouth complete with a map
by Neele of London. At the same time The Picture of
Plymouth being a correct guide to the
public establishments was published in Plymouth
by Rees and Curtis and in London by Longman, Hurst,
Rees, Orme and Brown. The authors of both works remained anonymous but the
second work is usually attributed to Henry Woollcombe, Mayor of Plymouth 1813-14. Not only does this contain one of the first
directories in Devon but it also refers the reader to one of its primary
sources The Beauties of England and Wales by John Britton and Edward Brayley, a series begun in 1801 (Devon appearing in 1803 but with maps dated
1805). Typical of the time it contains wonderful descriptions of the county, is
richly illustrated and has maps of Devon and of Exeter. Another early example
of local publishing by a clerical writer is The
Panorama of Plymouth; or, tourist's guide to the principal objects of interest, in the towns
and vicinity of Plymouth, Dock, and Stonehouse. This
was written by Samuel Rowe (1793-1853) and published in 1821
and is a good example of a thorough local guide covering most topics succinctly
and authoritatively.
Local guides with area maps or town and city plans proliferated:
Banfield´s guides to Ilfracombe (1830), Cooper´s Sketch of Lynton (1853), Chanter´s Lundy (1877), Blewitt´s Panorama of Torquay (1832), Coles and Owen´s Guide to Bideford was based on Granville´s History of Bideford published just 11 years earlier (1894),
Cranford´s Up and Down the River Dart (1890), Croydon´s guides to Teignmouth and Torquay (1826 and 1841), Fairweather´s Salcombe (1884), Freeman´s Memorials of Exmouth with up to date maps of town and surrounding
(1885), Gregory´s Brixham in Devonia (1896), first Mogridge and then Hutchinson´s guides to Sidmouth (1836 and from 1857 respectively), Cornelius’ Dawlish guide (1868) and Wright´s Okehampton (1887).
At the same time ephemeral works appeared with county maps such as Ferny Combes by Charlotte Tranter: half guide book and half personal experiences, Ferny Combes was illustrated with ferns of the
area and included a specially produced county map. Mackenzie Walcott's Guide to the Coasts was also published with a county map. A local
writer towards the end of the century, John Ward Page, wrote three books on
Devon: The Coasts of Devon; The Rivers of Devon; Dartmoor (as well as a book on Exmoor). All are good descriptions of the countryside written in guide style
and each contains a map of the county. One guide book which was frequently
reprinted was Arthur Norway's Highways and Byways in
Devon and Cornwall. Appearing in 1897, it was reprinted in 1898 and 1900 and several times
in the twentieth century, appearing as a pocket edition in 1923.
There were also centres of activity of special note: John Banfield at The Library in Ilfracombe was
especially productive; the Croydons in Teignmouth and Torquay were successful
publishers; a number of publishers were strongly represented in the Plymouth
area; and perhaps the most successful local publisher, Henry Besley wrote the first guide to
Devonshire even before the great London and Edinburgh publishing houses of
Murray or A & C Black produced their guides to the
county. All of these publishers saw the need for folding maps in covers: for
the large number of day trippers taking advantage of cheap rail transport and
increased holidays; or for the cyclist when this sport boomed at the end of the
1800s.
Centres of Production - London
The famous Murray firm was
founded by John Murray I (1737-1793). He printed his first guide in 1769: A Description of Bath by John Wood. However, Murray's
famous series of guides began in 1836 under the
stewardship of John Murray II (1778-1843[13]) with a general
guide to European countries and by 1855 there were red Murray guides to most
places worth visiting. However, it was his son, John III (1808-1892) who had the idea for the entire series and who
wrote some of the first guides. Murray’s guide to Devon and Cornwall was his
first county guide, appearing in 1850
with a map of Devon by J & C Walker. By 1899, when the
guide to Warwickshire was published, there were some sixty volumes in the
series. An impressive tribute to their popularity was the recognition by
Baedeker. His first Handbook, to Holland and Belgium,
appeared in 1839; in the preface he wrote that Murray's Handbook for Travellers on the Continent had formed its basis and some of his later
works also contained acknowledgements to Murray.[14] The Murray guides
were so good that Professor Jack Simmons when writing about some twentieth century
guide books wrote that ‘Murray's Handbook of 1851 is
still, from many points of view, the most profitable guide-book to use in Devon
and Cornwall in 1951’.[15]
Murray’s
Hand-Book for Travellers to Devon & Cornwall was first published in 1850 and
was reissued the following year. Although only 18 months or so passed between
the two issues (Lister quite rightly refers to them as the First and Second
Editions)[16] a great deal
changed during that time. Lister has shown that the author of the first edition
was T C Paris. Thomas Clifton Paris was born in Cornwall, his father being a
well-known physician. He was educated at Harrow and attended Trinity College in
Cambridge. He worked at Somerset House where he entered the Literary Department
of the Principal Probate Registry. He became Registrar of Hereford Probate
Court in 1872 and remained there until his death in 1909. He could have met
John Murray in London and during his stay in the capital became active in the
authorship of various guides. He was paid £105,00 for his work on the first
edition of Devon and Cornwall. During his time at Somerset House he
participated in the first four editions of the Devon and Cornwall Handbooks,
and also wrote or corrected the first and second editions of the handbook to Wilts, Dorset and Somerset (receiving
£140 in 1856 for the first and £35.10.0 in 1859 for editing the second
edition). He also wrote or edited the Knapsack
Guide to Switzerland (1867) and the Handbook to Switzerland (1871-72; £250). His final work for Murray was
a revision of Switzerland prior to the publication of the 15th
edition in 1874, for which he received £63.
The first edition of Devon and
Cornwall ran to 196 pages including index. The work started with an
Introduction comprising sections on geology, antiquities, mines, traveller’s
view, old language (i.e. Cornish) and the Duchy of Cornwall (pp. i-xliii).
Devonshire then followed (1-106) with Cornwall (107-191) and a three page
index. The Hand-Book Advertiser 1850
comprising 24 pages of advertisements, mainly aimed at English visitors abroad,
completed the work. When the work reappeared in 1851/52 there had been
wholesale changes. Seven pages of Skeleton Tours opened the handbook. This was
followed, from page xiv, by the geology and other sections from the previous
edition’s Introduction, although these had been amended and enlarged (and
finished at page lvi). Page 1 began with Devon, as before, but even here
changes had been made. Substantial revisions and inclusions were made so that
pagination was completely new. Some change or other will be noticed on almost
every page. It is no small wonder that T C Paris was paid another £135 for his
work on this edition. Although the actual routes described remained the same in
the Third Edition they were also revised necessitating new pagination from page
1 and the inclusion of two further routes for the fourth edition meant new
information and a new layout.
Murray’s first editions of Devon & Cornwall contained only county
maps and it was not until the Fifth Edition (1863) that town plans or regional
maps were added and first with the 9th edition
(1879) did Murray separate Devon and Cornwall into two separate handbooks. Murray liked to use local writers as much as possible and
these later editions were revised by Richard John King (1818-79). King came from Plymouth and studied at Exeter College, Oxford. He not
only carried out revisions to a large number of these guide books but he also
contributed to other works including the Encyclopaedia
Britannica published by A & C Black. A well-known historian,
King became President of the Devon Association; he died at Crediton in 1879.
Each edition was extensively revised and Murray employed other writers such as
the Rev. H S Wilcocks, C Worthy and W O Goldschmidt. They brought the guides up to date and banished ‘some of those minute
details interesting only to the antiquary and those portions of the legendary
lore which appeared so trivial’ (Ninth Edition) or they introduced ‘many facts
which recent investigations or church restorations have brought to light’
(Tenth Edition). Rev. Horace Stone Wilcocks, who contributed to the Devon issue
of 1879, was born at Exeter (1835) became Vicar of St. James-the-Less church in
Plymouth, resigned after a dispute with the Bishop of Exeter and died in
Plymouth in 1912; Charles Worthy, paid £10 for corrections to the 9th edition
and £52.10.0 to edit the 10th edition, was born at Exeter. Another contributor
to the guide of 1879, and to the Cornwall
Handbook of 1882, was Sir John C B
Milton, a cousin of Anthony Trollope, he was awarded
his knighthood for services during the Crimean War. [17]
When John Murray III died in
1892 the company was facing strong competition not only from the Blacks and
Dulau but also from Baedeker. John Murray IV finally sold the series (excluding Japan and India) to Edward Stanford in 1901.[18] Under the terms of the agreement, dated 30th April 1901,
Stanford bought up the stock and copyright of all other guides for £2000. The
accompanying listing seems to indicate that a total of 321 copies of Devon were
still available (Fig. 5).
Stanford´s
own guides to the county were out of print and he needed a replacement. R N
Worth´s Tourist´s Guide to North Devon and Tourist´s
Guide to South Devon had been
available since 1878-79 but they were inferior in quality and quantity compared
to Murray´s handbooks or the series of Thorough
Guides being marketed by another London company, Dulau. Richard Nicholls
Worth (1837-1896), was a popular Devon journalist, geologist,
author and editor. His books included a History
of Devonshire, other local histories such as Devonport, sometime Plymouth Dock, History of Plymouth from the earliest period to present time and
other county guides such as Somerset and Dorset. His Tourist’s Guide to North and South
Devon were finally reprinted by Stanford´s in 1894 (Sixth edition). However, Stanford does not appear to have reprinted
the handbook and only sold off the old stock with the addition of his name on
the spine.
Dulau & Co. began to publish their two
companion Thorough guides to North Devon and North Cornwall and South Devon and South Cornwall from
1882. These also included sectional maps by John Bartholomew of Edinburgh, transfers
from earlier Bartholomew plates which later appeared in the Royal Atlas, and were not maps of the whole county. However, the guides also had a key or index map printed on the inside
front cover to help tourists. These guides were also very popular and ran to
many editions through the last years of the century and began to include town
plans of Ilfracombe (1882), Exeter (1884), Plymouth etc. (1884) and Torquay
(1892). The first volume in the series, English
Lake District, is notable as here John George Bartholomew effectively introduced layer colouring into
Britain (in the sectional maps).[19] Both volumes were written by
Charles Slegg Ward, and he and M J B Baddeley were the series editors.
Mountford John Byrde Baddeley (1843-1906), a school master, earned his
reputation as the compiler of these Thorough
Guide books for pedestrians. He settled in the Lake District which he
popularized as a pleasure resort. According to the advertising text in the
guides: In English topographical writing for
tourists, the Thorough Guide Series is so far ahead of any other that there can
scarcely be said to be a good second to it. (Saturday Review, August 28th, 1886). The Times (August 3rd, 1887) even went so
far as to compare a Baddeley with a Baedeker. A cursory glance at the contents page and page numbering of different
editions seems to imply little up-dating, however, a lot of new detail was
added for each issue.
The South Devon guide was re-issued in the twentieth century: the
Seventh edition (revised) published by Thomas Nelson and Son (London, Edinburgh, Dublin and New York) in
1908[20]; an
eighth edition appeared in 1915 also by T Nelson; and the final edition of the
southern guide was printed c.1925 and
published by Ward, Lock & Co.
Another London company to exploit the growing leisure market was Ward, Lock and Co. who produced their first guides to Devon in 1886-87. These illustrated guides were issued as North Devon and South Devon with individual sections on local areas but bound together in the two volumes. However, only a few of these early guides have been seen; it would appear that Ward & Lock were sure of financial success and began quite early to publish guides to more local areas. Originally these guides contained copious engravings and woodcuts, but these were replaced by photographs in the 1890s. The map of north or south Devon that accompanied these guides to the end of the century were those of Henry Besley of Exeter and first published in his Route Book Of Devon (as was the map of Torquay). The Red Guide series continued and guides were produced into the second half of the twentieth century with transfers of John Bartholomew's maps of 1895 still being used to provide area maps.
Fig. 6: The first Devon guide with local map: The Beauties of Sidmouth, see Neele 1.
Centres of Production - Edinburgh
Murray's greatest rival was probably the Edinburgh
firm of Adam & Charles Black. Adam Black (1784-1874) established the
business in 1807 bringing his nephew Charles (1807-1854) into the firm in 1833[21]. Adam Black is even known to have visited Exeter in
1837 as part of a long selling trip. He arrived with just £5 in his pocket and
had to borrow money for the return to Scotland. Black's Economical Tourist of Scotland appeared in 1826 and the first of
Black's popular series of guides (most of them written and revised by the
family)[22] appeared in 1839 with the publication of guides to
Edinburgh and Glasgow. The series progressed and in 1841 the first regional
guide to the English Lakes appeared and two years later a guide to England and
Wales. The series then expanded steadily, at first with city guides then with
county guides from c.1855 including Black’s Guide to Devonshire & Cornwall including
the Scilly Islands.[23] The first edition combined Devon with Cornwall (1855-1859) and was a
rather slim volume. This was replaced by a new and completely revised edition
in 1862. This guide book series was phenomenally successful, and Blacks
published their guide to Devonshire almost annually until the
beginning of the twentieth century.
The first volume combined Devon and Cornwall but in the new edition from
1862 Blacks not only combined the counties of Devon, Dorset and Cornwall but
also published the individual counties, i.e. there was a separate Devonshire volume also available, but
retaining the pagination of the combined volume. Unlike Murray, who strived to
keep his guides up-to-date, the Blacks do not appear to have had such ambitions
and the early editions of their guide to Devonshire
remained virtually identical as far as the text is concerned and the pagination
of Devonshire ran from page 95 to page 272. Extensive
revisions were, however, carried out about 1882 and editions after this
included a new map, and the pages were renumbered and for the first time. Devonshire now starts on page 1 - twenty
years after its first appearance! In 1892 further revisions were carried out,
probably by Charles Worthy of Exeter. He had served in India and took up
studying antiquities when invalided out of the army in 1864. He lived at
Heavitree, contributed to the Devon
issues of Murray's handbooks of 1879 and 1887, and also wrote Devonshire Parishes in the Archdeaconery
of Totnes.[24]
After Blacks' success in publishing a guide to
the three south-western counties of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset followed by the
guides to each of the counties it would have seemed reasonable to follow with
individual guides for the tourist resorts, or at least areas. Yet it took them
forty years to realise that there was a growing market for such guides and only
in 1901 did Black's Guide to Torquay and
the South Hams, Paignton, Dartmouth, Totnes, Kingsbridge, Salcombe, Etc. appear, priced sixpence and in paperback format.
Just as their original Devonshire text
remained virtually unchanged from 1862 to 1881 the new guide to Torquay was no
exception. The Preface warns the reader that ‘The bulk of these pages make part
of our general Guide to Devon, which accounts for what may seem the irregular
pagination of this section, in which pp. 9 to 65 come to be omitted’. The text is a virtual copy of that
found in the Devon volume published
in the same year. Four maps were included: a map of Torquay, expanded but from the same plate that had been used since
1862; sectional maps of Torquay District
and Dartmoor District (also from the Devon guide) and the county map, minimally
revised, was that used for the Encyclopaedia
Britannica in 1877. Up until the mid-1890s all maps had been prepared by
John Bartholomew but new maps were produced in
1895 by Walker & Boutall.
When the maps in Black’s
guides are compared to those of his London rival, John Murray, Black’s maps do
seem to be slightly more up-to-date. Murray’s first editions all contained a
county map and it was not until the Fifth Edition appeared in 1863 that a map
of Exeter was included. A map of Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport was
included in the Sixth Edition of 1865. Both of these maps were replaced by
larger maps by Edward Weller in 1879 for the Ninth Edition and these were
included in all further editions, i.e. Tenth Edition from 1887 and Eleventh
Edition from 1895. The greatest change was for the Eleventh Edition when, in
addition to the two maps mentioned, eight further maps were included, plans of
Torquay and Ilfracombe and several sectional coastline maps. The town maps in
this edition were by Stanford’s Geographical Institute and the sectional maps were
again by John Bartholomew.
From the beginning A & C
Black included other maps in their guides; Torquay, Dartmoor Forest and River
Tamar (Upper and Lower Portions), Plymouth, Devonport & Stonehouse and from
1882 a map of Exeter. A map of Ilfracombe was added in 1889. As with the text,
Blacks was not too interested in accuracy or being up-to-date. The Plymouth,
Devonport & Stonehouse map, for example, has 13 states from 1862 to 1901 but 5 of these
were only changes to signature and imprint. Exeter appears in 4 states but two simply
refer to changes to the list added below the map. Interestingly, the map of
Torquay shows the largest number of states and changes. In the 39 years
1862-1901 the author has detected 21 states, only three of which are merely
alterations to the printer’s signature or the imprint. The large number of
changes can only mean that the printer of the maps, John Bartholomew, had a
correspondent in the town who kept him up to date with all the new
developments.
After
an apprenticeship with the Edinburgh company W & D Lizars, George Bartholomew (1784-1871) established himself as an engraver
in Edinburgh. George’s son, John I (1805-61), set up his own business also
producing work for Lizars. His son, John Bartholomew II (1831-93), and another
John George Bartholomew (1860-1920), continued the work of the
company.[25] The
Bartholomew family also produced maps for other publishers as well as maps for
the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Among
the earliest of major cartographic works of John Bartholomew II (1831-1893) was his engraving of the Imperial Map of England & Wales, published in 1868. It was not
long before both county and regional maps were being prepared from these plates. Both W H Smith and A & C Black offered
folding maps under their own imprints and in addition Houlston and Wright, later Houlston & Sons, were offering various maps of Devon taken from the Imperial Map plates. The Thorough Guides series published by Dulau and Co. from 1888 onwards made extensive use of the plates and towards the
end of the century updated transfers were taken
to produce excursion maps and local guide maps for other publishers such as G W
Bacon & Co., Charles Pearson, Abel Heywood, Varnan Chown & Co. and Darlington and maps
published in The Royal Atlas of England
and Wales (circa 1900) originally came from
the Imperial Map.
Towards
the end of the century John Bartholomew & Co. produced a series of
half-inch to the mile travelling maps for
Tourists & Cyclists. These new maps were larger than the county maps
produced and used in the later Black's and Murray's guides (149) and were completely overprinted in
colour depicting accurately the heights of the landscape. It was, in fact, the
first systematic commercial application of layer colouring to maps in Britain.
A key to the height of land and the
scale of colours was added for ease of use. There were 37 sheets covering
England and Wales. Devon was produced on two sheets covering North and South
Devon, and for clarity and detail they are excellent examples of late
nineteenth century map production. The
maps had a long and varied life. The first sheets with colour contouring (South
Devon and Surrey) appeared in 1895 and, according to the Bartholomew Printing
Records held at the National Library of Scotland, North Devon and Sussex
followed in 1896. However, the South Devon map was first published by W H Smith & Son in 1895 (as map 24 in their series
of Travelling Maps). Additionally the
plates were used to produce sectional maps for Murray's 11th edition of the Handbook for Travellers in Devonshire in 1895-1901. The Dulau Thorough Guides also used sectional transfers from about the same date.
From 1896 the map series was numbered: North Devon and South Devon became 35 (1898) and 36 (1899) respectively. From 1901 the maps were printed with the Cyclists' Touring Club symbol. Bartholomew published and sold these maps, either on paper or mounted on cloth, under his own imprint from The Geographical Institute, first in Park Road and from 1911, Duncan St., Edinburgh. Early in the next century G W Bacon was selling maps produced from the same plates but without the layered colour. The North and South sheets, with new titles and numbering were still on sale in the 1950s. (For more information on this series click here.)
John
Bartholomew & Son became a private limited company in 1919 and continued as
a family business until 1980 when it was bought by Reader’s Digest. It
subsequently came into the ownership of Rupert Murdoch and his News
International Corporation in 1985 and
connection with the family ceased in 1987. Since 1989 the company has been
owned by HarperCollins Publishers.
Centres of Production - Plymouth
As mentioned above, two of the earliest guides to be published in Devon were both on Plymouth and were printed and published in 1812. A View of Plymouth-Dock, Plymouth and the adjacent Country was published by A Granville & Son of Plymouth complete with a map by Neele of London, a flourishing company during the 1800s. At the same time The Picture of Plymouth being a correct guide to the public establishments was published in Plymouth by Rees and Curtis and in London by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown. This contained a map by John Cooke dated 1811. Although the authors of both works remained anonymous (at least they are not named on title page or in text) the second work is usually attributed to Henry Woollcombe. By the 1820s when a new guide appeared (but retaining the same map in this work) there were a number of new printers and publishers active in the Plymouth area. James Johns was at Fore Street in Plymouth Dock (i.e. Devonport) and was succeeded by W Byers who became Bookseller and Printer to H R H The Duke of Clarence before becoming Bookseller to His Late Majesty; Rowes were at Whimple Street, Plymouth; Edward Nettleton had a flourishing business also at Whimple Street, Plymouth and was also Printer and stationer to H R H The Duke of Clarence; and W Colman was also in Devonport. Byers not only published editions of The Tourist’s Companion with Cooke’s 1811 map but also published one of the earliest known guides to a stately home. A Walk Round Mount Edgcumbe was first published c. 1807 and already in its 11th edition by 1841. Edward Nettleton flourished certainly between 1801 and 1847 and produced The Plymouth, Plymouth-Dock, Stonehouse, Morice Town, and Stoke Directory in 1822,
However, the most productive person in the first half of the eighteenth
century as far as guides and maps is concerned must be John Cooke. It would appear that John Cooke was born in London in 1765 and worked
from about 1790 until 1812 from various addresses in London, mainly as an
engraver but he did produce one atlas and a manual of map making. The first map to link a John Cooke with south Devon, and in particular
the Plymouth area was a map of the land owned by the St Aubyn family in the
parish of Stoke Damerell. This map was completed in 1810, two years before his
atlas was published from an address in London. The signature on the map is John
Cooke, London. However, the next map of John Cooke was a much simplified
version of the former map and is simply signed by John Cooke. Interestingly
when this map reappeared (some 12 years later!) the signature had changed to
John Cooke New Road Stonehouse. Over the last few years a large number of maps,
plans and charts have ben found signed by Cooke, and it would appear that at
some time between 1812 and 1817 he moved to Stonehouse where he remained until
his death in 1845.[26] Many of the maps he engraved were used in local guides.
In the second half of the century a number of names emerge including W
H Maddock a leading lithographer (1850-80)
who printed maps for Heydon, Cornelius, and others as well as publishing his
own folding maps of Plymouth. Other publishers who were
active in the area of guides or tourist maps during this period were Trythall
who published (at least) two directories on the Three Towns; W Brendon who became well-known for
publishing the Transaction of the Devonshire Society; Byers, Foster and Luke
all prepared tourist guides and/or maps. One especially
enterprising publisher was William Wood whose The Hand-Book to South Devon and Dartmoor
was first published c.1855. Wood published a great number of local guide books including ten editions of
the Hand-Book of Devonport, he also
issued The Three Towns’ Almanack,
from 1860 until 1896, Rambles and
Excursions (Plymouth) and a Handbook to
Cornwall. All were illustrated with maps.
The first two editions of William Wood’s South Devon handbook included a
copy of the Ebden/Duncan county map first published in 1825 (95); this was printed with a new title Devonshire From A Recent Survey With The Railways (and is included
as a new map in the revised edition of Victorian
Maps of Devon). However, when the Hand-Book
was reissued this was replaced by a map of the southern part of the county.
Later copies of the almanack contained this smaller map of South Devon,
possibly amended by W G Cooper, engraver and lithographer in Union Street,
Stonehouse.
The third edition of the south Devon guide also included maps of Exeter
and Plymouth. The Exeter map was engraved and printed by the company Palmer and
Stone of 3, Waterbeer St, Exeter.
Palmer and Stone succeeded to the business of Angel & Co. and were offering copperplate and
lithographic printing services in 1857[27], together with maps, plans, bill
heads etc. William Wood also reprinted Cooke’s 4-sheet map of Plymouth and
Environs and included it in a number of his tourist guides.
Centres of Production - The “Library” at Ilfracombe
John Banfield established Banfield's Library in 1823 and was advertising a stock of some 3000 volumes by the 1840s. The reading room was open to both Ladies and Gentlemen at moderate fees, and also for the benefit of holidaymakers to the north coast. Banfield was not only printer but also bookseller, stationer, and lodging-house keeper; stamp distributor, and Actuary of the Savings Bank at his premises at 9, High Street[28]. Banfield began publishing views and guide books of north Devon and Ifracombe from the early 1830s when the first known guide book was issued. Banfield also published Scenery in the North of Devon from c.1837 which was a popular volume at the time; this included a set of lithographs (some by W Gauci and G Rowe). A Guide to Ilfracombe and the Neighbouring Towns was reprinte often between 1830 and 1842 and usually included two maps. Later editions would include line engravings and small views within the letterpress.
The North Devon Handbook was first published by John Banfield in c.1856. The guide itself was edited by the Reverend George Tugwell of Oriel College, Oxford who became Curate of Ilfracombe, living at Osborne House. The Handbook contained sections on Archaeology and Natural History as well as Topography and the original work contained a map of North Devon signed by W Gauci. The book was revised and reprinted in c.1862 with additional botanical material supplied by the Rev. T F Ravenshaw. In all there were four editions of the complete Handbook with numerous other guides issued which were, in fact, reduced issues of this work and which almost invariably included maps. The first edition of his The North Devon Handbook contained a map of the north coast. This showed the geological strata from Henry De la Beche’s Report. Subsequent issues always included a map. One map to be included was a close copy of one originally published by Besley and Son as Besleys' Plan of Ilfracombe and Lynton.
Fig. 7: Twiss and Son's Library at Ilfracombe circa 1890.
George
Tugwell bought Southcliffe Hall in the
1860s (the building dated from the 1740s), the first vicar of Lee. The estate
included surrounding land, Lower Warcombe House and the Old Maids Cottage.
Reverend Tugwell was a keen naturalist, an expert on marine life and the author
of guide books as well as publications on religious topics and the natural
sciences. He knew many famous artists and authors, including George Eliot, who
in 1856 visited Lee. She described Tugwell as "a charming little
zoological curate who is a delightful companion on expeditions". Tugwell
died at Southcliffe in 1910, aged 81.[29]
One
of the ways in which Banfield managed to keep his guides on sale was to include
engravings of Ilfracombe views in his works. Engravings contained in The North Devon Handbook were drawn by
Gauci (e.g. Lee near Ilfracombe) or after W Willis. The Gauci family lived and
worked in London but possibly had associations with the westcountry. M Gauci was a lithographer of costumes, portraits and
topographical views.
Gauci’s
two sons, Paul and William followed in his footsteps.[30] They produced a number of plates for Banfield’s Scenery in the North of Devon. Paul produced plates for R
Woodroffe’s Views in Bath (c.1840). William produced many more plates including those for G H
P White’s Four Views on the River
Dart (c.1830),
J Baker’s Views of the Landslip at
Axminster (1840), and C F Williams’ Six Views of Berry Pomeroy (c.1840). The Rev.
Tugwell also produced The North Devon
Scenery Book which was illustrated by Hanhart after H B Scougall with eight litho plates (1856 with 2nd Ed. c.1863; JVSC S.206).
As
mentioned, a large number of shorter guides with text extracted from Tugwell’s
work were also issued, often as Banfield’s
Shilling Guide. Banfield must have ceased trading c.1872 as about then the guide became Stewart's Shilling Guide Book to North Devon; and, in turn (c.1879), as Milligan & Co.'s (Late Stewart's) Shilling Guide Book to North Devon.
Milligan took over 9 High Street, Ilfracombe, c.1879 and continued to offer the services previously provided by Banfield and Stewart. He obviously took over The Library, Ilfracombe, from Stewart and continued selling anything to do with paper. In his guide of c.1879 he was advertising the Library (established 1823 and now boasting 9000 volumes), Ilfracombe Steam Printing (est. 1820) and he was selling the Ilfracombe Gazette (est. 1854) from his premises. As Banfield and Stewart before him, he was not amiss to looking for any opportunity to make money and was also advertising visitor's souvenirs, playing cards and all forms of written music (and even offering pianofortes for hire).
Fig. 8: The Library at Ilfracombe circa 1890.
Milligan & Co's business was taken over by Twiss
sometime after 1882 as both businesses were operating simultaneously in that
year[31]. The Twiss family took over the
library (now boasting 10,000 volumes, see Figs. 7 and 8) as successor to
Stewart and Milligan. The family may have moved
from Cambridge. The
company was probably established by Mrs Twiss and she advertised in Besley’s
hardback and paperback versions of his North Devon guides in 1880 and 1881
respectively. At this time her premises were 38 High Street (next to the post
office) and she advertised as Stationery and fancy repository. Later the firm
operated from number 9 in the High Street, previously Banfield's address from
the 1840s. A woodcut on page 3 of the Twiss Illustrated
Guide shows the Twiss premises and signs indicate both a circulating
library and the Gazette and Arrival List. Adverts show that they were reissuing
Tugwell's guide complete, abridged[32] and in its Sixpenny form.
The
official census of 1891 lists Mary Twiss as head of the household with two
sons, daughters Jane (30) and Emily (27), together with an assistant, two
apprentices, a cook and a housemaid were registered. At this time Mary was 54
and she and the two sons were each listed as bookseller and stationer. The
Twiss brothers, stationers were registered at the Arcade in 1930. This would
probably have been Frederic and Walter (29 and 24 at the time of the 1891
census); they were operating as Twiss Bros. from early in the 20th century.
One
of their first publications was Twiss and
Son's Illustrated Guide to Ilfracombe and North Devon, with Plans and
Maps. Published at a price of one shilling it was
full of woodcuts and engravings, including five after etchings by Grace
Chanter, as well as the inevitable adverts. There were two roughly drawn sketch
maps and one combined map and plan. The former maps were of the area around
Lynton and an overall view of the north coast from Morte Point to Combe Martin.
These were roughly executed with much hachuring. The third map was a
combination of a detailed map of North Devon and a town plan of Ilfracombe
modelled on those produced by Besley and Banfield. This combined map has the
imprint of G W Bacon who was responsible for the coastal map. This was a
lithographic copy of John Cary's Improved Map of England and Wales reduced lithographically to
produce regional maps at 1/5" (i.e. Newton
Abbot District – see p.14) and the north coast section of Twiss's map is
from this map. The town plan is typical for G W Bacon's style at this time.
Twiss and Son's Illustrated Guide was republished a number of times. The Lynton map only appeared in
early editions and the coastal map was omitted in editions after c.1893. When a new edition was published
c.1893 there were two new maps, both
probably drawn by someone local at the request of the Twiss company: Twiss & Sons Plan of Ilfracombe; and
North Devon.
During this time Twiss also produced books of views. Their North Devon Views (c.1900) contained glazed photo-lithographic engraved views mounted on one concertina-like sheet. The earlier plan of Ilfracombe (but without the coastal map) was pasted inside the back cover. The New Album of Views was advertised in the Illustrated Guide so must have been available from about the same time.
Centres of Production - Exeter
Although Exeter had been an important publishing city for decades with
Trewman being particularly prominent, one name stands out from all the others: Henry
Besley published the first county guide book of Devon. His Route Book Of Devon was first issued c.1845. It, like the local guides, broke
away from the old topographical dictionary style and, arranged by routes
centred on Exeter, was designed for the tourist. Although Tooley[33] lists only two cartographical works, one must presume that Besley was
responsible for financing the drawing and engraving of all those maps published
under his imprint[34]. The Besleys were important local publishers and the Devon Route Book was reprinted many times until the 1870s. Reminiscent of Cary's itinerary
with its roads out of London, The Route
Book suggested fourteen roads out of Exeter and described each route in
detail. With fine engravings by G Townsend (and later by S R Ridgway) and specially produced maps and plans it was the forerunner of the
county guides to be followed later by the
leading guide book producers. The engravings were often sold separately in
booklets of twelve or more prints for the discerning tourist and are popular
with print collectors. Ward & Lock proceeded to use Besley maps from c.1886
in their Shilling Pictorial Guides.
Few local printers published extensively but Henry Besley of Exeter
could probably claim to have been one of the most prolific of a family of local
publishers. The family-run business had a long tradition. Thomas Besley (Senior) was born in 1760 and
married Jane Andrew Strong of St. Sidwell on 26th September 1790.
They had 6 children including Thomas who married in 1814 and who also became a
printer in Exeter; Robert, born 14th October 1794 (died 1876), a
typefounder in the firm of Thorowgood and Besley and who became Lord Mayor of
London 1869-70; and Henry (baptised 15th June 1800 at Holy Trinity)
who eventually became partner and successor to the family business. Thomas had
various business addresses as printer, bookseller and stationer or bookbinder
(1823). He is listed in various directories of the time as being registered at
Southgate Street (1801 and 1811), Holy Trinity (1803), Bell Hill (1816 and
1832) and at 76, Bell Hill, South Street (1822 and 1834). Thomas died on 27th October 1834
aged 74.
Although the firm claimed to be established in 1750 no evidence has been found to substantiate this. The company published directories as well as Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset sheet almanacks from 1828. Their first map of Exeter appeared in the same year and was advertised in the Exeter Flying Post of 3rd July.
Henry's
eldest son, Thomas (Junior), was born in Exeter in 1790/1 and married Mary
(also born in Exeter the same year). They had one son, Henry, who is thought to
have died in 1853. Thomas, too, was also a printer and bookseller, as well as
stationer and library proprietor (1823). According to contemporary directories
he had premises in the High Street (1816 and 1827), more specifically at no. 30 in 1818 and at no. 223 c.1820-1823; he was at Mary's Yard 1828
and 1832; and at North Street 1833 and 1853 (no. 99 in 1851). In an 1835
directory his premises were described as the Chronicle Office.
Fig. 9: Advert for T & H Besley circa 1830.
However, it was Thomas senior's younger son, Henry, who took over the business of his father. He had become a partner and succeeded to the firm in 1834. The company had already been trading as T Besley & Son according to directories of 1825 and 1828 and they were listed as T & H Besley in 1828 and 1834 Fig. 9). Henry Besley was born in 1800 and baptised on 15th June at Holy Trinity, Exeter. He married Caroline Lifton of Exmouth on 2nd April 1834 at Littleham. They had a son Henry John, baptised 8th March 1835. He married Redelpha (born Cambridge 1820/21) and one of their children was called Robert Henry, still alive in 1886. Henry was taken into partnership by father Thomas c.1825 and the business was transferred to him on 9th May 1834. He died on 18th July 1886 in Exeter and was buried three days later at St. Mary Major.
Subsequent
to Henry's officially becoming a partner they were registered as printers,
booksellers or as bookbinders at 76, Bell Hill, South Street from 1825 to c.1875. By 1834 they were trading as
Henry Besley: it was so listed in both White's and Billing's Directories of
1851[35] and
1857 as printer, stationer and publisher of almanacks and guide books at 76
South Street. The firm continued publication of directories and almanacks[36] and introduced their Route Book in
1845 with reprints to 1877. The Hand
Books were also printed 1846-81, being extracts from the larger work. In
addition to their popular illustrated guide books and directories which
invariably included maps, they also produced folding maps, e.g. Dartmoor. In 1854 they issued a Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset
Almanack, in 1855 a Route Book of
Cornwall, and in 1858 they acquired the Exeter Journal.
The
first Route Book appeared in 1845-46
and was advertised not only in the Exeter
Flying Post but also in Besley’s West
of England Almanack of 1845: Shortly will be published the Route Book of Devon. A note at the bottom
of the advertisement indicates that there may have been a family dispute around
this time: There being another Firm of
the same Name and Trade in Exeter, all Orders are respectfully requested to be
directed to SOUTH-STREET, Exeter.
Henry's
son, Robert Henry, joined the firm in 1873; Henry Besley and Son operating c.1873-1897 and listed in White's Directory (1878/9) at 89 South
Street as printers, booksellers and stationers. Besley's Post Office Directory of Exeter and Suburbs was
being produced from the same address in 1897. They also published diocesan
directories in 1880s. By 1898 the firm had become Besley and Dalgleish who were still a well-known firm of printers
to about 1912. Besley and Copp Ltd were in South Street in the
period 1921 to 1939, although they had other premises (at 3/5 Guinea Street,
1914 to 1942) before moving to 22, Combe Street during the Second World War.
Besley & Copp Ltd. has had premises at Courtenay Road since 1946.
Fig. 10: Advertisement announcing publication of the Route Book.
It is not known who drew all the maps for Besley, many were lithographed
by F P Becker & Co. but few are signed. The
Plan Of Plymouth, Stonehouse And
Devonport included in the earlier Route
Books was signed by R Brown. As Brown[38] was an architect he may well have contributed to an unidentified work
on Devonshire Buildings published by Sherwood & Co between 1823 and 1824.
This contained line engravings by H S Storer after a number of artists (JVSC
S.71) with one being R Brown. The map of the City of Exeter in Rev. Thomas
Moore's The History of Devonshire was
by R Brown and this also contained line engravings after a number of artists
including Brown (see JVSC S. 103). R Brown also produced one map for Edward
Cockrem (cf). Other named contributors were J Warren, who surveyed the original
map of Exeter which was extensively revised and continued in use until the
1900s, and W E Trott of Tysoe Lane who lithographed
the map of South East Devon used from 1871 to 1875.
Henry Besley was not the only printer and publisher active in Exeter at this time. Two important events took place in Exeter in 1850 and 1869. The first was the Agricultural Show of 1850 and besides Besley, Llewellynn Jewitt wrote a guide accompanied by a map; and in 1869 the British Association held its annual meeting in the city and issued a map for visitors. Featherstone, an important printers business, published two maps of Exeter; Pollard and Vincent both published guides to the city with plans; and Wheaton used a G W Bacon map to advertise their “Corner Shops”; and W Spreat was running a successful lithographic business and printed a number of estate maps and plans of Exeter for other publishers.
Centres of Production - Teignmouth and Torquay
Among the first Devon publishers to claim, or admit, the use of Ordnance
Survey maps were the Croydons of Teignmouth and Torquay. In 1817 Edward
Croydon printed and sold one of the most attractive guide books of Devon ever
produced. The Guide to the Watering
Places, on the Coast, Between the Exe and the Dart; Including Teignmouth,
Dawlish, and Torquay, embellished with a general view of Teignmouth and
Dawlish, and the various seats around them, with a short description of the
neighborhood. … This consisted of sixteen highly attractive aquatints, usually
hand-coloured, by D Havell, T Shury, and J C Stadler, after drawings by W B
Noble (JVSC S.64). Originally issued in three parts between 1817 and 1818,
there was a second edition (1821) and a further print run of 1823 is known;
only the first issue (and an unrecorded edition of 1819, see Croydon 1) included
the map.
Edward Croydon was possibly the son of John Northam Croydon and Anne; if so he was baptised in Totnes on 13th December 1784. He married Sally Warren on 3rd January 1807 at West Teignmouth according to a mention in the Exeter Flying Post of the 8th. They had at least 7 children: Helen (1810), Sally (1811), Jessey (1814), Edward (1816), Eliza Mary (1819), George Henry (1820) and Maria Louisa (1822) all born at East Teignmouth[39]. Edward was printer, bookseller, publisher, stationer, engraver, ran a print and music warehouse as well as managing a circulating library[40]. Throughout his career he was associated with premises at Regent Place and is listed in many directories from c.1823.
Fig. 11: View of Babbacombe from Croydon's Torquay Guide (see Croydon 2).
Croydon’s may have been established as early as 1806. Their library, built
in Regency Gothic style, opened in June 1815 and survived to 1990 as
W.H.Smith's newsagents. The library kept the London and Exeter papers and prior
to the official publication of The
Teignmouth Arrival List a listing was kept at the library for consultation.
Edward published his Guide to Watering Places in 1817 and began
publishing prints c.1820[41] and a Billiard Room followed in 1830. He began trading as Edward
Croydon and Son c.1850; and as Edward
and George Henry Croydon 1852-1862 and together they published the Teignmouth Gazette. In common with many printers and publishers
Edward was also an agent for Eagle Insurance. He was also examiner of weights
and measures & clerk to magistrates 1848-1857 and water bailiff for the
manor of Kenton 1848.
He also published books of views, e.g. Views in South Devon (JVSC S.65) c. 1821; and of Teignmouth in sets of four or more (JVSC S. 92), with aquatints by W Read after L E
Reed c. 1825.
George Henry Croydon was born in
East Teignmouth where he was baptised 5th October 1820. He also
became a printer, working in Teignmouth from his father's address at Regent
Place from c.1848. The two Croydons were trading as Edward and George Henry
Croydon from about 1848 to 1862. However, this does not seem to have been true
for their map publications. The Teignmouth
Guide, which continued to be reissued from 1826 when it was first published
until about 1875 (16th Edition) was always published by E Croydon.
Similarly the Plan of Teignmouth (cf Croydon
4) published precisely during this period is only Published by Edward Croydon. George Henry was also Clerk to
Magistrates from 1848 to 1866[42]. He was Clerk to the Deputy Lieutenant for Totnes or
Bridgetown Division 1848 and County in 1866. He represented the Atlas insurance
company.
Edward,
fourth child and eldest son of Edward Senior, chose not to remain in Teignmouth
but opened his own business in Torquay. He was born in East Teignmouth and
baptised there on 12th May 1816. He also worked as a printer,
stationer, bookbinder, librarian, music seller and, like his father, ran a
Berlin repository (1840). His Torquay guide appeared in 1854 with map added
c.1860.[43]
Edward Croydon senior admitted using
Ordnance Survey material on the map in his Watering
Places and in The Teignmouth Guide. This
appeared in 1826 but was reissued two years later as The Teignmouth, Dawlish, And Torquay Guide with an account of the
surrounding neighbourhood and, as such, was one of the earliest guides conforming to a modern-day
format (see JVSC S.95). Probably written by Nicholas Toms Carrington (whose name is
on the cover, but together with others), it was published by Edward Croydon.
This volume included lithographic views and a map ‘By Special Permission from
the Right Hon'ble the Board of Ordnance' engraved by W Read. The book was also
sold by C and J Rivington, Baldwin and Co. in London, by Gore in Dawlish and by
Cole and Luscombe in Torquay.
N T Carrington was a poet and local historian. His work The Banks of the Tamar; a Poem: with after pieces was published by John Murray in 1823 and was frequently republished. Dartmoor: A Descriptive Poem a further poetic work was also published by John Murray, 1826 (JVSC S.80) with etchings by P H Rogers. One critic suggested that Carrington's verse is a bit on the heavy side, but his notes are fascinating snippets of local history and it is for those notes he is justly remembered.
Fig. 12: Besley view of The Strand, Torquay. Hearder’s Hotel is on the right.
One
of the rarest tourist items showing a map from the Victorian era is a hotel's
trade card. This card, advertising Hearder's Family Hotel in Torquay has a view of
the hotel on one side and the reverse is actually an area map (see p. 248). The
map also shows distances from Torquay. It was common in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries to include mileages from London, and Devon maps with
mileages from London to Exeter, Devonport or Plymouth by different routes
listed in a table are known, but indicating distance from a relatively
unimportant town is a rarity for such an early map.
The original building on the site was destroyed by fire on January 11th, 1833, and it was subsequently taken by W Hearder and opened as Hearder's Family Hotel and Stamp Office. Sarah C Hearder is listed as the proprietor of the hotel in Billing's 1857 directory. The hotel was owned from 1860 to 1863 by Cash, and was known firstly as Cash's Family Hotel and later as Cash's Queen's Hotel. The latter appears to be the first time it was run under the name Queen's Hotel (see Figs. 12 and 13).
Fig. 13: Queen's Hotel from an advert in Allday's Guide.
Little is known about the early life of Edward Cockrem, another important Torquay publisher. His first
business venture could have been as a bookseller and assistant at a circulating
library. There was a Cole's Circulating Library in Torquay about 1817. The
proprietor was Peggy Cole (also known as
Betty). By 1825 the library was known as Cole and Cockrem's Circulating Library
but by 1830 Cockrem had his own business.[44]
One of the first publications known is a small guide, The Panorama of Torquay, which was a guide to the institutions, scenery, and
antiquities. Two years later, a much longer work appeared written by Octavian
Blewitt and also titled
The Panorama of Torquay. The Second
Edition was published in 1832 with the following note: The following pages have been wholly rewritten, and now contain more
than ten times as much matter as the first edition, although that impression
has been twice pirated.[45] The later Panorama is very different to the former work but both writers talk
disparagingly of desecration of artifacts at Torre Church and it would seem
that Blewitt wrote both works.
Octavian Blewitt was born in London but went to school
in Plymouth. He travelled extensively and later in his life he wrote guides on
Central Italy, the East and Southern Italy for John Murray. He was elected
Secretary to the Royal Literary Fund in 1839, a post he kept until his death.
The second
edition of the Panorama has 5
lithographs by a local artist. George Rowe was born in Dartmouth and worked
in Cheltenham and Exeter. Draughtsman, lithographer and publisher of
topographical views, his output was impressive and Somers Cocks has 19 entries
with work by him. He also produced two maps for John Banfield of Ilfracombe (c.f.). Brown, who executed the map in
Blewitt’s work, also produced maps for others, e.g. Besley. G P Hearder, who executed
a woodcut for Blewitt, was also related to the Hearders of Plymouth and Torquay
(c.f.).
Cockrem was printer,
bookseller, stationer, music seller and proprietor of a library. He was apprenticed
to John Hannaford of Totnes but by 1834 he was working in a
partnership with William Elliott. Their address in Torquay was
10, Strand but the partnership was possibly short-lived[46]. William Elliott
had been an apprentice to Lazarus Congdon of Plymouth Dock and was registered
first at (1) Vaughan Parade (1840-1855) and later at 2, Lawrence Place (1856).
He was proprietor of the Torquay Chronicle 1856. In 1839 the first south Devon newspaper
appeared in the newly developing coastal resort of Torquay when Cockrem
established the Torquay and Tor Directory
on 1 November. This was also a long-running title, surviving to 1973. The
tourist industry played a major part in the spread of the popularity of
newspapers.[47] They were
also agents for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge c.1848. Cockrem published maps of
Torquay from the Ordnance Survey to
accompany the Torquay Directory in 1853.
The only
joint work of Cockrem and Elliott which contained a map was A Guide to Torquay which appeared under
their combined imprint in 1841. This guide, containing
general history and explanation of the panorama from Park Hill, contains
one of the most attractive of Devon "maps". It is actually a 360°
panorama of the view seen from Park Hill over the bay at Torquay.
Elliott
published one further map, issued again by Leonard Seeley in the 1880s: Cockrem published at least five
other maps of Torquay and district. Cockrem's final work would appear to be his
Tourist's Guide to Torquay which was later
published by Arthur Westley who took over the Torquay Library of Cockrem. This
was located on the Strand and operated not only as library but also as
Newsagent and Heraldic Stationery merchant. In similar vein to his counterparts
in Ilfracombe, Arthur Westley provided a number of services to visitors and
went into publishing, producing a guide to Torquay and a number of maps.
Westley
published Cockrem's Guide to Torquay
in 1875. This was reissued in abridged form and with a revised text. Westley
also advertised Plans of Torquay at scales of 8" and 12" to a mile.
These were based on the Ordnance Survey
and corrected to the present time by a local architect. Both maps were available
folded in covers, mounted on linen in cloth case and thirdly mounted on rollers
to hang. Westley also advertised a Map of
Eight Miles round Torquay and a Reduced
Ordnance Map of Twenty-five Miles round Torquay (1/- and 1/6 respectively)
in the same work.
Apart from these publishers only Andrew Iredale is of note; for his large-scale map of the newly created Borough Of Torquay towards the end of the century and folding maps in the early 1900s.
Fig.
14: Unusual view of Ilfracombe from Lammas' guide (see Banfield 2)
Summary
The guide book certainly existed before Queen
Victoria succeeded to the throne in 1838. The talented artist was compiling
books of engravings interspersed with text recounting the beauties of the
countryside. The publishing houses were vying with each other to produce
gazetteers and directories which included potted histories of towns and cities
and also listing the sights that could be visited. And travel diaries of one
sort or another were being read by those who could afford the latest books on
the market. But through a combination of circumstances the Victorians nurtured
the guide book until it developed into the work we expect to buy today, shortly
before venturing into new and often not so far-flung lands.
The railway, arriving in Exeter in 1844 and
Plymouth four years later, spread rapidly. By the 1860s the Saltash Bridge had
been opened giving access to Cornwall, Exmouth was open as were Kingswear for
Dartmouth, Seaton, Bideford and also Tavistock. Twenty years later and
Torrington, Ashburton, Holsworthy were all within easy reach. And by the end of
the century the network (barring only Appledore) was complete. Comparatively
cheap and certainly quick transport was available. The industrial revolution
was putting money in the pockets of the working classes. And if a lowly
scullery maid only earned a pound a month, this was often with free board and
lodgings thrown in and only four days a month (bank holidays excepted) on which
to spend it.
Towards the end of the
century, with incomes larger and leisure time longer, sports and hobbies became
more important. Travelling, cycling, and even the day trip to the seaside by train became a standard
weekend activity for a large proportion of the Victorian population. And
side-by-side with these developments, the travel guide changed from the record
of a town by a learned figure to a major commercial enterprise. Printers and
publishers such as Murray, Black, Dulau, Stanford and Ward & Lock thrived
in this market.
The writers, too, profited from
this new industry. Murray was regularly paying writers such as T C Paris, the Rev. Horace Stone Wilcocks, C Worthy, W O Goldschmidt
or Richard John King to keep the guides up to date. King came from
Plymouth, studied at Exeter College, Oxford and not only carried out revisions
to a large number of these guide books but he also contributed to other works
including the Encyclopaedia Britannica published by A & C Black.
Rev. Wilcocks, who contributed to the Devon issue of 1879, was born at Exeter
(1835) became Vicar of St. James-the-Less church in Plymouth and died in
Plymouth in 1912; Charles Worthy, paid £10 for corrections to the 9th edition
and £52.10.0 to edit the 10th edition, was born at Exeter. Another contributor
to the guide of 1879, was Sir John C B Milton, a cousin of Anthony Trollope, he
was awarded his knighthood for services during the Crimean War.[48]
By 1850
when Murray’s first guide to Devon and Cornwall appeared, five years after
Besley’s first Route Book, and just five years before Black’s
first volume on Devonshire (with Cornwall) was published the guide book had
fully progressed from being a private travelogue to the modern guide. Today,
over 150 years later, it has not changed dramatically. The guide to Turkey,
lying in front of me as I write, has all the same facets of those Victorian
guides. It may be a bit more colourful and appealing to the eye, but if I am
objective it does not provide more information than a Murray of the late 1800s.
To quote Professor Jack Simmons once again ‘Murray's
Handbook of 1851 is still, from many points of view, the most profitable
guide-book to use in Devon and Cornwall in 1951’.[49]
But, to be even more honest and objective, Bill Bryson would not be as popular
today if he had not (to some degree) resurrected the travelogue. His writings
are more appealing when you already know the area he is describing. There
again, maybe we should always take two books on holiday with us. As William
Wetmore Story, an
American art critic and editor, is quoted as saying in the 1860s: Every
Englishman abroad carries a Murray for information, and a Byron for sentiment,
and finds out by them what he (or she) is to know and feel by every step.[50]
[1] This work was tremendously popular. Originally published in 1586 with just one map the text was often copied, for example, John Speed’s county maps were published with an adapted Camden text (6), and in 1617 the so-called Miniature Speeds by van den Keere were published by Jansson with a Latin version of Camden (4).
[2] John Vaughan; The English Guide Book 1780-1870; David & Charles; 1974; p. 81. I apologise if I have sometimes quoted him without acknowledgement: it is a very good little guide.
[3] Celia Fiennes; Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary;
1888. Cambridge Universtity Press reprint; 2010.
[4] Daniel Defoe; A Tour Thro’ the Whole Island;
1724-1727.
[5] See Christine North’s short
text, It was only a copy of the Doomsday Book, in Devon Documents; Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries; 1996.
[6] His notes have been published
in four volumes by Todd Gray and Margery Rowe as Travels in Georgian Devon; Halsgrove Press; 1997-2000.
[7] A banker and a cricket fan, Lubbock
chose those days when traditionally village cricket teams played each
other and the term Bank Holiday is from his support for the bankers.
[8] John Vaughan; 1974; p. 23.
[9] David Keir; The House of Collins; Collins; 1952; pp. 176, 204.
[10] D Smith; The Cartography of the Bartholomew Family Firm;
IMCoS JOURNAL 75; Winter 1998.
[11] The spelling seems to be optional:
the third edition of Murray´s Handbook
for Travellers in Devonshire and Cornwall for example had Handbook (on the
title page), Hand Book (spine title) and Hand-book (cover).
[12] John Vaughan; 1974; p. 42.
[13] The firm was founded by John Murray
(1737-1793) but John II is often erroneously credited with founding the
company. See William Zachs; The
First John Murray; OUP for The British Academy; 1998.
[14] John Vaughan; 1974, p. 47.
[15] J Simmons; Parish and Empire: Studies and Sketches; 1952; quoted in Vaughan, op cit.
[16] W B C Lister; A Bibliography of Murray´s Handbooks for Travellers; Dereham Books; (1993).
[17] All biographies are taken from W B
C Lister (1993).
[18] My thanks to Ms V
Murray for providing me with a copy of the agreement.
[19] L Gardiner; Bartholomew, 150 Years; Bartholomew; 1976; pp. 30-33.
[20]
Thomas Nelson amalgamated with John Bartholomew in 1888. See
L Gardiner; 1976; p.34.
[21] In Adam & Charles Black 1807-1957;A&C
Black;1957.
[22] See Harold M Otness; Index
to 19th century city plans ...; WAML; 1980; p. xv.
[23] The other counties were Derbyshire
and Hampshire. J
Vaughan; 1974; p. 50 footnote.
[24] W B C Lister (1993); p. 186.
[25]
L Gardiner; 1976.
[26] For a complete overview of John Cooke´s work click here. This cartobibliography lists some 16 works completed
by Cooke within this period, including some which were not for guides in order
to give an indication of his output.
[27] Billing’s Directory; John Billing; Birmingham; 1857.
[28] Initially only as Ilfracombe,
c. 1823-1844; in the High Street from 1850-1855; and at 9, High Street from
1856.
[29]
See Lee homepage at www.lee.com.
[30]
Ian Mackenzie; British Prints: Dictionary and Price Guide; Antique Collectors Club; 1988; p. 127.
[31] See two adverts on facing
pages in Deacon’s Court Guide Gazetteer
and County Blue Book of that year.
[32] Devon Archives (previously Exeter Westcountry Studies Library) has a copy of Twiss' Shilling Guide. This is Tugwell's abbreviated shilling
edition. Surprisingly this edition, the Twelfth Edition, has Bartholomew's
North Devon map, which had already been issued by W H Smith etc. This is the
only Ilfracombe guide so far seen with Bartholomew's map.
[33]
R V Tooley's Dictionary of Mapmakers.
[34] Ten maps have been identified so
far: seven maps covering parts of Devon, two of Dartmoor and a map of Cornwall.
[35]
In the 1851 census he is only registered as employing two men and two
apprentices, a housemaid and a nurse.
[36] There was a trial for infringement
of sheet almanacks, Besley v. Carlyon, in 1854.
[37] The maps of North and South Devon
did not quite cover the whole county .
This map was produced in London to a different scale and does not complement
the others .
[38]
Somers Cocks writes his name Brown(e) in the index, implying two
spellings.
[39]
Interestingly a Miss Croydon took over the Circulating Library
previously owned by Jane Gore in Dawlish about 1830. In 1930 a Mr S A Croydon was
managing director of The Teignmouth Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd in
Station Road, Teignmouth: Kelly's
Directory.
[40]
The following address gives a listing of private libraries:
http://www.r-alston.co.uk/england.htm.
[41] See Somers Cocks: S.64, S.65, S.76,
S.95, S.117 (illustrated is print 5 showing the cottage of Ms Emma Keyse who
would be murdered by John Lee in 1884). There were also single prints of
Dawlish and Teignmouth: in 1825: 635; 1827: 2883, 2884; c.1835: 2835, 2892,
2920; c.1845-6: 2856, 2857, 2908, 2926A; c.1848: 2928, 2930; c.1850: 2822,
2859. Also 219 Bishopsteignton Lodge, c.1822; 3021, Ansty's Cove, and
Bishopstow, Torquay (1855?).
[42] Kelly's Post Office Directory of Somerset with Devonshire and Bristol.
[43] Billings (1857; Pp. 191 and 535)
has Edward Croydon, printer, stationer, bookseller, engraver, and Magistrate's
clerk, circulating library and Berlin fancy repository at Regent Street,
Teignmouth as well as Edward Croydon, printer, book and music seller, and
stationer; Berlin repository, Royal Library and Reading Room at 2, Victoria
Parade, Torquay. Both are listed in Kelly (1866) but Edward senior is now only
stationer, bookseller and music seller.
[44]
See http://www.r-alston.co.uk/england.htm for a list of private
libraries.
[45] The Devon Heritage Centre (formerly Exeter West Country Studies
Library) catalogue contains a record of a copy of the first edition pirated by
Luscombe of Torquay in 1830 which was subsequently suppressed. There was a
Luscombe working as bookseller in Torquay at this time (see Croydon 2).
[46] Somers Cocks lists three engravings
for each person and none are signed by both together.
[47] http://www.devon.gov.uk/library/locstudy/bookhist/west54.html.
[48] All biographies are taken from W B
C Lister ( (1993).
[49] J Simmons; Parish and Empire: Studies and Sketches; 1952; quoted in Vaughan, op cit.
[50] In Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 3, 1859. Also in Story, Roba di Roma Vol. 1, p.5.
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