John Bartholomew – The Imperial Map

 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. Although originally printed on 16 sheets covering England and Wales from north to south[1] it was not long before both county and regional maps were being prepared from the plates. Archibald Fullarton was the publisher of the Imperial Map and it was issued both in book format and as separate sheets (from which it would be possible to form a wall map).

Shortly after the Imperial Map first appeared both W H Smith and A & C Black were offering copies of the same sheets under their own imprints. Black’s offered a New Large Map of England & Wales in 16 sheet. About 1890 W H Smith offered the Cyclist’s Road Map of England & Wales in 16 sheets from the Ordnance Survey. 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 (see B&B 157 and separate entry) was the first work to make extensive use of the plates to produce sectional maps of Devon and Cornwall. 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, Houlston & Wright and Abel Heywood (see below), Varnan Chown & Co. (1903)[2]. and Darlington (1908)[3] and maps in The Royal Atlas of England and Wales (circa 1900) originally came from the Imperial Map and for cyclists small pocket sized county maps from this atlas were prepared for the Pattisons (see Victorian Maps of Devon entry 175) . G W Bacon seems to have been cooperating with John Bartholomew in the early 1900s and copies of the full county map appeared with Bacon’s typical covers: eg Bacon's County Map of Devonshire with parts of adjoining counties from circa 1905 until the 1920s.

Click the entry below to go directly to the map(s) in question:

Bartholomew Imperial Map 1 - See below

Bartholomew Imperial Map 2 - W H Smith´s Exeter and Environs / Plymouth & Dartmoor

Bartholomew Imperial Map 3 - maps published by Houlston & Wright / Houlston & Sons

Bartholomew Imperial Map 4 - maps used by Milligan etc. for guides to Ilfracombe

Bartholomew Imperial Map 5 - hunting maps for Hiorns & Miller

Bartholomew Imperial Map 6 - The Royal Atlas

Bartholomew Imperial Map 7 - Abel Heywood´s guide to Ilfracombe

Bartholomew Imperial Map 8 - Pearson´s Gossipy Guide

In addition Bartholomew produced two further maps of South Devon for W H Smith:

Bartholomew - W H Smith 1

Bartholmew - W H Smith 2

 

Bartholomew Imperial Map 1a                   

Size: 460 x 680 mm.  SCALE 4 MILES TO AN INCH (12 = 75 mm). 

No title but IMPERIAL MAP OF ENGLAND & WALES (AaOS). Imprint: A FULLARTON & CO. LONDON & EDINBURGH (CaOS). Engraver's signature: DRAWN & ENGRAVED BY JOHN BARTHOLOMEW, F R G S. (EeOS). Sheet number: SHEET 15 (EaOS). Elaborate border left side only. Scale below map (BeOS). Grid B-L horizontally and Z-f vertically.

Map covers a large area of the county: south Wales at top and complete north coast of Devon and Cornwall as far as Trevose Head and Somerset to Watchett; everything west of Sidmouth and north of Dawlish is included. Railways are consistent with a date of 1865-66: to Exmouth, Moreton, Launceston and Bideford with planned lines to Bude, Ilfracombe (erroneously via Bittadon) and Dartmoor Loop with the stretch to Sampford Courteney as completed. Illustrated above. 

1. 1868      The Imperial Map of England & Wales

                  London. Fullarton & Co. (1868).  KB (boxed set), KB (Atlas).

 

2. 1870s     No title but BLACK’S NEW LARGE MAP OF ENGLAND & WALES (AaOS). New imprint: PUBLISHED BY A & C BLACK, EDINBURGH. Folds into green covers with title label on cover: BLACK’S NEW LARGE MAP OF ENGLAND & WALES.

 

                   Black’s New Large Map Of England & Wales.

                  Edinburgh. A & C Black. (1870).  KB.

 

3. 1892    No title but REDUCED ORDNANCE MAP OF ENGLAND & WALES (AaOS). No imprint. Folds into blue covers with title below and small index map on cover. Coast from Padstow and Dawlish in south to south coast of Wales. Note that the N in county name (DEVON) is missing and that railway lines from Holsworthy to Bude and Barnstaple to Lynton have not yet been added.

 

                  Cyclist’s Road Map of England & Wales

                  London. W H Smith & Son. (1892).   KB. 

Bartholomew Imperial Map 1b

Size: 235 x 680 mm.  No scale. 

No title and no imprint. Engraver's signature: DRAWN & ENGRAVED BY JOHN BARTHOLOMEW, F R G S. (AeOS). Sheet number incomplete: SHE (EaOS). Elaborate border left and bottom sides only. No scale. Grid C-L horizontally (letters in circles) and f-h vertically.

Map covers all of the county missing southwards from 1a above: all of south Devon and Cornwall below Tavistock. Railways are consistent with a date of 1865-66: to Ashburton and Kingswear as well as line from Plymouth to Penzance, however, Kingsbridge is included (not built until 1890s). 

1. 1868    The Imperial Map of England & Wales

                London. Fullarton & Co. (1868).  KB (boxed set), KB (Atlas).

 

2. 1870s   No title but BLACK’S NEW LARGE MAP OF ENGLAND & WALES (AaOS). New imprint: PUBLISHED BY A & C BLACK, EDINBURGH. Also has SHEET 16 (EaOS). Folds into green covers with title label on cover: BLACK’S NEW LARGE MAP OF ENGLAND & WALES. Illustrated above.

 

        Black’s New Large Map Of England & Wales.

        Edinburgh. A & C Black. (1870).  KB.

---

[1] Actually printed on 15 full-size sheets with sheet 16 being split into three sections roughly 1/3 size, sheet 16a covering the south of Cornwall and the south of Devon - below a line from Dawlish to Padstow and the English Channel – 16b and 16c covering the English Channel south of England.
[2] Varnan, Chown & Co.s "Half-Inch To Mile“ Map Of North Devon District. Signatures: The Edinburgh Geographical Institute (AeOS) and Copyright – John Bartholomew & Co. (EeOS). 290 mm x 560 mm..Scale 2 Miles to an Inch (5=65 mm) (CeOS). Inset PLAN OF ILFRACOMBE. Railways to Lynton and Northam and planned to Appledore. Map reverse covered in adverts. Folded into yellow cardboard covers c.1903.
[3] Darlington’s Devon and Cornwall guide (c.1908) used a transfer of North Devon.

 John Bartholomew –  for W H Smith – SOUTH DEVON II 

This is the second map produced by John Bartholomew which seems to represent an experiment in hill shading. Here very subtle tones have been used to render the hills. A copy of North Devon in the same manner has not been seen. This map is only known in one state, and the date can only be conjectured using the railway progression. However, a second copy has been seen (on ebay) which is apparently the same map  but in blue covers with the title The Pocket Series of Touring Maps published by John Walker & Co., Ltd of Farringdon House, Warwick Lane, London. The corresponding map of North Devon in this series was that used by W H Smith in approximately 1893: a transfer from the Imperial Map (see Victorian Maps of Devon, Second Edition, entry 150.11b). 

Bartholomew – W H Smith 2

Size: 515 x 490 mm.   SCALE 1 : 126,720 - 2 MILES TO AN INCH  (6  = 75 mm). 

REDUCED ORDNANCE MAP OF SOUTH DEVON (CaOS). Imprints: COPYRIGHT (AaOS), and: JOHN BARTHOLOMEW, F R G S. (EeOS). Scale bar (CeOS) with note on railways.

Map covers an area of the county comprising Dartmoor and the South Hams: Plymouth (Ad), Bolt Head and Prawle Point, Exeter (Ea). Railways are consistent with a date of 1893-98: line to Kingsbridge but not to Yealmpton. Hill hachuring is carried out in a subtle brown style. 

1. 1893  Folds into orange covers with title below. Illustrated above.

The New Reduced Ordnance Survey Map of South Devon
London. W H Smith & Son. (1893). KB.

Folds into blue covers with title below (illustrated). 

The Pocket Series of Touring Maps South Devon. 
London. John Walker & Co., Ltd. (1893). [P].

Bartholomew Imperial Map 1 - Return to Main List

Bartholomew Imperial Map 2 - W H Smith´s Exeter and Environs / Plymouth & Dartmoor

Bartholomew Imperial Map 3 - maps published by Houlston & Wright / Houlston & Sons

Bartholomew Imperial Map 4 - maps used by Milligan etc. for guides to Ilfracombe

Bartholomew Imperial Map 5 - hunting maps for Hiorns & Miller

Bartholomew Imperial Map 6 - The Royal Atlas

Bartholomew Imperial Map 7 - Abel Heywood´s guide to Ilfracombe

Bartholomew Imperial Map 8 - Pearson´s Gossipy Guide

In addition Bartholomew produced one further map of South Devon for W H Smith:

Bartholomew - W H Smith 1

 John Bartholomew –  for W H Smith – SOUTH DEVON I

Bartholomew was providing W H Smith and Son with maps from circa 1874, two of the earliest Imperial Map sections being sold as North Devon and South Devon quite soon after the publication of the Imperial Map. However, John Bartholomew was known to be experimenting with hill shading in the 1880s and the Bartholomew records show various printings of the map below in the years 1884-1887 (probably referring to the first one below). Two maps have been found, both executed by the Bartholomew company and both sold in W H Smith covers, and displaying attempts at portraying heights. The first used a very harsh hachuring to achieve hill shading, but the later version uses a very subtle brown tone to give the impression of height (c.f. next entry). These seem to be the precursors for Bartholomews Reduced Ordnance Survey Maps published in 1895/1896.

W H Smith advertised maps of both North Devon and South Devon in its Travelling Maps series, however, North Devon was available at 4 miles to an inch (i.e. the Imperial Map scale) and only South Devon was sold at 2 miles to an inch, indicating that parallel versions of North Devon were not produced. Four separate versions of the map below have been found but the actual sequence remains unclear and all seem to have the same map detail, the differences lie in imprint, railways and covers although it is assumed that it is the first state that seems to have a different title. This first state has also been seen in covers as published by Robert Cranford in Dartmouth, this is the only version so far seen laid on linen and in cloth covers.

Bartholomew – W H Smith 1 

Size: 480 x 700 mm.  SCALE 2 MILES TO AN INCH (6 = 75 mm). 

W. H. SMITH & SON’S REDUCED ORDNANCE MAP OF SOUTH DEVON & Dartmoor (Ee). Imprint below border: London: W H Smith & Son, 186 Strand (CaOS).

The map covers an area from Looe and Liskeard to Sidmouth and Prawle Point (breaks three-line border) to Exeter and Okehampton Station. Railways are clearly shown in red to Sidmouth, Exmouth, Dartmouth and Brixham, Moreton Hampstead and Ashburton, Dartmoor Loop, Launceston, into Cornwall, and proposed line to Kingsbridge (dashed). 

1a. 1884
Typical W H Smith covers (extreme left in illustration below)[1]. Typically folds to 100 x 116 mm (w x h of cover).

W H Smith & Son’s Reduced Ordnance Map Of South Devon and Dartmoor
London. W H Smith & Son. (1884). DevA

1b. Addition of Robert Stanford´s stamp above title. Laid on linen and folding into green cloth covers and label of Stanford (see illustration above). Folds to 120 x 180 mm (w x h of cover).

Map Of South Devon and Dartmoor
Dartmouth. R Cranford. (1884). KB.

2. 1885 Title of map reprinted and reduced to South Devon. The Kingsbridge line (dotted red) has been removed (but engraving marks remain). Map has added railways: lines toward Holsworthy and to East Looe added in red although not engraved; Line to Ashton with both Ashton and Chudleigh stations shown (Sta); mineral line to Princetown. 

W H Smith & Son’s Reduced Ordnance Map Of South Devon and Dartmoor
London. W H Smith & Son. (1885). KB.

3. 1886 Imprint closer to border; 3-line border dropped slightly so Prawle Pt is now inside lowest line. Ashton and Chudleigh stations not shown. Line to Halwill shown (opened 21st July, 1886); mineral line at Calstock. Decorated cover illustrated below second from left[2].

W H Smith & Son’s Reduced Ordnance Map Of South Devon & Dartmoor
London. W H Smith & Son. (1886). KB.

4. 1887 No imprint, wider margins and Prawle Point now within three lines of the four-line border border. As 3 above. Cover title redesigned and title shortened (see two illustrations on right below)[3].

W H Smith & Son’s Reduced Ordnance Map Of South Devon 
London. W H Smith & Son. (1887). KB, DevA.

---

[1] The first and second state W H Smith covers (as listed here) are the same: red cloth with simple printed label – South Devon and Dartmoor.

[2] The cover has an elaborate label with foliate designs above and below the title.

[3] The cover is more modern printed boards, red (KB copy) or blue (DevA) with a plain text label South Devon centrally (and omitting reference to Tourists).

For further Bartholomew issues: 

Bartholomew Imperial Map 1 - Bartholomew Main Listing

Bartholomew Imperial Map 2 - W H Smith´s Exeter and Environs / Plymouth & Dartmoor

Bartholomew Imperial Map 3 - maps published by Houlston & Wright / Houlston & Sons

Bartholomew Imperial Map 4 - maps used by Milligan etc. for guides to Ilfracombe

Bartholomew Imperial Map 5 - hunting maps for Hiorns & Miller

Bartholomew Imperial Map 6 - The Royal Atlas

Bartholomew Imperial Map 7 - Abel Heywood´s guide to Ilfracombe

Bartholomew Imperial Map 8 - Pearson´s Gossipy Guide

In addition Bartholomew produced one further map of South Devon for W H Smith:

Bartholomew - W H Smith 2

 John Bartholomew – Imperial Map 2

W H Smith was founded c.1820 by Henry Edward and his brother William Henry (who actually ran the company). But it was not until Henry’s son, also William Henry (1825-1891), became a partner in 1846 that the firm became the well-known booksellers and stationers. In 1848 he started a newsagent shop at Euston with a concession from the L&NW Railway. This was soon to be converted into a virtual railway book-stall monopoly. The firm soon became the largest newsagent in the country and expanded further into circulating libraries. William Henry later entered Parliament and became the First Lord of the Admiralty in 1877 (Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore was supposedly based on him).[1] W H Smith used to have an estate in Rewe in east Devon where he had a stable built opposite St Mary the Virgin church for the use of the parishioners so that they could tie up their horses.[2]

At the same time as the maps below were on sale a similar map covering North Devon was also being offered. This was W H Smith & Son’s Reduced Ordnance Map Of North Devon: see B&B 150, especially states 2, 6 and 10.

 

Bartholomew Imperial Map 2a - Exeter

Size: 345 x 450 mm.                              Scale of Miles (8 = 49 mm). 

ENVIRONS OF EXETER (Ee). Imprint: London: W H Smith & Son, 186 Strand (CaOS). Engraver's signature: J Bartholomew, Edinr. (EeOS).

Although titled Exeter it nearly covers nearly the whole of the county: the map covers an area from Dartmoor and Kingswear to Plymouth (ie missing some of the South Hams) and west to Clovelly (missing the western border with Cornwall from Launceston northwards). Railway only to Okehampton then projected. Lines to Moreton Hampstead, Axmouth, Launceston, Exmouth, Kingswear with Brixham, Bideford and Taunton-Barnstaple completed 1873. Most other lines projected as usual. Illustrated. 

1. 1874  W H Smith & Son’s Reduced Ordnance Map Of Exeter And Environs

London. W H Smith & Son. (1874).               KB. 

2. 1874  Railways are consistent with a date earlier than 1878, ie line to Sidmouth (1874). 

W H Smith & Son’s Reduced Ordnance Map Of Exeter And Environs

London. W H Smith & Son. (1878).               E. 

3. 1884  Railways to Holsworthy (1879) and Ashton (1882). 

W H Smith & Son’s Reduced Ordnance Map Of Exeter And Environs

London. W H Smith & Son. (1884).               FB. 

Bartholomew Imperial Map 2b - Plymouth & Dartmoor

Size: 330 x 445 mm.                              Scale of Miles (8 = 50 mm). 

ENVIRONS OF PLYMOUTH AND DARTMOOR (Aa). Imprint: London: W H Smith & Son, 186 Strand (CaOS). Engraver's signature: J Bartholomew, Edinr. (EeOS).

Nearly covers all of south and west Devon: from Cornwall/Devon border at Bude Bay south to Gerrans Bay; River Exe  and Exmouth east; to Churchleigh in the noth. Railways to Holsworthy (1879) and Ashton (1882) with line to Kingswear projected. Illustrated. 

1. 1884  W H Smith & Son’s Reduced Ordnance Map Of Plymouth And Environs

London. W H Smith & Son. (1884).               KB.

Bartholomew Imperial Map 1 

Bartholomew Imperial Map 3 - maps published by Houlston & Wright / Houlston & Sons

Bartholomew Imperial Map 4 - maps used by Milligan etc. for guides to Ilfracombe

Bartholomew Imperial Map 5 - hunting maps for Hiorns & Miller

Bartholomew Imperial Map 6 - The Royal Atlas

Bartholomew Imperial Map 7 - Abel Heywood´s guide to Ilfracombe

Bartholomew Imperial Map 8 - Pearson´s Gossipy Guide

In addition Bartholomew produced two further maps of South Devon for W H Smith:

Bartholomew - W H Smith 1

Bartholmew - W H Smith 2

RETURN to List of Bartholomew Maps

NOTES:

---

[1] Pocklington, G R; The Story of W H Smith.; London; 1921.

[2] Anthony Taylor; Culm Valley Album; private printing.