Clive A. Burden LTD. Rare Maps, Antique Atlases, Books and Decorative Prints

The Mapping of North America

Mr. Philip D. Burden​
P.O. Box 863,
Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks HP6 9HD,
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel: +44 (0) 1494 76 33 13
Email: enquiries@caburden.com

This is only the third large scale map by Christopher Greenwood preceded only by those of Yorkshire and Lancashire. It was co-published with W. Fowler of Wakefield in 1819. His brother John was at this time yet to join him in the enterprise. Engraved in wonderful large scale it differentiates between woods and plantations, heaths and commons, different types of waterway and roads. Both watermills and windmills are identified indicating their significance to the local economy. A measure of the detail that went into the survey is that the error of 3 degree longitude shown as passing to the east of Chester in the survey of Burdett, is corrected here to being to the west of Birkenhead.

Christopher Greenwood (1786-1855) was a surveyor from Wakefield, Yorkshire and moved to London in 1818. His brother John was also a surveyor and in 1821 they joined forces and with the distribution capabilities of George Pringle and Son, made an immediate impact with their series of large-scale surveys of many English counties. The early 1800s was a time of rapid change in the landscape with the burgeoning industrial revolution. Their surveys utilised the latest system of triangulation adopted by Colonel Mudge and his surveyors for the Ordnance Survey. Indeed, they were in open competition with them. The Greenwood maps were coloured as opposed to the more functional black and white Ordnance Surveys of the period. Rodger (1972) 47; Tooley Ch 18 in The Map Collector 17 pp. 22-6; Whittaker 349.

GREENWOOD, Christopher

Map of the County Palatine of Chester

London, 15 June 1819
1235 x 1570 mm., large engraved folding map on two sheets, hand-coloured in outline, dissected into 32 sections, laid on linen with marbled endpapers. With original mapsellers label pasted below the title of ‘James Wyld (successor to Mr. Faden)’. Folding into contemporary quarter green morocco slipcase, marbled boards, rubbed, with gilt title to the spine.
Stock number: 4992
£ 850
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