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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
THE THIRD EDITION OF GREENOUGH’S GEOLOGICAL MAP OF ENGLAND AND WALES AND THE FIRST TO ACKNOWLEDGE WILLIAM SMITH, WITH THE RARELY FOUND ‘MEMOIR’.
One of the most significant geological maps of England and Wales ever published. George Greenough (1778-1855) was accused of plagiarism at the time of this map’s first publication in 1820, just five years after the landmark work of William Smith published in 1815. Greenough was one of the founding members of the Geological Society of London and was its first president to 1811. ‘In 1808 he first sketched the boundary-lines of the various strata in England and Wales, and in 1810 he travelled over a great part of the country for the purpose of mapping it. At the request of the Geological Society he then, with the help of Conybeare, Buckland, and Henry Warburton, coloured a large scale-map drawn by Webster, and in 1820 published it in six sheets’ (DNB).
It began a bitter feud, Greenough published a ‘Memoir of a Geological Map of England’ in which he defended his work. He claimed ‘Mr Smith’s map was not seen by me till after its publication, and the use I have since made of it has been very limited. The two maps agree in many respects, not because the one has been copied from the other, but because both are correct …’ (Memoir). ‘Much has been written on to what extent Smith’s Map influenced Greenough and exactly when the latter actually saw a version of the work, but certainly both the Society and Greenough were amongst the list of subscribers to the publication and each received a copy of the first imprint. Tellingly, the sheets of Greenough’s copy are marked with notes recording that he did indeed consult it, with comments such as ‘This sheet can be of no further use to the Geol Map, Nov 1818’ (Geological Society website).
Smith, whose social status did not amount to much, suffered and eventually found himself in debtors’ prison. Recognition of Smith’s contribution to geology took years, in 1831 he was finally awarded the Woolaston medal by the Geological Society. Greenough’s map is now recognised as a separate work of scholarship which drew on other surveyors which he then collated. ‘There are a number of key visual differences between the two men’s maps, most notably the scale – Smith’s at 5 miles to the inch and Greenough’s at 6 miles to the inch. Another distinction is that whilst Smith’s base map has virtually all the topography removed, hills and mountains are included in Greenough’s version. Smith’s Map used his distinctive fading watercolour technique, whilst Greenough’s employed flat colour washes and patterning to depict his stratigraphy’ (The Geological Society).
This third edition was published a decade after Greenough’s death at the behest of a committee which included John Phillips, Professor of Geology at Oxford, and a nephew of William Smith’s. This edition is the first to acknowledge its connection to William Smith. An extremely rare example accompanied as it is by Greenough’s ‘Memoir’, 1840. Bassett (1969) p. 18; Challinor 91; Henry (2014) n. 39; Ward & Carozzi (1984) 952.
One of the most significant geological maps of England and Wales ever published. George Greenough (1778-1855) was accused of plagiarism at the time of this map’s first publication in 1820, just five years after the landmark work of William Smith published in 1815. Greenough was one of the founding members of the Geological Society of London and was its first president to 1811. ‘In 1808 he first sketched the boundary-lines of the various strata in England and Wales, and in 1810 he travelled over a great part of the country for the purpose of mapping it. At the request of the Geological Society he then, with the help of Conybeare, Buckland, and Henry Warburton, coloured a large scale-map drawn by Webster, and in 1820 published it in six sheets’ (DNB).
It began a bitter feud, Greenough published a ‘Memoir of a Geological Map of England’ in which he defended his work. He claimed ‘Mr Smith’s map was not seen by me till after its publication, and the use I have since made of it has been very limited. The two maps agree in many respects, not because the one has been copied from the other, but because both are correct …’ (Memoir). ‘Much has been written on to what extent Smith’s Map influenced Greenough and exactly when the latter actually saw a version of the work, but certainly both the Society and Greenough were amongst the list of subscribers to the publication and each received a copy of the first imprint. Tellingly, the sheets of Greenough’s copy are marked with notes recording that he did indeed consult it, with comments such as ‘This sheet can be of no further use to the Geol Map, Nov 1818’ (Geological Society website).
Smith, whose social status did not amount to much, suffered and eventually found himself in debtors’ prison. Recognition of Smith’s contribution to geology took years, in 1831 he was finally awarded the Woolaston medal by the Geological Society. Greenough’s map is now recognised as a separate work of scholarship which drew on other surveyors which he then collated. ‘There are a number of key visual differences between the two men’s maps, most notably the scale – Smith’s at 5 miles to the inch and Greenough’s at 6 miles to the inch. Another distinction is that whilst Smith’s base map has virtually all the topography removed, hills and mountains are included in Greenough’s version. Smith’s Map used his distinctive fading watercolour technique, whilst Greenough’s employed flat colour washes and patterning to depict his stratigraphy’ (The Geological Society).
This third edition was published a decade after Greenough’s death at the behest of a committee which included John Phillips, Professor of Geology at Oxford, and a nephew of William Smith’s. This edition is the first to acknowledge its connection to William Smith. An extremely rare example accompanied as it is by Greenough’s ‘Memoir’, 1840. Bassett (1969) p. 18; Challinor 91; Henry (2014) n. 39; Ward & Carozzi (1984) 952.
GREENOUGH, George Bellas
A Geological Map of England and Wales by G.B. Greenough, President of the Geological Society ... (on the basis of the original Map of Wm. Smith 1815), Revised and Improved under the Superintendence of a Committee of the Geological Society of London, from the Maps of the geological Survey of Great Britain, 1836-63 and Maps and Documents contributed by Sir R.J. Murchison, Professor Phillips, Joseph Prestwich, R. Godwin Austen, and others. [With] Memoir of a Geological Map of England; to which is added, an Alphabetical Index to the Hills, and a List of the Hills arranged according to Counties
Geological Society, London, July 1865-[c.1877]
1960 x 1610 mm. the whole, to the scale of 6 miles to the inch, with early wash colour, four sheets on paper watermarked J. Whatman dated 1877, sectionalised and laid on linen, with silk edging, some minor spots, marbled endpapers, otherwise in good condition. [With] Octavo, later half green morocco, marbled paper boards, pp. xi, 29, all housed in original brown cloth slipcase with manuscript label.
Stock number: 9600
£ 18,500