The copper plates for this work were first published as the ‘British Atlas’ by John Walker (1787-1873) and his brother Charles Walker (1799?-1872) in 1837. They inherited the engraving firm of their father, John Walker I (fl.1783-1831) who was chiefly known for his work with the Admiralty. From 1849 lithographic transfers were made in partnership with William Colling Hobson (fl.c.1832-d.c.1878) to create ‘Hobson’s Fox Hunting Atlas’, another atlas which was successful. Each county map is overprinted in blue with the local hunts, each with coloured border, and the meeting places identified by a small grey circle.

Whilst the ‘British Atlas’ contained 47 maps originally, those of Wales and the general map were not included in the ‘Fox-Hunting Atlas.’ None of the editions is dated and assessing this is based on the display of the railway network on the maps which is not an exact science. Hodson dated this example to c.1860. Provenance: ‘Officer Mead … 5th November 1868’ inscribed on Reference leaf; bookplate of Francis Horner Reynard (1857-1931) affixed inside upper board; Donald Hodson collection (1933-2016), carto-bibliographer. Beresiner (1983) pp. 232-3; Carroll (1996) 105; refer Chubb 532; Hodson (1974) 103; Tooley’s Dictionary (1999-2004); Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).