FIRST EDITION. Henry Teesdale (1776-1855) a successful publisher in London is best known for two English County atlases. In 1829 he acquired the county plates to Robert Rowe’s exceedingly rare ‘English Atlas’ and after revision published them as the ‘New British Atlas’. Encouraged by its undoubted success he embarked on a reduced sized county atlas which he published the following year entitled ‘A New Travelling Atlas’. In this work the roads are made the principal feature. For some reason it was not a great success, at least judging from the fact that only two examples survive: Cambridge University Library and a private English collection. For the second edition in 1843 plate numbers were added as were railways in the counties where they had been introduced. It appears that he took in a partner D. W. Martin which might explain the possible delay in publication. This is similarly extremely rare with only about a half dozen examples known.

Both series of copper plates became the property of Henry George Collins (fl.1832-58) and the ‘Travelling Atlas’ was re-issued with his imprint in 1849. By 1857 the business had failed and ownership of the atlas had passed to William Somerville Orr whose one edition is given the date of c.1856 although possibly later. Then they passed in to the hands of John Heywood who would issue a number of editions. This is the earliest with the maps bearing the imprint of 170 Deansgate, Manchester, providing the date of 1858. The previous Contents leaf which was difficult to read is entirely new. The general map bears the imprint address of 143 Deansgate, an address to which they moved after having outgrown his premises. Many of the map’s imprints have been altered accordingly. Rudimentary updating of the railway network on each map occurred and some toponym additions have been noted. It was available from about 1858 for the price of 1 shilling 6 pence.

Hodson records that the maps of Hertfordshire had been erased and an entirely new one on a slightly larger scale drawn. A brief comparison identifies that Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cumberland, Gloucestershire, Hereford, Huntingdon, and Shropshire have been similarly treated. Provenance: inscription of ‘Alice P. Howes 1878’ on front free endpaper; Donald Hodson collection (1933-2016), carto-bibliographer. Burden (1994) 90; Burgess (2004) no. 124; Carroll (1996) no. 92; not in Chubb (1927); Tooley’s Dictionary (1999-2004); Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).