France, Antique Map on Three Sheets, Charles Knight London, 1845

US$525

Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)

Date: 1845
Mapmaker / artist: Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, London; engraved by John and Charles Walker
Publisher: Charles Knight and Company, 22 Ludgate Street, London
Technique: Steel Engraving
Coloring: Original hand color
Sheet size: 35 × 43.5 cm (13.8 × 17.1 in)
Condition: Good
Reference: BG-14487-2-27

What the condition grades mean

Excellent: Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good: Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good: Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair: Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.

Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.

Condition

Three sheets, all age toned. Foxing in the margins of all of them. Handling wear to the corners of all of them.

About this sheet

This is an original antique map of France on the three sheets on which the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge printed it in 1845, offered together as one set. The first sheet covers the north west, with Brittany out to the Pointe du Raz and Belle Isle, Normandy and the Cotentin, Cherbourg, Caen, Le Havre, Rouen and Nantes, and the whole south coast of England engraved across the water, the Channel lettered in both languages as English Channel La Manche. The second sheet covers the north east, from the Pas de Calais and the Somme through Reims, Chalons, Verdun, Metz, Nancy and Strasbourg to Dijon and the Saone, with the Netherlands, the Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine, the Duchy of Deux Ponts and the Duchy of Baden beyond the frontier. The third sheet covers the south west and the Mediterranean, with Bordeaux, the Gironde, the Landes, the whole chain of the Pyrenees, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Narbonne, Montpellier and Nimes, and the Canal du Midi traced from the Garonne to the sea. All three carry the departments in hand applied color and give the heights of the mountains in yards.

The sheets come from Maps of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, in the new edition corrected to the present time that Charles Knight and Company published at 22 Ludgate Street, London, in 1845, whose first volume covers Europe. The Society was founded in 1826 by Henry Brougham and his circle to publish useful knowledge at a low price. Its maps were issued in parts from 1829, first by Baldwin and Cradock, from 1842 by Chapman and Hall and then by Charles Knight, and the series grew to about two hundred maps. Most of them were engraved on steel by John and Charles Walker, and the outline color was applied by hand.

The sheets of this set belong to one map and are sold together.

Three sheets, all age toned. Foxing in the margins of all of them. Handling wear to the corners of all of them.

The set is three original sheets sold together, never split. These are original antique maps, not modern reproductions. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.