Antique Hobson Fox Hunting Map of Berkshire, Old Berkshire Hunt, circa 1870

About this sheet

Four hunt countries are colored by hand across this antique fox hunting map of Berkshire, engraved by J. and C. Walker for Hobson's Fox-Hunting Atlas circa 1870, with a fifth lettered in the east. Old Berkshire, in yellow, takes the Vale in the north around Wantage and Faringdon; Craven, in salmon orange, follows the Berkshire Downs in the west; Vine, in pale orange, runs through Newbury and the south-west; and South Berkshire, in blue, covers the Thames-side parishes east of Reading. In the far east the Royal Hunt is lettered in blue running down toward Windsor and the Surrey border.

A small printed note within the South Berkshire boundary reads "This Country hunted by Mr Phillips but belongs to the South Berkshire," recording one of the informal loan arrangements common among neighboring packs at the date and showing that these boundaries were treated as working territory rather than fixed administrative lines. The base map shows the Kennet and the Thames in pale blue, the Great Western line and its Newbury branch in red, and the wooded country around Windsor in green. The cartouche sits at upper right beside the compass star, with "By J. & C. Walker" beneath the county name; a reference table of the hundreds occupies the lower left, and the plate is numbered 2 at upper right.

Hobson's Fox-Hunting Atlas, compiled by William Colling Hobson and published by Longman and Company of Paternoster Row, London, first appeared around 1850 and was reissued into the 1870s; this sheet is from the edition of circa 1870. The plates were steel engraved by J. and C. Walker, and the boundaries of the hunt countries were added in original hand color, in outline, with the places of meeting of the foxhounds marked alongside roads, railways, canals and parks. Berkshire's position as a corridor between the Beaufort and Old Berkshire countries to the west and the fashionable Windsor district in the east makes this one of the more finely subdivided sheets, and the engraver has kept the place names legible even where several boundaries cross within a few miles of each other around Reading.

For hunting families, county collectors and anyone with a connection to the place, this antique fox hunting map of Berkshire is an original atlas sheet, well suited to framing.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light age toning, stronger towards the edges, a central fold and a few faint spots in the margins. Please review the images for further condition details.

This is an original antique map, not a modern reproduction. 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.