Antique Map of Durham with Sunderland, Hartlepool and the North Sea, 1885

An original antique map of County Durham, printed by lithography with original hand coloring, from the 1885 edition of The New Large Scale Ordnance Atlas of the British Isles. The title at the upper left reads "DURHAM," with "REDUCED FROM THE ORDNANCE SURVEY." and "Divided into 5 mile squares" beneath it. There is no credit line for Weller on this sheet.

The county lies between the Tyne and the Tees. Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shields stand at the top of the sheet, with Sunderland, Seaham and Hartlepool down the North Sea coast, where a compass rose is drawn in the open sea. Durham city lies in the middle, with Stockton, Middlesbrough and Darlington along the Tees in the south, and Barnard Castle, Teesdale, Weardale and the high commons in the west. Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire are named around the border.

The key colors the North Division in lilac and the South Division in green, and the boroughs are picked out in crimson. An Explanation panel at the lower left adds turnpike roads, roads, railways and stations, and tramways and colliery lines, and the title panel carries the atlas note on station names: "The official names of Railway Stations are all engraved in a special character, thus, Clayton; except where indicated by the name of the town being in bold letters and identical with the name of the Station." The sheet is divided into five mile squares with letters and figures in the border. The sheet number 15 is printed at the upper right.

The sheet comes from The New Large Scale Ordnance Atlas of the British Isles, the atlas of county and town maps reduced from the Ordnance Survey by Edward Weller, F.R.G.S., and published in London by G. W. Bacon and Co. The date 1885 comes from the volume the sheets were taken from; the year is not printed on the sheet, and Bacon's name does not appear on it. Edward Weller (1819 to 1884) was a London map engraver and draftsman and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Vertical fold down the center from binding. Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom, left and top edges. Light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at bottom left corner. Pencil notes in right margin.

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