Antique Map of South Northamptonshire and Northampton Town, 1885

This is an original antique map of the southern division of Northamptonshire, printed by lithography with original hand coloring and dated 1885 by the atlas it comes from. The title in the lower right reads "NORTHAMPTONSHIRE," over "(SOUTHERN DIVISION)", followed by "REDUCED FROM THE ORDNANCE SURVEY." and "Divided into 5 mile squares", with a scale of British Statute Miles and a key to railways, stations and borough boundaries.

The division is washed by hand in green and fills the middle of the sheet from the Leicestershire border in the north down to Brackley, Whittlewood Forest and Stony Stratford in the south. Daventry, Towcester, Weedon and Long Buckby lie within it, and Northampton, on the eastern edge of the green, carries a crimson borough wash. The country is drawn village by village with its parks, lodges and woods. To the northeast the uncolored ground is lettered as the northern division of the county, with Kettering and Wellingborough. Leicestershire is lettered across the top with Lutterworth and Market Harborough, Warwickshire down the left with Rugby, and Oxfordshire in the lower left, where Banbury carries a second crimson wash. Buckinghamshire runs across the lower right with Buckingham, Winslow and Newport Pagnell, and Bedfordshire is lettered along the right edge. The Oxford Canal, the Grand Union Canal and the main railway lines are drawn through the sheet, which is divided into five mile squares with letters and figures in the border.

No maker's name is lettered on this sheet. A printed note explains that "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 number "31" is printed sideways in the lower right corner.

It comes from The New Large Scale Ordnance Atlas of the British Isles, published in London by G. W. Bacon and Co., and is dated 1885 by the volume it was taken from; no date is printed on the sheet itself. 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. Even age toning. Handling soiling along all four edges. Slight wear at the bottom right corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the right.

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