Antique Map of Staffordshire with Stafford, Lichfield and Birmingham, 1885

This is an original antique map of Staffordshire, printed by lithography with original hand coloring and dated 1885 by the atlas it comes from. The title at the upper right reads "STAFFORDSHIRE.", followed by "REDUCED FROM THE ORDNANCE SURVEY." and "Divided into 5 mile squares", with a scale of British Statute Miles and a panel headed "EXPLANATION" for boundaries, boroughs, railways and stations.

The county fills a tall sheet. The north, lettered as the northern division, is washed by hand in pale green and gray, with the moorland around Leek modeled in hachure. The middle of the county is washed in lilac and rose, and the east, with Burton upon Trent, Lichfield and Tamworth, in yellow. Crimson borough washes mark the pottery towns around Newcastle and Stoke at the upper left, Stafford in the center, Lichfield and Tamworth on the east, and the large group of Wolverhampton, Walsall and Wednesbury in the south. Birmingham is drawn at the lower right in close street detail, with Dudley and Stourbridge to its west. Cheshire is lettered at the upper left, Derbyshire down the right with Buxton, Ashbourn and Derby, Shropshire on the left with Newport and Bridgnorth, and Worcestershire and Warwickshire along the foot. Canals and railways run through the whole 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." A sheet number in the lower right corner is cut by the trimmed edge.

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. Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Handling soiling along the left and right edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right and top left corners.

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