Decorative Antique Map of Dorsetshire and the English Channel Coast, 1885

An original antique map of Dorset, printed by lithography with original hand coloring, from the 1885 edition of The New Large Scale Ordnance Atlas of the British Isles. The title "DORSETSHIRE" is set in the English Channel at the lower left, followed by "REDUCED FROM THE ORDNANCE SURVEY." and "BY EDWD WELLER, F.R.G.S."

The county runs from Lyme Regis and Bridport in the west along the coast to Weymouth, the Isle of Portland with the Bill of Portland, St. Aldhelm's Head, Swanage and the harbor lettered "POOLE HARBOUR". Inland are Dorchester, Blandford, Sherborne, Shaftesbury, Wareham and Wimborne, and Bournemouth stands just over the Hampshire border at the right. Somersetshire, with Taunton and Yeovil, takes up the top of the sheet, and Devonshire with Honiton and Axminster the left.

The county is washed in rose, and the parliamentary boroughs, such as Shaftesbury, Weymouth, Wareham and Poole, are picked out in deeper crimson. The key below the title shows the county boundary, the boroughs and railways and stations, and the atlas note on station names follows: "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, with a scale of British Statute Miles under the title. The sheet number 14 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. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left and top right corners.

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