1843 Wyld Post Office Map of London - novel color model

Unrecorded but novel map of London.

This is a rare 1843 James Wyld Map of London featuring a unique infographic pink-and-blue grid designed to facilitate fast calculation of Cabriolet and Hackney Coach fares. It captures the sprawling metropolis at the height of the early Victorian Era and in a year immortalized by Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. This map does reappear later (1848) in the Wyld canon, but the present edition is unrecorded.

A Closer Look

Coverage embraces London from Kensington and Chelsea in the west to the Isle of Dogs in the east and Islington to Kennington, north to south. The map features superb detail throughout, with nearly every street named. Major thoroufares are highlighted in orange. Key buildings are illustrated with their footprint. The map is unique for its striking grid of 2-square-mile pink-and-blue squares. As the map states along the right border, the squares can be used to calculate Hackney Coach and Cabriolet Fares. Hackney Coast Fares 1s. Pr. Mile / Cab Fares 3d. Pr. Mile.

Publication History and Census

This present edition, dated 1843, is likely the first and is unrecorded. The Post Office Map of London does appear in Howgego (#416), but it is associated with the center sheet of the 1848 9-sheet London and Environs. The present map seems to suggest that the 9-sheet map was rather expanded from this map, rather than the other way around. Nor does that map feature the unique pink and blue color design. We have seen this map, in this edition, only once previously.

Cartographer

Wyld (1823 - 1893) was a British publishing firm active throughout the 19th century. It was operated by James Wyld I (1790 - 1836) and his son James Wyld II (November 20, 1812 - 1887) were the principles of an English mapmaking dynasty active in London during much of the 19th century. The elder Wyld was a map publisher under William Faden (1749 - 1836) and did considerable work on the Ordinance Survey. On Faden's retirement in 1823, Wyld took over Faden's workshop, acquiring many of his plates. Wyld's work can often be distinguished from his son's maps through his imprint, which he signed as 'Successor to Faden'. Following in his father's footsteps, the younger Wyld joined the Royal Geographical Society in 1830 at the tender age of 18. When his father died in 1836, James Wyld II was prepared to fully take over and expand his father's considerable cartographic enterprise. Like his father and Faden, Wyld II held the title of official Geographer to the Crown, in this case, Queen Victoria. In 1852, he moved operations from William Faden's old office at Charing Cross East (1837 - 1852) to a new, larger space at 475 Strand. Wyld II also chose to remove Faden's name from all of his updated map plates. Wyld II continued to update and republish both his father's work and the work of William Faden well into the late 1880s. One of Wyld's most eccentric and notable achievements is his 1851 construction of a globe 19 meters (60 feet) in diameter in the heart of Leicester Square, London. In the 1840s, Wyld also embarked upon a political career, being elected to parliament in 1847 and again in 1857. He died in 1887 following a prolific and distinguished career. After Wyld II's death, the family business was briefly taken over by James John Cooper Wyld (1844 - 1907), his son, who ran it from 1887 to 1893 before selling the business to Edward Stanford. All three Wylds are notable for producing, in addition to their atlas maps, short-run maps expounding upon important historical events - illustrating history as it was happening - among them are maps related to the California Gold Rush, the New South Wales Gold Rush, the Scramble for Africa, the Oregon Question, and more.   Further Details...

Condition

Very good. Some wear on old fold lines. Original linen backing.

References

c.f. Howgego, James L., Printed Maps of London circa 1553-1850, #415-416.