Sources: Maps

Introduction

A substantial number of street maps of London survive from the eighteenth century. However, few identify individual properties, let alone attempt to number them. The following may be regarded as a typical example. It is a section of a map of Castle Baynard Ward, published in the mid-eighteenth century. This section shows Paternoster Row:-

Some useful information can, of course, be gleamed from such sources. For instance, the map above provides valuable information indicating the location and layout of passages and alleyways branching off from the main thoroughfare.

 

Richard Horwood's map of London

Richard Horwood has provided historians with an invaluable resource. Horwood's map consists of thirty-two plates, with the first edition being published in 1799 (following nine years of work). Horwood and his successors revised and improved his original thirty-two plates. The great value of Horwood's map is that he sought to identify every single building in London. The following illustration is part of Horwood's map, again focusing on the Paternoster Row area: It is immediately apparent if one compares this map to that above it, that a wealth of information is provided. Horwood's maps are an ideal starting point for creating new maps indicating the major areas of late eighteenth-century book production.

 

Ogilby & Morgan

The survey of the city of London begun by John Ogilby and completed by William Morgan was published in 1676. It is another invaluable resource for the historian. As Horwood was to do more than a century later, Ogilby and Morgan sought to identify individual properties. The following section of their map again focuses on the Paternoster Row area: Although the map is cruder than Horwood's, once again, valuable information concerning the layout of streets and the exact location of property is preserved.

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