Medieval to Twentieth Century London - Four Street Maps

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£29.99

In their latest feat of superb historical mapping, Old House Books have produced a series of folded maps from Medieval to Twentieth Century London which are fascinating in detailing the unique development of one of the world’s most famous cities. Featuring four detailed coloured maps - from 1520, 1666, 1843 and 1902 - the story of London is told from the time of King Henry VIII to the dawn of the twentieth century. In this time the growth of the capital was unrivalled anywhere else in the world.

Each of the four detailed maps depicts a defining moment in London’s history, reproduced or redrawn from original cartography. From the breaking out of the old Roman walls in 1520 to the damage caused by the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the eventual expansion of the capital’s suburbs in the late Victorian era, this series of maps provide a fascinating glimpse into the cartographical history of the capital. The mapping is extremely detailed; for example it shows the great houses that Henry VII would have known intimately and the destruction of the city witnessed by Samuel Pepys and the growth of the railways as the Industrial Revolution gained momentum in the Victorian era. A wonderful gift for anyone who has an interest in the importance and relevance of cartography.

Naturally, the source material and expansion of the city means that each map covers a different area at a different scale. The approximate sizes and areas covered by each map are shown below:

Circa 1520: 95x55cm, covering from the Hospital of St John the Baptist (now the site of the Savoy) in the west to the Tower in the east, and from the London Charterhouse in the north to London Bridge in the south (showing only the bridge itself, and none of the southern bank)

1666: 59x40cm, covering from Temple Stairs in the west to the Tower in the east, and from approximately Finsbury Square in the north to Southwark bank in the south.

1843: 66x40cm, covering from Kensington Palace in the west to the West India Docks in the east, and from approximately Highbury Corner in the north to the Oval in the south.

1902: 70x56cm, covering from Wormwood Scrubs in the west to the West India Docks in the east, and from Finsbury Park Station in the north to Herne Hill in the south.