Stanford's Folio British Isles Map (1884) Map

The Stanford's British Isles Map is from a fascinating series of reproductions from our Edward Stanford Cartographic Collection archive. Published in 1884, this map shows the British Isles with their old historic counties. Bright colours highlight the boundaries of the old counties as they were. The pale background makes all the place names easy to read. In common with other maps published by Stanfords at that time, an unusually large number of small rivers are named, even the lovely Cuckmere is there. Ironically perhaps, the map provides an interesting contrast between the significant administrative changes within Great Britain and the retention of the county borders within Ireland. This map includes lots more interesting historical finds, for example; London looks significantly smaller than it does on maps today mostly falling within the county of Middlesex. This is a great map that beautifully tells this history of counties.