116 John & Charles Walker 1836

John and Charles Walker were sons of John Walker who worked for Alexander Dalrymple, Hydrographer to the East India Company in 1779 and for the Admiralty in 1795. John took over as hydrographer in 1808 and when he died Sir Francis Beaufort (of the wind force scale) was appointed. The younger John also became hydrographer to the East India Co. in 1836. He and Charles continued the family firm until 1890. They were prolific engravers for other publishers (102, 103 and 113) as well as for themselves and they published maps of India, the provinces, the Americas and the world working from a number of London addresses.

In 1837 their most important county cartographic work appeared, the folio British Atlas (47 maps), jointly published with Longman, Rees and Co. The maps were extremely popular and many editions of the Atlas were produced, often with a confusing inclusion of old stock so that maps with different addresses in imprints can be found together in one atlas. The earliest maps had lists of the hundreds according to the Quarter Sessions 1830 but this was replaced in later editions by those of 1839. Most of the maps were offered singly in folding covers, eg WALKER’S DEVONSHIRE. The maps were also issued as boxed sets from 1837 as Walker’s County Atlas (as well as being offered from 1842 by G F Cruchley).

This British Atlas (the title is taken from the dedication to the Duchess of Kent and Princess, later Queen, Victoria) was reprinted frequently until 1879. From 1849 many place names were added or revised to allow lithographic transfers to be taken, especially for Hobson’s Fox-Hunting Atlas showing the meeting places of hounds. This was very popular and reprinted until c.1882. Walker’s Fox-Hunting Atlas appeared c.1882 and c.1895. A selection of these are listed separately below.

The maps of Devon and Cornwall also appeared in John Murray’s Handbook of Devon and Cornwall from the 1850s but were briefly replaced by a map of the two counties together by W A K Johnston (c.1872 see 135)¹ until a new map by Bartholomew was issued (150). William White wrote a History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County first published in 1850. This edition calls for a map, but this is frequently not present and with no signs of removal; hence the assumption that no map was issued. However, one copy has been discovered with a state of the Walker map conforming to an 1850 issue and with a White imprint that looks contemporary and added by the map publishers (see new state 8A below). A second edition also appeared with a Walker’s map (Second Edition 1878/9; state 18 below).

In the 1880s the maps were further reissued and appeared in Lett’s Popular County Atlas (1884-c.1889) which was also issued in parts: Devon appeared with Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset in paper covers with same title. The maps were extensively revised and overprinted with information, eg lifeboat and coastguard stations.

Size 320 x 385 mm.                                                                             English Miles 69.1 to 1 Degree (8 Furlongs + 20 = 91 mm).

DEVONSHIRE with signature: BY J. & C. Walker. Imprint: Published by Longman, Orme, Rees & Co. Paternoster Row, London, May 1st. 1836. (CeOS). Two columns of polling places. The list of hundreds has been established according to the Quarter Sessions in 1830 (Ed). Population figure is 460,595.

Fox-Hunting Maps

All fox hunting maps were produced as lithographs. All are coloured and the railways sometimes have the appearance of being added by hand. They seem to have been produced in parallel to the mainstream maps (see above) and are added here separately. This list is not complete but may serve as a rough guide to dating.