Publisher: GW Bacon & Co

Folding maps and flat maps

The table below lists maps of Essex in approximately chronological order within scale, taken from GW Bacon's Atlases and individual County Maps. GW Bacon & Co was active from 1869 to 1922, when George Washington Bacon died and the business was taken over by W & AK Johnston. Click on the thumbnails to get a larger picture and more information.

The dimensions against each cover and each map are Height x Width; for the maps, the measurements are of the outermost neat line of the map (not the size of the sheet of paper).

As a firm it used the plates first used in The Dispatch Atlas and then in Cassell's Atlases to create a long series of folding maps, aimed at cyclists and others, and atlases. The folding maps had covers that changed over time, but a new cover rarely meant a new map (other than railways being updated). The folding maps and atlases had the same original source, but were enlarged and progressively updated (mainly for railways and Parliamentary Divisions) via lithography. The colours on the dimensions below group maps of essentially the same size together.

The following is an approximate sequence of the county maps, based on David Smith's Victorian Maps of the British Isles (1985) which covers up to 1900, RA Carroll's The Printed Maps of Lincolnshire 1576-1900 (1996), plus the Atlases and maps at CUL and my own collection of maps of Essex.

Date Title(s) Approximate
Dimensions
Notes
At about 4 miles / inch, or 1:255,000 - The Atlases
1863 The Dispatch Atlas, and as
Cassell's Complete County Atlas,
and as Cassell's County Maps
for road and rail
300 x 425mm The map of Essex was first published in 1860, and also appeared in Cassell's maps and atlases in 1863.
1864 Cassell's British Atlas 300 x 425mm Copy at CUL.
1870 Bacon's New Pocket Map of [county] 303 x 430mm An example of this is below (from 1875)
1876 Bacon's New Quarto County Atlas,
Bacon's Map of [county], &
Bacon's New Pocket Map of [county]
310 x 430mm using the original dimensions
1883 New Large Scale Ordnance Atlas of the British Isles 310 x 460mm Wider than the "blues" above, this size continues for the
remaining atlases. Republished in 1884 (copy at CUL), 1886 (twice), and 1889 (copy at CUL)
1888 Map of [county], Bacon's County
Guide and Map of
[county]
310 x 460mm CUL has copy of County Guide and Map of Essex
1891 New Large Scale Atlas of the British
Isles from the Ordnance Survey
310 x 460mm Republished in 1893
1895 Commercial and Library Atlas of the
British Isles
303 x 457mm Republished in 1897, 1898, 1899, 1902 & 1904. CUL has 1895 and
1902. Examples from 1895 and 1904 below.
1906 Bacon's New Large Scale
Atlas of London and Suburbs
306 x 457mm This Atlas starts as "New", but they are the same county plates
being used. An example is shown below.
1907 Bacon's Library Atlas of the British
Isles
305 x 459mm An example of this is below. CUL has a copy.
1907 Bacon's Popular Atlas of the British
Isles
305 x 459mm This Atlas has the identical maps to the Library Atlas published in
the same year. CUL has a copy.
1910 Bacon's Atlas of London &
Suburbs
304 x 458mm No longer "New", or "Large Scale".
An example is shown below. CUL has a copy.
1924 Bacon's County Atlas of England and Wales 304 x 449mm Republished several times until at least 1931 (even though by then
GW Bacon was dead and the firm had been taken over). Examples
from 1924 and 1931 are below. CUL has a copy.
At about 4 miles / inch, or 1:255,000 - a folding sheet map
1902 Bacon's Cycling and Motoring map for [Region] 718 x 616mm Same scale as the atlas maps, but a folding sheet - far larger than the individual county maps; example below.
At about 2.7 miles / inch, or 1:170,000 - The folding individual county sheet maps
1869 Bacon's Map of [county] 430 x 590mm Bacon acquired the Cassell plates, and then used them for many years
via lithographic transfer, often, as in this case, enlarging the maps
1869 Bacon's County Atlas 430 x 590mm Copy at CUL. Map identical to the 1870 below
1869 Bacon's New Tourist Map of [county] 430 x 590mm
1870 Bacon's Large Print County Atlas 430 x 600mm
1870 Bacon's New Large-Print Map of [county] 430 x 610mm An example of this is below.
1870 Bacon's New Tourist's Map of
[county] from the Ordnance Survey
430 x 590mm by lithographic transfer, enlarging the maps
1892 Bacon's County Guide & Map of [county]. 457 x 676mm An example is shown below.
1896 Bacon's Map of [county],
Bacon's County Map & Guide of
[county] for Cyclists & Tourists
455 x 614mm The folding map of 1892 above has been cut back on the eastern
side. Republished many times, eg in 1897 with Dangerous Hills
added, and later dates. Some examples are shown below.
This map keeps going until at least 1913, when it is also available
as Bacon's Reversible Map - with a county on each side of the
(stiff) paper.
1920 Bacon's County Map of [county] 428 x 601mm Somewhat smaller maps than the "oranges" above; examples
from 1920 to 1935 are shown below.
At about 2 miles / inch, or 1:125,000
1910 Bacon's New Survey Map of Essex, Hertford, Middlesex and London 870 x 1124mm A huge map over a big area; example below
1915 Bacon's Motoring and Cycling Road Map - Colchester District 616 x 857mm Despite title it's a regional map, and at quite a large scale; example below
At about 5 miles / inch, or 1:315,000
1910 Bacon's Large Print Motor Map of [region] 550 x 653mm Covers a very large area, but at a small scale; example below.
1928 Bacon's Cycling & Motoring Map of [county] 340 x 471mm Despite the name, this is more of a regional map (centred on Essex),
in that the detail continues to the edge of the paper sheet, rather
than cutting off at the county border. An example is shown below.

County maps in Bacon's Atlases

Thumbnail maps Mapmakers, their Atlases and Maps
Thumbnail: Bacon 1883

Bacon
New Large Scale Ordnance Atlas of the British isles

1883         303mm x 458mm
Map as used in atlas.


Thumbnail: Bacon 1884

Bacon
New Large Scale Ordnance Atlas of the British isles

1884         303mm x 458mm
The 1883 map with a very small change.

Thumbnail: Bacon 1885

Bacon
The Atlas of the British isles

1885         305mm x 461mm
The 1884 map with an inaccurate update.

Thumbnail: Bacon 1886

Bacon
The Atlas of the British isles

1886         303mm x 461mm
The 1885 map with updates.

Thumbnail: Bacon 1891

Bacon
The New Large Scale Atlas of the British isles

1891         304mm x 461mm
The 1886 map with updates.

Thumbnail: Bacon 1895

Bacon
Commercial and Library Atlas of the British isles from the Ordnance Survey

1895         303mm x 458mm
The 1891 map with updates.

Thumbnail: Bacon 1901

Bacon
Commercial and Library Atlas of the British Isles from the Ordnance Survey

1901         305mm x 457mm
The 1895 map almost unchanged.

Thumbnail: Bacon 1904

Bacon
Commercial and Library Atlas of the British Isles from the Ordnance Survey

1904         306mm x 457mm
An Atlas published many times.

Thumbnail: Bacon 1906

Bacon
Bacon's New Large Scale Atlas of London and Suburbs

1906         306mm x 457mm
Not "Large Scale" for Essex.

Thumbnail: Bacon 1907

Bacon
Bacon's Library Atlas of the British Isles

1907         305mm x 459mm
An Atlas published many times.

Thumbnail: Bacon 1910

Bacon
Bacon's Atlas of London & the Suburbs

1910         304mm x 458mm
Another Atlas using the same maps.

Thumbnail: Bacon 1913

Bacon
Bacon's Large Scale Atlas of London & Suburbs

1913         304mm x 457mm
Someone stole the map colouring.

Thumbnail: Bacon 1924

Bacon
Bacon's County Atlas of England and Wales

1924         304mm x 449mm
Two identical maps, but with different plate numbering.

Thumbnail: Bacon 1931

Bacon
Bacon's County Atlas of England and Wales

1931         303mm x 449mm
The Atlas keeps going.


Folding county maps pre-Cyclists

Bacon's New Large Print Map of Essex, 1870 .                       Bacon's New Pocket Map of Essex, 1875.
    Bacon 1870                                                   Bacon 1870
195 x 125mm containing 432 x 620mm.                               173 x 100mm containing 303 x 430mm.
        Approx 3 miles to an inch.                                                       Approx 4 miles to an inch.


Folding county maps primarily for Cyclists (c.2.7 miles/inch)

Bacon's County Guide & Map.                 Bacon's County Map & Guide.                         Bacon's County Map & Guide.
(1892)                                                       (1894)                                                               (1896)
Bacon 1892                 Bacon 1894                     Bacon 1896
184 x 115mm for 457 x 676mm               171 x 100mm for 460 x 612mm                       170 x 104mm for 462 x 610mm

Bacon's County Map and Guide             Bacon's County Map and Guide                   Bacon's County Map and Guide.
(1899)                                                       (1901)                                                           (1906)
Bacon 1899                 Bacon 1901                     Bacon 1906
170 x 100mm for 460 x 612mm             172 x 100mm for 460 x 612mm                   170 x 100mm for 455 x 612mm

Bacon's County Map and Guide               Bacon's County Map and Guide           Bacon's County Map and Guide
(1910)                                                         (1911)                                                   (1912)
Bacon 1910               Bacon 1911             Bacon 1912
170 x 100mm for 455 x 612mm               172 x 100mm for 454 x 615mm             172 x 100mm for 454 x 615mm

Bacon's County Map                                 Bacon's County Map                                 Bacon's County Map
(1913)                                                       (1914)                                                         (1915)
Bacon 1913                   Bacon 1914                   Bacon 1915
172 x 100mm for 454 x 615mm               172 x 100mm for 454 x 615mm               170 x 100mm for 455 x 614mm

Bacon's Reversible Map, Essex           Bacon's Reversible Map, Suffolk.
and Suffolk (1913)                                 and Essex (1913)
Bacon 1913                   Bacon 1913
178 x 101mm for 457 x 614mm             178 x 101mm for 457 x 614mm

These are the "front" and "back" covers of a single publication, which contains the Essex map on one side and
the Suffolk map on the other side of the stiff paper. The Essex map is the same as the 1913 one above.

Bacon's County Map (1920)           Bacon's County Map (1924)             Bacon's County Map (1935)         Bacon's County Map (1935)
Bacon 1920       Bacon 1924       Bacon 1935       Bacon 1935
172 x 100mm for 428 x 601mm     170 x 100mm for 428 x 601mm       178 x 109mm for 428 x 601mm   178 x 109mm for 428 x 601mm


Other folding county maps

Bacon's Motoring & Cycling Road           Bacon's Cycling & Motoring Map
Map - Colchester (1915)                         Map - Essex (1928)
Bacon 1928                 Bacon 1928
173 x 99mm for 616 x 857mm                 132 x 90mm for 340 x 471mm


Folding maps primarily for Motorists - covering larger areas

Cycling and Motoring East                 Large Print Motor Map                   Motoring and Cycling Road Map
Anglia (1902)                                     Eastern Counties (1910)                 Colchester District (1915)
Bacon 1902               Bacon 1910         Bacon 1915
169 x 99mm for 718 x 616mm         171 x 100mm for 550 x 653mm       173 x 99mm for 616 x 857mm

Large Print Motor Map
Eastern Counties (1925)
Bacon 1925
205 x 100mm for 494 x 709m


Folding map over three counties

Essex, Hertford, Middlesex and London                
Bacon 1910 3 counties cover
235 x 198mm for 870 x 1,124mm


Other information on GW Bacon & Co

Addresses:
1862-67   48 Paternoster Row
1866         73 Pentonville Road
1868         337 Strand
1870-19   127 Strand
1919-??   Norwich Street, Fetter Lane, London

Business:
Bacon & Co took over the business of James Wyld in 1893.

Taken from British Map Engravers, Worms & Baynton-Williams.



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© Peter Walker 2014 - 2016