From a King to a Queen
Just a short post to let you know that I’m on the road! Which is to say, I’m out and about buying books again. I’ll be using the satnav rather than this 1838 map however. It’s by James Wyld, ‘Geographer to the Queen’ and features a few ‘Rail Roads.’ Who is ‘Geographer to the Queen’ now, I wonder?
One of the things I love best about book collecting is the fascinating little details of social history and indeed industry that emerge through a study of primary sources like this map. Victoria was of course new to the throne, and you can see (at the end of that impressive title) that Wyld has instructed his engraver to hammer out the word ‘King’ and re-engrave the plate with ‘Queen’ – taking the opportunity to add a few of those new ‘Rail Roads’, no doubt. Copper plates were very expensive to produce and were carefully burnished, re-titled, re-dated and amended over the years until, of course, they were worn out and the whole thing had to be re-drawn. Bibliographers examine multiple copies of books, maps, prints and so on to record these changes.
Please do get in touch if you have been having a sort-out and need to sell old books, maps, ephemera, photograph albums, postcards and so on. If it’s on paper, give me a ring on 01273 389526 or 07769 318895. You never know!
Jame Wyld, 1838.
