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Mr. Philip D. Burden
P.O. Box 863,
Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks HP6 9HD,
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel: +44 (0) 1494 76 33 13
Email: enquiries@caburden.com
Sidney Hall (1788?-1831) began his career as an engraver for the Arrowsmith family. Hall was a prolific engraver of the period and according to Worms and Baynton-Williams ‘was almost certainly the first engraver to use the new harder steel plates for map work, using plates manufactured by the Jacob Perkins process as early as 1821’. His first county maps were those published by Samuel Leigh in 1820 in ‘Leigh’s New Picture of England and Wales’, a miniature county atlas which proved a success.
This series of maps was engraved for John Gorton’s ‘Topographical Dictionary’ issued in parts from 1831-32. The publishers were Chapman and Hall, there is no known familial link between the two Hall’s. We cannot conclude for sure that Sidney Hall engraved all of the plates as his will was proved 26 March 1831. The dates on the maps vary between 1830 and 1832. His widow Selina Hall was also an engraver and as she signed hers ‘S. Hall’ it is difficult to tell. The maps are bound alphabetically with those of Yorkshire, Ireland, Scotland and Wales consisting of two plates. A final general map of ‘Inland Navigation’ is bound at the end with a four-sheet list of canals and railways. As early as 1833 the list records 36 railways, each recording the date of opening. Ireland, Scotland and Wales are in 2 sheets as is that of Yorkshire. Population statistics are given from the Census for 1831. Provenance: private English collection. Carroll (1996) 94; Chubb (1927) 451; Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).
This series of maps was engraved for John Gorton’s ‘Topographical Dictionary’ issued in parts from 1831-32. The publishers were Chapman and Hall, there is no known familial link between the two Hall’s. We cannot conclude for sure that Sidney Hall engraved all of the plates as his will was proved 26 March 1831. The dates on the maps vary between 1830 and 1832. His widow Selina Hall was also an engraver and as she signed hers ‘S. Hall’ it is difficult to tell. The maps are bound alphabetically with those of Yorkshire, Ireland, Scotland and Wales consisting of two plates. A final general map of ‘Inland Navigation’ is bound at the end with a four-sheet list of canals and railways. As early as 1833 the list records 36 railways, each recording the date of opening. Ireland, Scotland and Wales are in 2 sheets as is that of Yorkshire. Population statistics are given from the Census for 1831. Provenance: private English collection. Carroll (1996) 94; Chubb (1927) 451; Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).
GORTON, John
A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland, compiled from Local Information, and the Most Recent and Official Authorities
Chapman & Hall, 186, Strand, London, 1833
Three volumes octavo (225 x 150 mm.), original half calf, brown cloth boards, lightly worn. Gilt lines and raised bands on spine, gilt title on black calf label, blind tooling. Contents clean throughout, overall fine condition. Engraved general map of England and Wales, engraved title, preface 14 pp., Population Return 109 pp., 54 double page maps by Sidney Hall, some with colour. Minor spotting, but otherwise a very good example.
Stock number: 1821
SOLD