An UNRECORDED ISSUE of one of the largest plans of London published by George Frederick Cruchley (1797-1880) at the scale of nearly 5 inches to a mile. This plan was published in three different versions, this being version C, the largest of them. The first issue in this format was in 1830 with ten further recorded through 1846. The 1838 is recorded as altering the imprint address to 81 Fleet Street as here but no 1840 issue is noted. The map extends from Hammersmith in the west to the east India Docks in the east. The south includes Vauxhall Gardens and to the north the Zoological Gardens in Regents Park. The Great Western Railway from Paddington is illustrated, the first section to Maidenhead having opened on 4 June 1838. The title runs in the border above with adverts in the lower border for a companion map of the environs.

George Frederick Cruchley (1797-1880) had learned his trade with Aaron Arrowsmith and began to work for himself in 1823. His early days concentrated on publishing maps of London but following the death of John Cary in 1834 he acquired much of the stock from the surviving heirs. Cruchley made lithographic transfers from the plates until he sold them all in 1877. Cruchley’s main marketing tool was to add to the original plates details of the railway’s, postal, telegraph and other useful information. Provenance: private English collection. Not in Howgego (1978) but refer to 304C; Nicholson (2003) ‘G. F. Cruchley and ‘Maps for the Million’, in IMCoS Journal 93 pp. 21-38; Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).