In 1820 Samuel Leigh (fl.1812-d.31) published the New Picture of England and Wales. It included one general map only, but stated ‘The proprietor has availed himself of the talents of Mr. Sidney Hall to project a series of correct county maps, the same size as this book, which may be had in a separate volume, with a complete Index of the towns, villages, etc.’. Leigh’s New Pocket Atlas of England and Wales was published in the same year. It was a miniature county atlas which proved successful. Sidney Hall (1788?-1831) engraved the series of maps which were derived from those of John Cary. 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’.

In 1825 Leigh published an accompanying New Pocket Road Book which can be found alone or bound with the atlas as here in its second edition. The extensive text provides fascinating descriptions of towns and places. Provenance: bookplate of Colonel M. Browne pasted inside front cover with his manuscript ownership inscription opposite dated 1941; private English collection. Chubb (1927) 375; Fordham (1924) p. 58; Tooley’s Dictionary (1999-2004); Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).