A fine geological map of the British Isles complete with the extant railway network. A key below the title identifies the various strata. A table lower left details the size and population of each country with extensions to take in the census’ of 1851, 1861 and 1871. The latter table in fact records an interesting period in time. There is a consistent growth in population in all with the notable exception of Ireland. It is recorded as being 8,463,416 in 1841, by 1851 it had slumped to 6,552,385 as a result of the potato famine. It continued to slide to 5,764,743 in 1861 and 5,402,759 in 1871. The tables also record the size of the Army and Navy which in 1811 during the Napoleonic wars 640,500. That equates to about 10% of the male population. In 1821 after the wars had ended it fell to 310,300.

James Wyld (1790-1836) was an apprentice to William Faden and became Geographer to His Majesty George IV and later William IV. He was a founder member of the Royal Geographic Society. He introduced lithography into mapmaking in 1812. His death in 1836 was said to be due to ‘overwork’, the business being continued by his son James Wyld (1812-87). He joined the family firm in 1830. Wyld also became a Liberal MP for Bodmin from 1847-52 and 1857-68. Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).