George Philip (1800-82) was born in Aberdeenshire and left in 1819 for Liverpool. He joined his brother who was a minister in the city. He began working with a bookseller before opening his own shop in 1834. His son George joined him in 1848. In 1865 the firm published in small folio ‘Philips’ Atlas of the Counties of England’. Presumably encouraged, the ‘Philips’ Handy Atlas’ was published in 1873 in octavo format. It proved even more popular being issued on a virtual annual basis into the twentieth century. This example bears four pages of adverts at the end of the volume.The maps are the work of John George Bartholomew (1831-93). He would be the inventor of layer colouring, which was first introduced in his maps in 1888. Many of them were first published separately with cover and accompanying text for school use. Provenance: Donald Hodson (1933-2016), carto-bibliographer. Batten & Bennett (2010) 149; Carroll (1996) 130; Smith (1985) pp. 147-9; Smith (1987); Smith (1988); Tooley’s Dictionary (1999-2004); Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).