Environs of London by SDUK: - 1832

London: Baldwin & Cradock, 1832. Steel engraving, approx 34 x 41 cm, original hand colour, numbered in an old hand, margins trimmed a little close, blank verso. The circle around the built-up area markes the extent of the delivery of the twopenny post; prior to the 1839 Postage Act, post was charged for according to the number of sheets and distance travelled. The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was founded in 1826 with the high-minded aim of making 'useful' information available to self-taught members of the working and lower middle classes. Some of the material was decidedly abstruse, subscribers fell away and the Society was wound up in 1848; however, the series of 209 maps published over a 14 year period from 1829 onwards were highly praised for their superior quality, accuracy and aesthetic appeal and remain an outstanding achievement. Map