Antique County Map of Shropshire circa 1801

A new map of Shropshire, divided into Hundreds, exhibiting its roads, rivers, and parks, first published by John Cary circa 1801.

John Cary (1754 - 1835) was an English cartographer, engraver, and map seller, prominent in London during the late 18th century and early 19th century. Originally produced using copper plates, and fine engraving, Cary's maps are highly detailed and easily readable.

When this map was published:

In 1707 the Act of Union abolished the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, and their respective parliaments, to create a unified Kingdom of Great Britain with a single Parliament of Great Britain. Wales became part of the union under England's authority. In 1801 a further Act of Union united Great Britain with Ireland under the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The national flag, the Union Jack, was officially adopted in 1801. The Union Jack incorporates the red cross of St.George (England), the white saltire of St.Andrew (Scotland), and the red saltire of St.Patrick (Ireland). The welsh retained their language and culture, and their national flag is not represented in the Union Jack. The flag of Wales is a red dragon on a green and white field.

The first census of Great Britain (England, Wales, & Scotland) was taken on the 10th March 1801. The first census in Ireland was in 1821. The census is a head count of everyone in the country on a given day. It has been taken every ten years thereafter excluding 1941 due to World War Two. The 1931 census was lost to fire in 1942 and this created a gap of twenty years from 1931 - 1951. The 1851 census was the first to record the numbers of people living on vessels in inland waters or at sea (including the Royal Navy and merchant Navy), those serving abroad with the forces, and the East India Company, and British subjects residing overseas.


Original Antique Folding Maps
When in the 17th century people began to travel in increasing numbers, one of their first priorities was to obtain a map. The map would need to be able to cope with extended periods of life on the road, in winter a journey from remote areas of the United Kingdom to London could take weeks, even in good weather. Overseas journeys could take years. Even by the turn of the 19/20th centuries journeys abroad would often be measured in months so the traveller would have to ensure that their fragile paper maps would survive their often-damp ordeal on the open road.
A solution for the preserving and strengthening of maps is to lay them down on linen or cotton cloth. This method was used from the 18th century by map makers, especially on folding maps or those subject to a lot of handling. As extra protection a slip case would be provided.
Many of these folding maps are extremely scarce and expensive, especially those of major cities like London. We specialise in supplying original maps and reproductions of the rarer maps, all dissected and hand-laid on cloth. All of them are supplied in handmade slipcases covered in marbled paper taken from our collection of original papers dating back to circa 1700.