Richard Horwood's plan of London and Westminster, the borough of Southwark, and parts adjoining it, showing every house, took a decade of work to complete. 18th-century London was rapidly expanding. Planning began in the late 1780s, and the map itself was produced between the years 1792 and 1799, when the completed map was initially published. The information contained within the map was a huge undertaking, with no other maps depicting such detail at the time. Not only is every street, square, court, and alley illustrated, but every individual house as well. Horwood was a little-known cartographer at the time who secured the funding for the map by charging subscriptions as each sheet of the map was completed. The price for the map in its entirety was five pounds and five shillings. Very few people could afford such a huge sum of money, the equivalent of hundreds of pounds by today's standards, so purchasing the map on a sheet-by-sheet basis meant the cost of the map could be spread over several years. This did however mean the overall cost of the map was higher - at £8. More funds for the huge endeavour were still needed, and Horwood secured a loan from the Phoenix Fire Department in return for dedicating the map to the company.
The original map, when completed, was published at approximately 160" x 80" and showed London in its entirety in 1799. Old Folding Maps has republished the map in 22 sections, with each individual map measuring approximately 22 x 27".
In May 1800, he wrote of the map: "The execution of it has cost me nine years of severe labour and indefatigable perseverance, and these years have formed the most valuable part of my life." I took every angle, measured almost every line, and, after that, plotted and compared the whole work. "The engraving, considering the immense mass of work, is, I flatter myself, well done."
The map is now considered one of the finest 18th century maps ever produced of London, however Richard Horwood died in Liverpool impoverished a mere 4 years later in 1803. As was common practice at the time, on his death, the engraved plates were passed on to another cartographer, William Faden, who revised and updated them to produce three new editions of the plan in 1807, 1813, and 1819.
Old Map of London Artillery Lane - Wapping Street - The Tower - Bermondsey circa 1799 (Horwood022 Bermondsey)
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Old Map of London Cheapside - Bishopgate Street - Finsbury Place - Lower Thames Street circa 1799 (Horwood013 Royal Exchange & Cornhill)
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Old Map of London Fenchurch Street - Sloane Square - Spitalfields Market - Little Tower Hill circa 1799 (Horwood014 White Chapel & Spitalfields Market)
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Old Map of London Grosvenor Street - Brewer Street - Portland Street - Berkley Square circa 1799 (Horwood010 Hanover Square & Oxford Street)
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Old Map of London Islington - Foundling Hospital - Malden Lane - Great Ormond Street circa 1799 (Horwood003 Islington)
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Old Map of London Kennington Green - Newington - West Square - Kennington Common circa 1799 (Horwood028 Kennington)
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Old Map of London King's Road - Charter House - Islington Road - Hatton Garden circa 1799 (Horwood004 Islington Road & Charter House)
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Old Map of London Leicester Square - High Holborn - Bedford Square - The Strand circa 1799 (Horwood011 Leicester Square & Soho)
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Old Map of London Lincoln's Inn - St Paul's Churchyard - Hatton Garden - Black Friars Bridge circa 1799 (Horwood012 Holborn & The City)
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Old Map of London New Road - Tottenham Court - Hampstead Road - Fitzroy Square circa 1799 (Horwood002 Tottenham Court)
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Old Map of London Old Street - Hoxton Square - Chatham Gardens - Finsbury Square circa 1799 (Horwood005 Finsbury Square & Old Street)
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Old Map of London Paddington - Portman Square - Grosvenor Square - Park Lane circa 1799 (Horwood009 Paddington & Park Lane)
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Old Map of London Pall Mall - Bridge Road - Charing Cross - Westminster circa 1799 (Horwood019 Westminster)
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Old Map of London Piccadilly - Pall Mall - Pimlico - Grosvenor circa 1799 (Horwood018 Piccadilly & Green Park)
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Old Map of London Queen Street - Kent Street - London Bridge - Bermondsey circa 1799 (Horwood021 Southwark & Bermondsey)
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Old Map of London Shard Street - Rotherhithe - Shadwell Dock - Deptford circa 1799 (Horwood023 Rotherhithe)
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Old Map of London Shoreditch - Bethnal Green - Hackney Road - Brick Lane crca 1799 (Horwood006 Shoreditch & Bethnal Green)
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Old Map of London Stepney - Rope Walk - Bow Common - Limehouse circa 1799 (Horwood016 Stepney & Limehouse)
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Old Map of London Westminster Bridge Road - Borough Road - Albion Street - Lambeth Road circa 1799 (Horwood020 Westminster Bridge Road)
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Old Map of London White Chapel - Stepney Green - Mile End - Rope Walk circa 1799 (Horwood015 White Chapel & Rope Walk)
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These extremely rare maps have been in existence since they were originally printed and are not modern reproductions.
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Modern reproductions of antique maps - professionally created to closely match the original production methods.
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An eclectic range of antique illustrations. Available in a hand-made frame or supplied rolled in a tube.
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A map designed by Edward Stanford (1827 - 1904) who was a map maker and seller prominent in the late 19th century.
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Charles Booth's Descriptive map of London Poverty first published circa 1889. Available in area sectionals.
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Horwood's Old map of London, first published circa 1799. This map is very large and is available to purchase in sections.
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