The Map Room

The GLASS library area devoted to Maps & Mapmakers.

The listing is grouped into :

For some books we have provided extracts; please bear in mind the copyright issues.

GLASS holds an Ordnance Survey paper map copying licence - more details here.

Map resources

Author	Title & notes	link
British Library	British Library Map Collection no maps online, but much background
Oxford University	The Bodleian Library Map Room 7th largest map library in the world, sadly not many useful (to us) images online .. but there is access to catalogue.
Philip Brady	OSGB FAQ An in-depth look at understanding and converting the OS grid reference system
Ordnance Survey	Get-a-map You can search for current maps anywhere in the UK
	Abbreviations as used on OS maps old and new
	'Romer' map reading aid a tool for reading those grid refs.  Print one yourself!	DIY printing How to use one
Ordnance Survey	Old Maps Commercial site hosting 1880's six-inch OS maps online
	New Popular Edition Maps OS 1" scans from the 1940s
Great Britain Historical GIS Project	Vision of Britain Includes both 1800's and 1940's OS 1" maps
Ordnance Survey	UK County & Unitary authorities 2001 current adminstrative areas	(555.38 KB)
Ordnance Survey	UK administrative counties 1995 20th century, pre-unitary	(354.98 KB)
Association of British Counties	Traditional Counties circa 19th century	(225.02 KB)
various	british-geneaology.com maps of interest to family historians
Alan Yates	Chorographia Britanniae 1742 atlas, surveyed by Badeslade
London Ancestors	Boundary Commission Report 1885 county maps, overlaid with parliamentary divisions
Malcolm Farmer	Encyclopaedia Britannica c.1880 Selection of county map scans from old EB
Edinburgh University	Charting the Nation maps of Scotland
National Library of Scotland	Maps of Scotland 1560-1928
National Library of Wales	The Principality of Wales exactly described .. Thos. Taylor 1718
Canalmaps Archive	Canal maps collection from 18th/19th century, including proposed routes Read the copyright notes!

back to top

Local map resources

Author	Title & notes	link
Devon Library Services	Historic maps of Devon Greenwood, Saxton, Donn
Durham University	Maps of County Durham searchable
Martin & Jean Norgate	Old Hampshire Mapped A comprehensive academic study of the pre-OS maps available for this county, with images online. If only there were similar websites for each county!
Lancashire CC	Historic maps of Lancashire Speed, Yates, Greenwood, and more
Lancashire CC	Lancs MARIO Lancs maps old and new
Staffs CC	Staffordshire Past-track image archive with maps section
Surrey Archaeology	Maps on the Web for Surrey Local Historians links page
Dominic Fontana et al	Old Sussex Mapped modelled on the Hampshire study
Steve Harris	WW1 maps covering route of Welsh Highland railway

back to top

Cartographic History

Author	Title & notes	pub.	link
T.Campbell	Map History / History of Cartography Comprehensive gateway to sources	part of WWW virtual library
R.Kennedy	Dating Bartholomew's half-inch maps.	Member contribution 2005
T.Stevens	Dating Bacons maps.	LARA Member contribution 2003
Ian Byrne	Petrol and Oil Company road maps A collector's website covering these items

back to top

Reference Books

Author	Title & notes	ISBN	pub	link to comments or extracts
C.Moreland & D.Bannister	Antique Maps	0 7148 2954	Longman, 1983	the full book online at www.antiquemaps.co.uk
C.Delano-Smith & R.J.P.Kain	English Maps - a history	0 7123 4609 0	British Library, 1999	a few extracts
R.Oliver	Ordnance Survey Maps - a concise guide for historians	1-870598-13-X	Charles Close Society, 1993	a few extracts
J.B.Harley	Ordnance Survey maps, a descriptive manual		Ordnance Survey, c.1975
Dr Yolande Hodson	Popular Maps The Ordnance Survey Popular Edition One-Inch Map of England and Wales 1919-1926	1-870598-15-6	Charles Close Society, 1999
Gordon C Dickinson	Britains First Road Maps the strip-maps of John Ogilby's Brittania discussed		Landscapes periodical, 2003	some detail
William Foot	Maps for Family History Guide to sources like Tithe, FA1910, National Farm Survey	1-873162-17-0	PRO publications, 1994
Roger J. P. Kain and Richard R Oliver	The Tithe Maps of England and Wales A Cartographic Analysis and County-by-County Catalogue	0-521-44191-9	Cambridge University Press, 1995
David Smith	Maps & Plans for the Local Historian and collector 'a guide to types of map pre-1914' - railway, tithe etc.	0 7134 5191 2	B.T.Batsford, 1988
V.G.Scott & E.McLaughlin	County Maps and Histories - Berkshire presumably one of a series covering other counties	0 907621 33 3	Quiller Press, London, 1984	a few extracts

back to top

Collections

- mostly individual members

back to top

Map Dealers

- inclusion here implies no endorsement

back to top