155. Edward Stanford / Charlotte Mason 1881

Stanford's Geographical Establishment produced a wide variety of maps for different publications. From 1880 Stanford issued a series of lithographic transfers for The London Geographical Series. These were subsequently used for Stanford`s Handy Atlas and Poll Book. The maps are without title but the name of the county is written across the map. Many railways are shown and the heights of some hills, otherwise the maps are  basic although hill hachuring is fairly complete. This transfer was apparently taken from plates of a map of the whole of England and Wales, which has not been identified.

There are code letters below certain towns (Tiverton, Barnstaple and Plymouth have B.2; Taunton has C2; Dartmouth and Torrington have B; and Exeter has C.B.2 and a C in a square). No explanation is given, though they probably refer to cathedrals and parliamentary returns.

Charlotte Maria Shaw Mason (b.1842) was a noted educationalist. She wrote a large number of text books for the new educational curriculum after moving to the Lake District.¹ One of the Manchester University colleges, Charlotte Mason College in Ambleside, is named after her. She died in 1923 the same year that The Ambleside Geography Books (spine title) - New Edition (Revised) appeared. This contained exactly the same maps (see State 1 below) as the original but now published by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. and the Parent's Educational Union Office, London. There may have been an earlier edition as this series of books reproduced the original titles and not only did Charlotte Mason’s name adorn the cover, but there was a preface written by her in 1907 together with a note referring to the origin of the series.

Size: Two halves 139 x 77 mm each.                                                                                                                     ENGLISH MILES (20 = 35 mm).

No title but DEVON written across the county. Imprint Stansford's Geogl. Estabt. London. (EeOS). Scale bar (AeOS). Printer’s mark R 2 (EeOS). The reverse to the west part has p.241 and DEVONSHIRE. I.; that to the east has p.244 and DEVONSHIRE II.