A good map is a thing of beauty

Anne here, confessing that I've always liked maps. I get frustrated when things don't include maps, when a map would make it all so much more accsssible and interesting. And since I was a kid I've loved the really old maps, where the countries look nothing like the shape of the countries we know now, and where sea monsters and mermaids cavort in the stretches of empty sea. Here's one from 1872.

Here be dragons?
It's not strictly true, actually — that most of the old maps said that, I mean. As far as I know that phrase was only used on one map — a 16th century copper globe known as the The Lenox Globe and it didn't actually say "Here be Dragons," it was in Latin and said "HC SVNT DRACONES" (which means the same thing). But it's a good tale and a great image and I'd be delighted to have dragons lurking on the edge of any map of mine. There are still dragons lurking — they just look different.

Landscape is important to me, so I use maps all the time for my research.I would happily tramp the streets and country lanes where my heroes and heroines walk, but I can't. So I do the next best thing — I consult a map.

I love having the ability to see the actual arial view of the land through google maps. I remember when I was searching the Dorset coastline for a suitable place for my heroine in Stolen Princess to land. You can imagine my delight when I found not only the perfect cove, which has a smuggling history, but saw through the arial view the faint outline of a path from the beach up the cliff. Through all the writing of that book, I had a detailed map of the area pinned to my noticeboard and photos of the surrounding countryside. Some were part of my collage for the story.

Do I use all these details?
No, otherwise readers all over the place would be dropping like flies, zzzing out of my story, but it helps to build the landscape in my mind and when I'm writing I can "see" the landscape. 

In my current story, the heroine can see over the back wall of the house she's in, right into the neighboring house. It's a crucial part of the plot.
I know it's possible as I've done exactly that at a friend's house in inner London. But was it possible during the Regency in the area I want? So it's off the the Horwood Map for me.
The Horwood Map? you ask, scratching your head. It was a landmark map of its day, and a huge achievement. And for me, it's a source of fascination and delight.

The Horwood Map of London

By the late 18th century the growth and expansion of London had proceeded on such a scale that the last detailed city map, John Roque's Plan of 1740, had become hopelessly out of date. As well, much redeveloping was starting to take place, with old buildings and estates being demolished and new developments being constructed, particularly in the west and the north of the city. There was an urgent need for a good quality, detailed and accurate plan of the city to me made available to the developers, surveyors and gentlemen of property, for city planning was not controlled by government in those days. This is Roque's map, below.


Map-making in those days was a private activity also, not a subject of government departments as it so often is now. Richard Horwood decided to accept this challenge. He was not a famous map-maker and had only published one other map, of the city of Liverpool. But he was a man of determination and ambition.

Horwood raised the money for the survey by subscription — it was an investment in what he hoped would be a money making endeavor. By the mid-1790's he'd raised £4,000 in cash, and had secured a loan from the Phoenix Fire Company for the rest.

It was all done by hand — or rather, by foot. Horwood and his surveyors tramped the whole of the city, measuring and drawing and noting down everything in amazing detail. Not everything, because not all people were well-disposed toward the project and the surveyors and map-makers weren't always granted access to private estates, military sites such as the Tower of London and sometimes even to back alleys. 

The final map was a triumph of the mapmaker's art. Horwood had aimed to show every single property, every house, alleyway and street, every court and square and garden — and with a few exceptions, he succeeded. His map is detailed in a way that takes your breath away, even today, and was a landmark achievement. Here's a small part of it. Click on the image for a larger size map with clearer detail.

Marvelous, isn't it? Sadly, though his map of London made Richard Horwood's reputation, and made his name live on in history, the map didn't make him a fortune, as he'd hoped. But what a legacy.

With the continuing growth of the city it was inevitable that his map would soon fall out of date, and in 1827 Christopher and John Greenwood published a new map. It's a wonderful map, very detailed and excellent to show how the city had grown in the twenty-five years since Horwood, but to my mind it lacks Horwood's crisp detail and visual appeal. Here's part of the Greenwood map showing much the same area as the Horwood one. 

To pore over these maps is to pore over Georgian London. One can almost see the city come to life. In these maps, I found a number of good possibilities for my current story. I can see the places that are in easy walking distance of her house, a market where she might shop, a park, a poor house she might pass and think, "there but for the grace of God..."

London was a fascinating mix of rich and poor in those days. Did you see the workhouse in Mount Street, in the heart of Mayfair on the Horwood Map? it wasn't all rich people. And you can see it, right there on the map.

My heroine lives in an area that contains grand houses, but which was rapidly falling out of fashion, so there's an interesting mix of people, as you get when an area is changing demographically. 

I do a search for images of some of the places marked on the map and I find several that have survived the centuries, and images of others.

Here's a drawing of the Hungerford market, long since demolished for late Regency era housing.

And as I look at the map I'm reminded that the Thames Embankment hadn't been built yet and maybe I can use the proximity of the river... Ah yes, I do love a good map.

What about you? Do you like maps? Only use them when you have to? Or do you prefer to use an electronic Global Positioning thingy-whatsits that tell you to turn right or left? Or do you (or the driver in your life) prefer to operate On Instinct. 

Comments

[Linda Banche]

I love maps. I love looking at them and seeing where the characters in books go. Old maps, especially, help to anchor the story in the time.

But, as you said, a little goes a long way. I don't want to know every detail about how the characters navigated from one spot to another.

Have you seen this zoomable 1806 map of London? Lots of fun.

http://www.retronaut.co/2011/10/mogg-pocket-map-of-london-1806/

[Quilt Lady]

I am one that will use a map when I have to. That's about it. Sometimes look up things and direction on map quest.

[Diane Sallans]

I've always liked maps & finding my way by them. I usually have a pretty good sense of direction. Old maps are gorgeous. And I have a stack of maps that came out of National Geographic magazines. I don't have my own GPS, but I've riden with people that were using them and they can be very helpful. But it's so much fun to wander roads & just see where they take you - but sometimes you need a map to find your way to someplace you know so you can get home again.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Anne, I too love maps, especially old ones, but I'm a diletante compared to you! I love the stories behind these old maps. (But I'm more likely to invent markets and the like. *G*)

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Linda -- that 1806 map looks very interesting, too though the Horwood one still has my heart in the level of detail it includes. If I were more persnickety about my research I might compare that with the Greenwood map to find buildings that had been demolished and replaced, but I'm happy for it to be possible — that's all I need.

Quiltlady, a map would make a wonderful quilt. Just saying ... ;)

[Anne Gracie]

Diane, I have a good sense of direction, too, luckily, inherited from my mother. My dad however was shocking -- he would pause at the intersection of my street every time and ask Mum, "which way?"

I've resisted buying a GPS but I'm sure in a strange area they'd be very useful. But like you, i enjoy wandering -- zig-zagging my way in a diagonal, knowing the direction I need to be heading in, but enjoying the route.

[Anne Gracie]

Mary Jo, believe me, if I needed to invent a market I would. I prefer plausible history to strict historical fact in all things — that would be too much of a straight jacket. But when I find one just where I need it, merely through fascination with a beautiful old map... well, that kind of serendipity isn't to be sneezed at.

[Pam Hartshorne]

Maps are so interesting in the way they reflect a society's way of seeing the world. They tell us so much more than just which streets existed and where buildings were. Loved Horwood's wonderfully ordered plan (hadn't heard of that before) - so different from a medieval map.

Really interesting post, Anne!

[Anne Gracie]

Pam, I love medieval maps, too -- the very different mindset that's reflected in the drawings.
I also love the way that different maps , no matter what era they're drawn in, show the mapmaker's location as central to the world. I have one that shows Antarctica as the centre of the world, and Europe, North America and Africa don't even show — just a bit of South America and Australia.
The Horwood map is particularly useful to me because you can see the buildings, the numbers of the houses, and even the gardens.

[theo]

I unfortunately have to use the navigation on my phone for my job. I can't afford to get lost. Wastes time.

But oh, how I would love to spread that Horwood map out on my table and pour over it for hours and hours. There's something about pouring over history.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks Theo -- I might investigate GPS navigation for my phone -- I'm going to Sydney in a week or two and it's a big crazy city and I'll be in a rush, so cutting doen the room for error would be a good idea.

The Horwood map is on line and clickable to zoom in and in, so when you have time, go for it.

[theo]

I just did a bit and one of the things I find interesting is, in the plate you show above, there's a burying ground behind the workhouse. If you look at the plate with Bethlehem hospital, there isn't any burying ground. So what happened to the poor and indigent?

See? So many things to study and ponder...

Whether you use it all the time or just in Sydney, I think you'll find the GPS can be your best friend at times...

[Anne Gracie]

I don't know, Theo.
I know in Melbourne in the early days (1830's) when there was a plague outbreak, they buried them one on top of the other, with lime between. Too much information?

If I use the GPS in Sydney I'll report back on my own blog.

[Evangeline Holland]

I go absolutely bonkers for maps. I have a number of maps from my Baedeker's lamenated to hang on the walls, and when I discovered a bird's-eye-view map of 1900s Newport, I had to print that out and hang it up too.

[bn100]

I like maps and a GPS.

[Cate S]

Ilove maps... and have a good sense of direction [most of the time].. But I'd recommend having a small compass to keep anyone oriented correctly...
Cartography is a wonderful form of art..

[Karin]

I love maps. I even have a book with maps of Europe from ancient times to the 20th Century. Fascinating how borders shift and countries appear and disappear. We always had maps of the U.S. and the world in our rooms when we were growing up, so my brother & I aced geography. And pre-GPS, I always kept maps in my glove compartment because you never know. That being said, I use GPS all the time now when I am going someplace new and very happy to have it. btw, I just read Bride by Mistake and I LOVED it!

[Joanna]

I love maps too. Everytime I go to London I make sure I book a return train from Kings Cross that gives me time to go into the British Library to look at the maps on display.

[Susan/DC]

I could have sworn it was the British Library where I saw a wonderful exhibit of maps a year or two ago, but I couldn't find a reference in their website. However, there were lots of references to specific maps and older exhibits, and those who love old maps and other old things would love the BL. So, like Joanna, make sure you make time to go to the BL on a visit to London.

[Anne Gracie]

Evangeline, I love the sound of your laminated Baedeker's maps -- that would be an inspiring sight to have on a wall. Make your feet itchy, too. ;)

[Anne Gracie]

Cate, I don't carry a compass — when I was young I was taught to be aware of the directions by the position of the sun, etc, and when we moved to the city my brother taught me to always know where north was, and that little lesson has been so useful all my life.

I also agree that cartography is a kind of art, especially in the old days of hand drawing. Even small and simple maps can be beautiful.

[Anne Gracie]

Karin I have a couple of historical atlases and they're so interesting. As you say, borders shift and countries come and go.

Political geography was one of the subject I studied at university, many moons ago -- studying borders and boundaries in particular — and it's been fascinating how so many of the conflicts my lecturer predicted have come to pass.

And thank you! I'm so pleased you enjoyed Bride By Mistake.

[Anne Gracie]

Joanna, that's a lovely thing to do. I always take a detour when going through Canberra (our national capital) and visit the art museum there, visiting some old favorite paintings and also seeing some new ones. Next time I might take in some maps...

Or maybe I should just head off to Kings Cross station... ;)
I wish!

[Anne Gracie]

Susan/DC I visit the British Library whenever I'm in London — some places never pall, do they?

We also have a fabulous state library in Victoria, where I live and they have all kinds of wonderful exhibitions.
Libraries are some of my favorite places.