ANTIQUE Maps of THE WORLD
Authentic, historical maps of
THE
WORLD
BY
RAPKIN
This Page is provided as a REFERENCE
RESOURCE - it is NOT an Inventory.
After more than a quarter of a century in the Trade, we
are now
retired and the Postaprint Website
is no longer available.
However this collection of Reference Pages
is being
left on line, as we hope you will find them to informative and helpful. They
provide details of many of the maps, books and engravings we had the pleasure of dealing in over so
many years.
For a complete index of all
such Reference Pages PLEASE DO CLICK
HERE.
My wife's
store on eBay
offers
many delightful antiquarian maps & prints
& engravings.
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THE ROYAL
DICTIONARY-CYCLOPÆDIA
FOR UNIVERSAL
REFERENCE...
COMPILED UNDER THE
DIRECTION OF
THOMAS WRIGHT ESQ., M.A., F.S.A.,
THE LONDON PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY, LIMITED - c.1860
Click on the image to view a larger version

Some Background Information About the Maps, Prints, Illustrators and the Cartographer
This particular work was intended to be an extremely comprehensive reference book, as can be seen from this quote from the title page:-
"...Being a Complete Literary, Classical, Historical, Biographical, Geographical, Scientific, and Technological Expositor of the English Language: And Embodying, in a Condensed and Common-Sense Form, The Signification of all Terms in Ordinary Use, with the Derivation of Each Word, and Its Pronunciation..."
This kind of attention to detail was common in the 19th century. Great care was taken to provide the reader with as much information as possible on the subjects involved.
The Maps
The maps in this work have decorative borders. They are clear and portray the principal towns and cities as well as the rivers and mountains. The borders themselves relate to the area depicted, for example, the map of Egypt and Arabia is flanked by obelisks with hieroglyphs upon them and engravings of Egyptian statues. This appears to be one of John Rapkin's fortes as the maps that he drew and engraved for Tallis are renowned for these aspects.
Click on the links in the list below to see scanned images of these very attractive maps.
JOHN RAPKIN. Unfortunately, we have little information about this particular cartographer, apart from the fact that he engraved and drew maps for Tallis from 1845-51. His work is, however, delightful and his designs are painstakingly engraved.
The Prints
The prints in this work are steel engravings. This is evident by their delicate detail. The architecture that is portrayed in these images is particularly interesting, it seems that every detail has been meticulously engraved, ensuring that the viewer sees the area depicted as it truly is (or was). The illustrators have successfully expressed the atmosphere of the places shown as well as the detail of the objects and figures within the picture format.
The credit for the choice of the images included is due to Thomas Wright, a learned man, who wrote many books in the nineteenth century including "History of France", "History of Scotland, " "History of Ireland, " and "History of England, ". He was a Master of Arts, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquities, a Member of the Institute of France and an Honourary Member of the Royal Society of Literature among others.
His attention to detail and attractive appeal of his works is evident in the content of this work as well as the calibre of the illustrators and engravers.
Click on the links in the list below to view scans of these attractive images
The Illustrators (Click on the following links to read about the relevant illustrators):-
Click the underlined text to view the scanned images
AFRICA CONTINENT
ASIA CONTINENT
ASIA MINOR: Incl. CYPRUS
AUSTRALIA CONTINENT
BELGIUM GENERAL MAP
BRITISH ISLES Br Isl GENERAL MAP
CHANNEL ISLES Chan Isl GUERNSEY/JERSEY: 2
maps on 1 sheet.
CHINA/BIRMAH (Burma)
DENMARK GENERAL MAP
EGYPT GENERAL MAP
England/Wales GENERAL MAP
EUROPE CONTINENT
FRANCE GENERAL MAP
GERMANY GENERAL MAP
GREECE GENERAL MAP
GREECE NORTH/Turkey in Europe
INDIA GENERAL MAP
IRELAND Eire GENERAL MAP
ITALY SOUTH: Incl. Sicily. Corsica.
Sardinia.
NEW ZEALAND GENERAL MAP
RUSSIA IN EUROPE
SCANDINAVIA GENERAL MAP: Sweden and Norway.
SCOTLAND Scottish GENERAL MAP: Shetlands inset.
SOUTH AFRICA GENERAL MAP: 'Cape Colony'.
SPAIN PENINSULA
SWISS GENERAL MAP: (Switzerland. Suisse)
USA GENERAL MAP: Wright. Part in FULL COLOUR. (Shows Oklahoma still
as Indian Territory).
USA NORTH AMERICA.
WEST INDIES GENERAL MAP: Southern Florida. Bahamas. Cuba. West
Indian Islands. North coast of South America. Etc.
WORLD MERCATOR
WORLD TWIN-HEMI
THIS IS A LIST OF THE STEEL ENGRAVED PLATES
Click on the Underlined Text to view scanned images
AUSTRALIA GEELONG: Good steel engraved view.
BELGIUM GHENT: Many boats.
FRANCE LYONS: 'The Old Bridge'. Nice vignette.
FRANCE MARSEILLES: Arch of Triumph. Many figures.
FRANCE NICE: Good steel engraved view.
INDIA DELHI: South side ruins.
ITALY NAPLES from Villa Falconnet: Good steel engraved view. Overall
Vesuvius in the distance.
ITALY PARMA: Good steel engraved view.
ITALY PAVIA: Good steel engraved view. Many boats.
PORTRAITS SET: TO CLEAR. Steel engravings. Historic figures Etc.
Includes such as Shakespeare. Napoleon. Wellington. Nelson.
Royalty and some lesser know people. Some with decorative
borders. Steel engravings.
PORTRAITS: WRIGHT Thomas. Portrait of this well known 19th
century Writer.
TITLE PAGE: 'The Royal Dictionary-Cyclopaedia'.
USA CHARLESTON: Good steel engraved view. Many ships. (South
Carolina)
USA NIAGARA: Horse-shoe Falls. Entrance to cavern.
WALES ANGLESEY: Conway Bridge. Train.
A simple click of this button will list our current inventory
POSTAPRINT supplied picture
framers and antiquarian map & print dealers for over over a quarter of a
century. Examples of the cartographer's
art from the 16th to the 19th century, along with engravings,
lithographs and etchings by leading artists of their generation.
Historical maps, views, and
engravings on
virtually
every subject, including Vanity
Fair (Spy) Cartoons. Postaprint also
supplied antique prints and maps to Art Galleries, Shops and Fine
Art Retailers.
Do visit my wife's eBay Store

JULIE'S ANTIQUE PRINTS
You will find a nice range of antique
prints, engravings, maps and books.
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ENQUIRIES
Antique maps and prints are suitable for display in or appertain to homes, interior design, house, home improvement, decorating houses, designs, wall decoration, interior, décor, restaurant decoration, restaurants, pub, pubs, public house, public houses, hotel, hotels, quest house, bar, bars, exhibition, exhibitions, inn, inns, office, offices, room, rooms, store, stores, club, clubs, bungalow, bungalows, flat, flats, apartment, apartments, mansion, mansions, maisonette, maisonettes, condominium, condominiums, theme, themes, house-boat, houseboats, studio, studios, abode, dwellings, residences, lodgings, accommodation, quarters, housing, penthouse, caravans, mobile home, motor home, campers, palaces, stately homes, villas, holiday accommodation, manor, estate, country, farms, farmhouses, farmsteads, ranches, cottage, cottages, log cabins, bedsit, bed-sits, hospitals, sanatorium, sanitary, institute, institution, institutional, school, colleges, schools, education, educational, health farm, retirement home, rest home, nursing home, playhouse, wendy house, motels, hostel, chateau, chateaux, gite, hacienda, chalets, beach-house, suite, hostelry, family, theatres, property, properties, accessory, accessories, walls.