Is the date of publication printed on the item?

The date of publication is sometimes printed on an old map or print; this was more frequently the case for older (18th century or earlier) and larger folio maps. However, most of our stock of old maps and prints does not have the publication date printed on it; if this is important to you, please ask before purchasing. 

Items extracted from periodicals often have the exact date of publication printed at the top or bottom of each page; they can often otherwise be closely dated by reference to information on births, marriages, deaths or other news events printed in text elsewhere on the page. 

Individually published maps (ie maps published as separate sheets) often have their publication dates printed on them, however maps and prints which were originally published within books or atlases frequently do not have the publication date printed on each sheet.

Steel engraved prints sometimes have the year of publication printed below the image. The date of publication of prints or maps which have been extracted from a book, periodical or atlas is usually derived from the date of publication of the volume from which the item has been extracted. The date of publication of nearly all titles is stated on the title page.

We can provide a certificate of authenticity, which will include the publication date, upon request for any map or print purchased from us. We are also happy to explain how any individual item was dated.