Notable 19th century cartographers, map-makers & cartographic publishers

D. Appleton & Co
Founded in 1831, from the 1840’s the firm started to produce travel guide books to the United States, Canada, Mexico & Europe. These guidebooks included some early detailed city plans of North American cities.

Aaron & John Arrowsmith and family
The Arrowsmith family were leading British cartographers from the late 18th to 19th centuries. Aaron Arrowsmith (1750–1823), largely self-taught, began publishing in London by 1777. He created major maps of the world (1790, 1794) and North America (1795), and established a respected business at Soho Square. His sons Aaron Arrowsmith II (1802–1854) and Samuel Arrowsmith (1805–1839) carried on his work. Aaron II, hydrographer to the King and a Royal Geographical Society member, produced parliamentary and educational maps. Samuel focused on Irish surveys and parliamentary commissions before his early death. Their cousin John Arrowsmith (1790–1873) became the most distinguished figure. As cartographer to the Royal Geographical Society, he published the London Atlas and created influential maps of Africa, Australia, and Canada. He was awarded the RGS Patron’s Medal in 1863 and worked from Soho Square until his death. Together, the Arrowsmiths produced many of the most authoritative and widely used maps of their era, greatly shaping 19th-century cartography.

George Washington Bacon (1830-1922)
Bacon and Co produced a number of large format atlases of London, the British Isles and of the World under different editions and titles in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, such as "The New Large-Scale Ordnance Atlas of the British Isles", "Commercial & Library Atlas of the British Isles" and the "New Complete Atlas of the World". Although published relatively late, they are becoming harder to find and accordingly more collectible. His hand coloured “Large-Scale Atlas of London & Suburbs” in various editions in the early 20^th century, which depict a rapidly expanding conurbation, are increasingly sought after.

Karl Baedeker (1801-1859)
A German publisher whose publications set the standard for authoritative tourist guidebooks and were the Lonely Planet of their era, much cited in contemporary literature. He was way ahead of his time in understanding the importance of including reliable, quality maps within a travel guide. The guidebooks covered a number of countries and were translated into a number of languages and covered many editions. The maps show towns, villages, landmarks, railroads (railways) and other features and early City Plans. They covered Europe, the United States, Canada and parts of the Middle East & North Africa

John George Bartholomew (1860-1920)
A British cartographer who came from a celebrated line of mapmakers. As holder of a royal warrant he used the title "Cartographer to the King". His most enduring legacy may be the naming the continent of Antarctica, hitherto largely ignored. He introduced the use of colored contour layer maps. He was an early publisher of city street maps, cycling maps, railway timetable maps & road maps for motorists. He set out the first edition of the Times Survey Atlas of the World, published posthumously.

Charles Booth (1840-1916)
An English philanthropist and social researcher. He challenged existing statistics on poverty levels in London in his work documenting Victorian working class “Life and Labour of the People in London”, published in 3 editions between 1889-1903, which led to the founding of the state pension. A critical e feature of this study (as featured in a number of recent BBC TV documentaries such as "The Secret History of Our Streets" (2012)) were his innovative and now sought after London Poverty Maps, illustrating levels of poverty and wealth on a street by street basis.

George Bradshaw (1801-1853)
An English cartographer, printer and publisher best known for his development of longest published series of railway timetables. His “Continental Railway, Steam Transit &c General Guide & Handbook”, first published in 1847, was continued in various editions until 1939. The late 19^thcentury editions were notable for their detailed fold out plans of major European cities.

John Cary (c1754-1835)
An English cartographer who produced many important works in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries. His “New and Correct English Atlas” (1787) became a standard reference work in England. He was commissioned by the Postmaster General in 1794 to survey England's roads, resulting in “Cary's New Itinerary” (1798 & 1817), which delineated the major roads in England and Wales. He produced Ordnance Survey maps up to 1805. His other major publications included: “Cary's Actual Survey of the country fifteen miles around London” (1786), maps for the 1789 & 1806 editions of “Camden's Britannia”, “Cary's Survey of the High Roads from London” (1790), “Cary's Traveller's Companion, or a delineation of the turnpike roads of England & Wales” (1790), “Cary's New Map of England and Wales with part of Scotland” (1794), “Inland Navigation; or Select Plans of the Several Navigable Canals throughout Britain” (1795), “New British Atlas” (1805), “Cary's New Universal Atlas” (1808), “Cary's English Atlas” (1809) & “New Elementary Atlas” (1813)

Joseph Hutchins Colton (1800-1893)
J.H. Colton (1800–1893) was one of the most influential American map publishers of the 19th century, active from 1831 to 1890. Based in New York, he began by licensing maps from other cartographers but soon developed a distinctive house style. His work is noted for a recognisably American mid-19th century aesthetic: fine steelplate engraving, rich hand colouring in a distinctive palette, and ornate decorative borders. Colton’s firm played a pivotal role in documenting the dramatic transformation of the United States during a period of rapid territorial expansion—following the Louisiana Purchase, the annexation of Texas, the Mexican–American War, and the admission of new states. His Atlas of the World (1855–56) and the widely circulated General Atlas (1857–88) recorded these changes in near real time, frequently updating county lines, political boundaries, and railroads. Particularly notable are Colton’s maps of the Trans-Mississippi West—depicting evolving territories like Kansas, Nebraska, Indian Territory, Utah, and New Mexico—where borders shifted amid migration, conflict, and development. His Condensed Octavo Atlas of the Union (1864), published during the Civil War, captured a nation still defining its political and physical identity. Today, his maps are valued both for their beauty and as vivid historical records of a continent in flux.

Archibald Fullarton and Co (fl 1840-70)
A prominent Scottish 19^th century publishing house, known for their gazetteers and atlases of the British Isles and of the World, and one of the last publishers to produce maps with decorative vignettes. Publications included the ”New & Comprehensive [later Parliamentary] Gazetteer of England & Wales.” (published 1834-1849), a series of fine engraved county maps which depicted the changes wrought by the Great Reform Bill which formed the basis of Britain’s modern Parliamentary Constituencies; “Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland” (1854-7),and its companion volume "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales"; “Gazetteer of the World” (1856); “Royal Illustrated Atlas”, 1864 (published in 27 parts between 1854-62) & “Hand Atlas of the World” (1870-2).

Victor Levasseur (1800-1870)
A French cartographer who was productive between 1838-1854. He is best known for the large, very decorative maps with his “Atlas National Illustré des 86 Départments et des Possessions De La France”, the first edition of which was printed in 1847. These maps have borders which are highly decorated with extensive vignette views of towns, cities and famous sons of the region shown in the map, as well as being rich in textual historical information. Some editions of the North America maps show Texas as an independent nation as it was briefly during the period of the Texas Republic.

Conrad & Victor Malte-Brun (1755-1826 & 1816-1889)
Conrad Malte-Brun was a Danish-French cartographer & geographer. Together with Edme Mentelle he produced “Géographie mathématique, physique et politique de toutes les parties du monde” (1803-1812). His major work was “Précis de Géographie Universelle ou Description de toutes les parties du monde”. This was published in 8 volumes between 1810 and 1829, the last two of these published posthumously and completed by Huot. Victor Adolf Malte-Brun, also a cartographer & geographer, was Conrad’s son. He produced further editions of the above works after his father’s death, such as "La France Illustrée" (1884).

Thomas Moule (1774-1851)
Thomas Moule (1774–1851) was an English antiquarian, writer on heraldry, and mapmaker, best known for his highly decorative steel-engraved county maps of England. Born in Marylebone, London, Moule initially worked as a bookseller (c.1816–1823) in Duke Street, Grosvenor Square, before becoming an inspector of illegibly addressed letters at the General Post Office. His celebrated series of county maps was first issued between 1830 and 1832 in separate publications. In 1836, these were compiled and published in a single volume by George Virtue & Co. under the title The English Counties Delineated; or, A Topographical Description of England. The maps were later reused in other popular works, including Rev. James Barclay’s Complete and Universal English Dictionary, and continued to appear in editions through the 1840s. Moule’s maps are richly embellished with heraldic elements, architectural vignettes, and early Victorian design flourishes, and are frequently found with later hand colouring.

James, Findlay & Russell Muirhead (1853–1934 & 1860–1935)
James Muirhead (1853–1934) and Findlay Muirhead (1860–1935) were Scottish writers and editors who played a pivotal role in shaping early 20th-century travel publishing. Formerly English-language editors of Karl Baedeker’s celebrated guidebooks, their collaboration with Baedeker was disrupted by the First World War. In response, the Muirheads acquired the rights to John Murray’s Handbooks for Travellers in 1915 and launched the Blue Guides in 1918, positioning them as the rightful heirs to the great 19th-century tradition of informed, authoritative travel literature. The Blue Guides were known for their rich content, enhanced by detailed city plans, topographical maps, and regional touring guides. Under Findlay’s son, Russell Muirhead, the series thrived through the mid-20th century and was co-published in French as the Guides Bleus in partnership with Hachette.

John Murray (I-IV, Publishers)
Founded in London in 1768, John Murray was one of Britain’s most distinguished publishing houses, known for its long association with literary greats such as Jane Austen, Lord Byron, Charles Darwin, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. From 1836, the firm also became a leading name in travel literature through its publication of Murray’s Handbooks for Travellers. These guides, aimed at the well-educated Victorian tourist, covered much of Europe and parts of the wider world—including India, Burma, Ceylon, Japan, Russia, Egypt, and Algeria. They were notable for their scholarly tone and inclusion of detailed maps and plans. The series built a reputation for reliability and authority and, alongside Baedeker, helped define the modern travel guide. In 1891, John Murray IV sold the rights to the series to Edward Stanford.

George Philip & Son
George Philip (1800–1882) and his son, also George (1823–1902) were cartographers and map publishers known for their general and school atlases of the world and British Isles, including county atlases. Commencing in 1834, he initially produced hand coloured copperplate maps. By 1862 he was using lithographic machinery. Atlases included "Philip's Atlas of Physical Geography" (1853), "Philip's Family Atlas of Physical, General & Classical Geography" (1868), "Philip's Handy Atlas of the Counties of England" (various editions, c1876), "Philip's Handy Atlas of General Geography" (1888), "Asprey's Atlas of the World" (1912)

Royal Geographical Society
Founded in 1830 under the name Geographical Society of London as an institution to promote the 'advancement of geographical science', it later became known as The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and was granted its Royal Charter under Queen Victoria in 1859. In the 19^th century the RGS was closely associated with British Imperial development especially in Africa, south & central Asia & the polar regions, and its history is interlinked with that of British exploration & discovery. The society was a key supporter of many famous explorers and expeditions, including those of Darwin, Livingstone, Stanley, Scott, Shackleton, Hunt and Hillary. Until 1914, RGS-sponsored expeditions were frequently front page news. The Society published its first journal in 1831 and from 1855 accounts of expeditions were published in the "Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society". From 1893 this was replaced by “The Geographical Journal”. Information, maps, charts and knowledge gathered on such expeditions, which make up its now unique geographical collection, were printed within these publications.

The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (1826-1848)
The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (S.D.U.K.), founded in 1826 by Lord Brougham and other reform-minded Whigs, was a London-based organisation dedicated to educating Britain’s emerging working and middle classes. It aimed to make serious learning affordable and accessible, publishing materials on science, history, and geography. Although many of its texts were considered overly dense and failed to achieve commercial success, the Society left a lasting legacy through its remarkable series of maps and town plans. These maps—celebrated for their fine steel engravings, elegant typography, and clarity—were originally issued in parts by Baldwin & Cradock between 1829 and 1832, then republished as atlases by Chapman & Hall (1844), Charles Knight (1844–1852), and later by G. Cox (1852–53) and Edward Stanford (1857–1870). They often feature original outline hand-colouring and remain highly collectible today. Notably, fourteen members of the S.D.U.K. served on the Boundary Commission for the 1832 Great Reform Act, reinforcing the Society’s influence on both educational reform and political change. Despite its short life—dissolved in 1848—the S.D.U.K.’s cartographic output stands as one of the great achievements of 19th-century popular publishing.

Edward Stanford (1827-1904)
Edward Stanford was the founder of Stanford’s Geographical Establishment (est. 1853), which rapidly became Britain’s most respected mapmaker and geographical publisher. Responding to the growing demands of empire, exploration, and travel, Stanford set a new standard in commercial cartography by combining precision with accessibility. In 1862, he published the Library Map of London, acclaimed by the Royal Geographical Society as “the most perfect map of London ever issued.” This was followed by numerous influential works, including the London Atlas of Universal Geography (1887), a lavish folio volume dedicated to Queen Victoria. Relocating to Long Acre in Covent Garden, Stanford created a single hub for publishing, printing, and retail—quickly becoming a destination for explorers, scientists, and royalty. Notable patrons included Florence Nightingale, Ernest Shackleton, and even Sherlock Holmes (via Dr. Watson in The Hound of the Baskervilles). By the early 20th century, with a royal warrant and the status of official Ordnance Survey agent, Stanfords had firmly established itself as the leading authority in British cartography.

Adolf Stieler (1775–1836)
Stieler was a German cartographer whose Handatlas, formally titled "Hand-Atlas über alle Theile der Erde und über das Weltgebäude" (Handy atlas of all parts of the world and of the universe), first published published in 1817, was the leading German world atlas from the 1870’s until 1944. Covering 10 editions, it was not until the sixth edition (1871-75), that the atlas attained the technical level and the unsurpassed relief that it is prized for. The atlas was printed using copperplates with hand colouring as late as its eight edition (1881-1891). The ninth and tenth editions were also issued in English, French, Italian and Spanish.

John Tallis, father & son, and John Rapkin
John Tallis (1792–1842) and his son John Tallis (1817–1876) were influential English map publishers of the 19th century. The elder Tallis is noted for his rare London Street Views (1838–1840), a detailed series of elevations depicting the city's main commercial streets with remarkable architectural precision. Though he produced only one major atlas, John Tallis Jr. became one of the most recognised and admired cartographic publishers of the Victorian era. His Illustrated Atlas of the World, published for the 1851 Great Exhibition, is considered the last of the great decorative atlases. The maps, engraved by John Rapkin (1813–1899), are known for their ornate borders, vignette views, and detailed geography. Many were first issued in The British Colonies (1849), a forerunner to the atlas. Tallis operated under various imprints, including L. Tallis, Tallis & Co., John Tallis & Company, and the London Printing and Publishing Company, which also issued finely engraved views and portraits featuring his distinctive decorative style. Today, the Illustrated Atlas and its maps are highly sought after by collectors.

Ward Lock & Co
Founded in 1852 by Ebenezer Ward and George Lock, Ward, Lock & Co. became best known for its long-running series of "Red Guides", which remained in publication well into the late 20th century. These popular guidebooks were aimed at domestic travellers during the heyday of British tourism, before the rise of air travel and overseas package holidays. The Red Guides featured cheerful, easy-to-use maps and plans of towns, cities, seaside resorts, and scenic regions across the UK, including national parks and holiday destinations from Cornwall to the Lake District. Published between 1913 and 1965, these vintage maps capture the charm of a bygone era when most Britons explored their own country by rail or road. Today, they are prized for their nostalgic appeal, engaging design, and historical insight.

Alexandre Vuillemin (1812-1880)
A well know French cartographer who produced a number of atlases, his maps are noteworthy for the extensive use of vignette views of cities & people. Some of his atlases continued in multiple editions with variations continuing to be published after his death. His publications included his “Atlas Universel” (1839, 1847 & 1871), “Atlas de Géographie Ancienne et Moderne à destination des Pensionnats” (1843), “Atlas NationalI Illustré de la France” (1845), “Atlas du Cosmos” (1867), “Atlas Topographique de la France” (1873), “Atlas de Géographie Contemporaine” (1875), “La France et ses Colonies: Atlas illustré” (1858 and 1870).