Popular Edition 1919-1926

Ordnance Survey Popular Edition maps printed at 1:50,000 scale.

The original Ordnance Survey Popular Edition series was conceived before but published just after the first world war.  This was the first of Ordnance Survey's series to be conceived from the outset as a mass-market product, and the first to be produced in colour.  The new technology was put to the test in catering for a wholly new market.  The Popular Edition maps show England & Wales on the threshold of great change, the roads were threatening the railways, the suburbs were drawing people from the inner cities.  Beyond the built-up areas villages were turning into small towns, often with nearby parks and woods for recreation, while golf courses were in some areas starting to outnumber farms.  Although there was still much open countryside containing many reminders of its past, England & Wales was increasingly dominated by the large urban areas and the roads that connected them.  High ground was now represented by contours rather than artisitc hachuring; more accurate, less intrusive and more relevant to society that was now less reliant on travel by horse and cart or on foot.  This fascinating map captures the point at which the motor car began to define not only the landscape but also the way in which map-makers represented it.

Map dates between 1919 and 1926.

 

Available Flat, Folded or Encapsulated

 

Quantity: