Taking a look at the maps in my cupboard.....
Collecting Maps: Geographia Ltd
Geographia Ltd of Fleet Street, London was originally the brain child of Alexander Gross, a Hungarian who had relocated to Britain in the early part of the twentieth century.
Geographia would become a prolific producer of maps and atlases covering every major town and city in the UK. The company was active and producing maps between 1911 and 1987/8 before being swallowed up by Collins-Bartholemew.
Geographia had a New York office which continued independently to produce maps of the continental USA.
Of all the major mapping companies in Britain during the last century, Geographia could be considered the third biggest behind the likes of Ordnance survey and Bartholemews.
Geographia published some of the most popular and best looking road and cyclist maps of the period and were also specialists in producing atlases and tourist maps of London.
Map scales were generally either 2 inch to the mile or 3 inch to the mile with maps being both coloured and contoured.
Presently my collection only has three Geographia maps in it but all are from different series and periods in time (I think?)
Geographia 2 miles to 1 inch road map of England & Wales
#16 Devonshire and East Cornwall
First up is this fine example of a number 16 - Devon and East Cornwall. from whats looks to be the more popular 30 inch x 40 inch road map series - cloth backed
I say 'from what looks to be' because Geographia maps are notoriously hard to find any information about. And despite trying to unearth some knowledge from sellers and map officionardos it appears that even the basic facts are hard to pin down.
Geographia maps are generally dated by means of a alpha-numeric cypher printed somewhere on the map and not always in the same place.
Specifically the word C U M B E R L A N D when placed directly above the numbers 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 will equate to a MM/YY date stamp. All three of my Geographia maps lack this date code which is unfortunate however another way to date the maps (although not as accurate) is to go off the address printed on the cover and where Geographia was resisdent at the time.
This particular map dates from before 1942 according to the address dating scheme. so pretty old.
Despite a few marks and blemishes to the cover the actual map is in very good condition. Colours are vibrant and the paper/cloth materials has survived very well over the years. Likely to be worth around £10.
Geographia 2 miles to 1 inch road map of 40 miles about Bristol
According to the address dating scheme this map was manufactured before 1942 but a specific year is not that easy to confirm.
To a collector this map is quite rare and is likely to be worth in the region of £10 - £12
Geographia 3 miles to 1 inch large scale road map of Lincolnshire
Last up is this dark blue map of Lincolnshire. Hardly a large scale map by todays standards being 3 miles to 1 inch but a good road map none-the-less.
This map dates to somewhere before 1923 according to the company address dating scheme which makes this one the oldest of the bunch. Despite its tatty looking exterior the map itself is in very good condition. Another rare map and another potential item of value when the time is right.
Geographia maps compared to others of the time period are very well colour coded and more importantly very accurate. And although geographia maps were not as popular than ordnance survey and Bartholemews they are now harder to find and possibly worth more money to the collector.
