Early Victorian Map of Gloucestershire Dated 1839, Showing the First "Railroads"

Early hand coloured Victorian map of Gloucestershire dated 1839 by J & C Walker, a company which produced maps and engravings from 1820-1895. They published maps of India, America, The Empire and The World, but are best known for the British Atlas, which contained forty seven maps of English and Welsh counties. Their county maps for the period c 1835-1842 are of great interest for the inclusion of the first main line railways- often termed “railroads”. The county maps also exhibited the results of the Reform Acts of the 1830s in which Rotten Boroughs were abolished and counties allotted Rural and Parliamentary Borough Members of Parliament. They showed these boroughs as well as towns were votes could be cast.