SOUTH AFRICA

Signed in the plate: "A.Fullarton & Co, Edinburgh, London & Dublin, Drawn & Engraved at Stanford’s Geographical Establishment, 5 Charing Cross London"

Dated in Pen 1859.

Not Inspected Out of the Frame but Center-fold and Minor Crease evident.

Archibald Fullarton and Co. was a prominent publisher in Glasgow in the 1800s, and maintained a prodigious output of books, atlases and maps. The company produced the last maps to boast decorative vignettes, often done by George Heriot Swanston, the Scottish cartographer and engraver.

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Fullarton)

Edward Stanford rose to prominence during the height of the Victorian age a period defined by technological innovation, social upheaval, literary excellence and world exploration. Born into a family of tailors and drapers in 1827, Stanford attended the City of London School and afterwards in 1848 was employed by Trelawney Saunders, a seller of maps and charts in a stationer’s shop at 6 Charing Cross where just four years later, in 1852, he was made a partner in the business. Later that same year however the partnership was dissolved. 

In 1853, seizing the initiative, Stanford became sole proprietor and expanded his shop to 7 and 8 Charing Cross whilst acquiring premises on Trinity Place for a printing works. This bold move solidified Stanfords as the largest, and indeed only map maker and seller in London at a time when British colonialism, the rise of the railways and the continuing popularity of the Grand Tour, meant demand for readily accessible, high quality cartography was building at remarkable pace.

In 1857, Stanford founded his namesake Geographical Establishment, with Saunders and A. K. Johnston as engravers. Thereafter, Stanford was known for his “library maps”, particularly those of Africa and Asia. Stanford, together with Chief Cartographer John Bolton, set about work on a series of continental library maps, the first being his Library Map of Europe in 1858. Bolton would work for the company for 67 years, working on a wide variety of maps, including the 1862 Library Map of London which was recognised on its publication as “the most perfect map of London that has ever been issued.” by the Royal Geographical Society.

By 1873 the company had started to outgrow even its expanded premises and moved to 55 Charing Cross. At the same time, the print works moved to 12-14 Long Acre, the site of their flagship shop to this day.

(Source: https://www.stanfords.co.uk/our-history)