Map of British India

Circa 1850s

Later hand-coloured steel engraving on paper

Print Size: 13.5 x 10.25 in (34 x 25.8 cm)
With Mount: 19.75 x 16.5 in (50 x 41.8 cm)

Gorgeous full-colour example of this decorative map of India engraved by J Rapkin (vignettes by A H Wray & G Greenbach)) showing presidencies, military and civil stations, and proposed railways. Vignettes show Lahore, Cootub Minar in Delhi, an Indian Procession, and Beloochees surrounded by a flowered border. From R Montgomery Martin's Illustrated Atlas, one of the last great decorative atlases of the 19th century.

John Rapkin (1813-1899)
John Rapkin, an English mapmaker and engraver, was born on July 18, 1813 and passed away on June 20, 1899. Rapkin, the son of shoemaker George Rapkin and his wife Elizabeth Harfy, was born in Southwark. Rapkin and his brother Richard both pursued careers as engravers, while his other brother, William Harfy Rapkin, became a copperplate printer. Rapkin completed projects for James Wyld and John Tallis, such as The United States and the Relative Position of Oregon and Texas for Wyld in 1845 and a series of 80 maps for Tallis that were compiled into Tallis’s Illustrated Atlas and Modern History of the Globe in 1851. Rapkin married Frances Wilmot Rudell on January 4, 1837, and they had at least eight children. Several of his sons, including John Benjamin Rapkin(1837-1914), Alfred Thomas Rapkin (1841-1905), Joseph Clarke Rapkin (1846?-1912), and Frederick William Rapkin (1859-1945), became engravers. From 1867 to 1883, Rapkin operated under the imprint John Rapkin and Sons. By 1887, he was operating under the name John Rapkin and Sons. Rapkin passed away at the age of 85 in 1899, shortly following the passing of his wife of more than 60 years.

John Tallis (1817-1876)
John Tallis was one of the most popular cartographers of the 19th century and one of the last famous decorative map makers. Tallis was renowned for the very accurate and visually attractive maps and views of all world areas during the Victorian Age. His maps are prized for the wonderful vignettes of indigenous scenes, people, etc.

"John Tallis (7 November 1817 - 3 June 1876) was an English cartographic publisher. His company, John Tallis & Company, published views, maps, and atlases in London from roughly 1838 to 1851.

Tallis set up as a publisher with Frederick Tallis in Cripplegate in 1842; the business moved to Smithfield in 1846, and was dissolved in 1849. From 1851 to 1854, Tallis operated as John Tallis & Company. He started the Illustrated News of the World, which issued engraved portraits as supplements in a series entitled National Portrait Gallery of Eminent Personages in 1858, selling it for 1,370 pounds in 1861; it folded in 1863.

He lived in New Cross, South East London. His house on New Cross Road is listed as a Building of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, grade II. It has a blue plaque on the wall to signal the event." (Source: Wikipedia)

This lot will be shipped unframed.

NON-EXPORTABLE

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as reference for the condition.