This separately issued folding map of London is the first available geological map of the city. It includes a charming panoramic cross section in the lower margin illustrating the city's elevation and geological strata from Hendon and Hampstead in the northwest to Shooter's Hill and East Wickham in the southeast.



Robert William Mylne was part of an important family of Scottish water engineers, architects and surveyors. His father, William Chadwell Mylne, was "Engineer to the New River Company", one of the nine water companies responsible for supplying Victorian London with drinking water.



In 1856, R.W. Mylne issued a large map entitled "Map of the Geology and Contours of London and its Environs" on a scale of four miles to the inch. This was rapidly followed by a reduced version (of which this is an example), entitled "Geological Map of London and its Environs at a scale of 1:45 000". These maps are cited as the first geological maps of London and were also used to track the London cholera outbreaks of the mid-19th century.



This example was published by Edward Stanford in 1858. Stanford chose to paste an additional copy of the geological key from the upper-right corner of the map onto the inside front cover of the map's booklet for handy reference.



Original hand colour. [SL] [LDN6457]