Striking map of Victorian London extending from Chelsea to the Isle of Dogs, and from Kentish Town to Kennington. The map is coloured to delineate the borough boundaries. Railway lines are drawn in black. Originally published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, this example was printed and sold by Edward Stanford Ltd.


The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) was founded in 1826, largely at the instigation of Lord Brougham, with the object of 'imparting useful information to all classes of the community, particularly to such as are unable to avail themselves of experienced teachers, or may prefer learning by themselves'.



To achieve this objective, the Society sought to act as the intermediary between authors and publishers in an ambitious series of publications. The Society fixed the form and sale price of treatises, the frequency of publication, and the payments to authors. In turn, the publisher made arrangements with the printer and organised the distribution and sale of publications.



Maps were published serially in pamphlets containing two maps in each and eventually 209 plates were published over 14 years. The maps were published under the title "A series of Modern Maps, Modern and Ancient"; however, their greatest publication was an atlas of the world, entitled 'Maps of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge'.



Chapman and Hall published the plates under the direct supervision of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge until 1842. After the Society collapsed in 1848, the map printing plates were sold in 1852 to George Cox, then to Edward Stanford in 1856, to Thomas Letts in 1877, and finally to Mason & Payne in 1885. Their long publishing history is a testament to the quality of the maps, which are simple and clear while still conveying a vast amount of useful information.



Original hand-colour. [LDN6453]