About Us

Over a century of expertise

In 1907, Alfred Sifton and Francis Praed founded Sifton, Praed & Company Ltd. as a book and map publisher and seller, trading as The Map House and based at 67, St. James's Street in London.

The Map House have been selling and supplying maps to collectors, motorists, aviators, explorers, Prime Ministers and the Royal Family for over a century. We have supplied maps of Antarctica to Ernest Shackleton, the Far East to Winston Churchill, and the Western Front to Edward VIII, as well as important pieces to the British Library and the Library of Congress amongst many other prominent institutions and collections.

We received our Royal patent as Suppliers of Maps to the Prince of Wales in 1920. Indeed, so fascinated was Edward that he used to slip out of St James's Palace and work, unpaid, in the basement of the Map House. It was evidently on one of these forays that he acquired the boxed set of maps of the Western Front as he has both signed it and written out the title himself on the label, a job usually done by the map-seller before sale.
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Our original premises at 67 St. James's Street shortly before the move to Knightsbridge
Map Publishers

While selling maps of all parts of the world, The Map House was particular noted for its production of large-scale folding maps. As well as covering the most distant parts of the world, it was also renowned for catering to a new type of map buyer; the first car owners. Map sets were produced in leather-bound cases for the use of the discerning motorist setting off to explore the British Isles and beyond. Each case came with its own miniature map measuring wheel and a compass for calculating relative distances on the folding paper maps.

Of course The Map House did not only provide maps for car owners. In 1938, in a review of the travel guide, 'Third Class, How to Travel without being Rich', the Tablet Magazine referenced "The Map House St. James Street S.W. - a fountainhead of all pleasures on foot".
Photograph of The Map House, 67 St. James's Street taken by Jonathan Potter.

Building a Reputation

The Map House soon became a familiar landmark in its own right and was one of the fixtures that trainee taxi drivers had to know if they were to pass "The Knowledge" and become an official London cabby.

Daphne du Maurier included The Map House as the setting for a cruicial plot twist in her novel collection "The Birds & Other Stories" (1952); 'I had gone into the Map House, in St. James's to buy myself some half-dozen books to read on that long thrash across the Atlantic - a journey one took with certain qualms in those day, the Titanic tragedy still fresh in memory - and there were Victor and Anna, pouring over maps which they had spread out over every available space'.

Over 100 years later, The Map House is still as welcoming to enthusiastic browsers today as it was then!
Flagship products

The strong emphasis on selling military maps was also reflected in a long list of titles published by Sifton, Praed & Co. on military mapping, instruction booklets on how to administer first aid and books on military surveying and historical campaigns. As an official licensed distributor of the map fo the War Office during both the First and Second World Wars, The Map House was not only instrumental in the distribution of maps detailing the ongoing conflict but also played a part in publishing and distribution of propaganda maps (such as those featured in our book, "War Map"). In more peaceful times, productions have ranged from sporting maps for the hunter and the fisherman, to guides for the part-time farmers, or to the visitors to the Lake District, the Caribbean and beyond.

Left: A selection of Sifton, Praed & Co. folding map covers
Our current shopfront at 54 Beauchamp Place in Knightsbridge, London

Moving to Knightsbridge

In the early 1970s, Sifton Praed & Company Ltd. ceased to print or publish any more maps and books, and continued its transformation into one of the very first dedicated antiquarian map shops. The Map House has been supplying superb examples of cartographic art to collectors and institutions including The British Library and the Library of Congress ever since.

After nearly seventy years in St. James's, The Map House moved to its present position at No. 54 Beauchamp Place in Knightsbridge in 1973. It's been our home for 50 years, and it houses the finest and most comprehensive selection of original antique and vintage maps, globes, and engravings offered for sale anywhere in the world.

More recently, the Sifton Praed legacy of publishing books on maps has been revived, with the first edition of "The Mapping of Antartica" in 2012, and "War Map, Pictorial Conflict Maps 1900-1950" in 2016. The Map House is proud and delighted to be returning to this aspect of the business over a century after it published its first works.
What we sell

Our enormous stock of over 10,000 maps cover every part of the world reflecting the changing face of cartography over a period of half a millennium, from the 15th to the 20th century. From the tentative search for knowledge of the German masters to the elegance of early Italian copper engraving; from the magnificent flowering of seventeenth century Dutch cartography to the flamboyant baroque decoration of the eighteenth century; from charming English Rococo to the sober Age of Reason - illustrative style is represented in all its beauty and diversity.

In addition to our maps we also hold many fine topographical prints. Early city views, panoramas and rural scenes provide a captivating complement to the historical interest of individual maps. Whilst topography holds a special place in our collection, we also house engravings covering fields of interest as diverse as architecture, anatomy, natural history and sports.

We are delighted to supply current stock lists of maps and prints and are able to supply detailed condition reports and additional images upon request. We are always pleased to advise on the buying or selling of antique cartographic material, and we also offer both a formal and an informal valuation service. For all items purchased, we supply Certificates of Authenticity.