Past Pages
Shipping Antique Maps & Prints worldwide
Information & Help
Shipping Antique Maps & Prints worldwide
Information & Help
This page aims to assist the
visitor with information pertaining to the Past Pages web site.
Item Descriptions
All items are described as accurately and efficiently as possible. You will not be bogged down with volumes of academic descriptive text. Please enquire if you require more information on an item. All items are supplied as loose sheets - not mounted, and not framed.
Original
All items on this site are guaranteed 'original' or 'genuine antiques'. This means that they are not modern reproductions.
All items are printed. A hand drawn map or sketch is known as 'manuscript'.
Do not confuse 'original' with 'manuscript'. Do not confuse 'hand-coloured' with 'manuscript'.
Any 'manuscript' item will be clearly indicated in the item's description.
All items were printed at or around the time stated - see 'Dates' further down.
Some items, such as the Owen-Bowen road maps, were printed over a prolonged publication run. In the case of Owen-Bowen it was between 1720 and 1760. An 'original' map would be one printed within this publication period. More specifically, the earliest would be classed as 'First Edition'.
Sizes
All sizes are in mm (width x height) with an accuracy of about 5mm. For those happier in cm divide by 10 (100mm = 10cm). For those happier in the imperial system divide by 25 (1 inch is approx 25mm).
Sizes relate to: (a) the size of the paper if the margins are not excessive and there is no sign of a plate mark; (b) the plate size (if it is apparent) or (c) in the case of excessive margins, the printed area plus about 20mm representing a likely plate limit.
Condition
Condition is very subjective. Quantifying fair, good, very good, is a difficult task and will never satisfy everyone. The descriptions will list all faults and will not try to embellish an item or disguise a flaw in order to improve a sale. Please enquire if you have any doubts about any aspect of the descriptions. In the case of items with very large margins, minor damage to the edges may not be mentioned. Some large items may have been stored for long periods in rolls or tubes and may develope a coiled profile. This can usually be corrected by prolonged pressing in a flat condition with weights. Some items that have been subjected to uneven dampness or uneven drying conditions may develope an irregular and bumpy surface. This is known as 'cockling' and cannot always be corrected.
Discolouration
The terms 'foxing' and 'offset transfer' may be used to describe certain discolouration properties of the item.
Follow this link for a more detailed explanation and examples : Stains and Discolourations
Phrases such as 'age-toned' generally refer to a condition of uniform discolouration of the paper due to environmental conditions.
Dates
Dates attributed to items are the best that can be determined. If a 'c' is attributed to a date (ie c1758) this is an approximation, but is not far off. There are many reasons for the uncertainty, and most of them are attributable to the fluid management of the printing and publishing business in the past. Publications would often enjoy many editions over several decades. Publishers would happily assemble new publications from old, left-over stock. Illustrations and maps would often appear in publications long after their original appearance date. To illustrate the problem we'll assume a plate for a map was produced in 1780, bearing a date of 1780 for a publication in 1780. Maps coming from this publication could truly be dated as 1780. In 1790 another edition appeared with the plate unchanged. Some new maps were printed, but some of the old 1780 maps were used. Again in 1800, some new maps were printed, but on a batch of old paper with a watermark of 1775. For the 1810 edition the plate was changed to remove the date, and a fresh print run. But, this edition also used some of the old stock from the 1800 edition (with the 1780 date). These are the sort of issues that make accurate dating of some items very difficult. Some maps and prints were printed for specific publications (such as the Gentleman's Magazine or The Universal Magazine). The map or print was commissioned, the plate made, print run executed, publication printed, copper printing plates melted down for re-work. That was it - no more printing and the publication date is fixed (sometimes to the very day). Dates can be tricky!
These maps and prints circulate within the trade for years and various dealers adopt the habit of pencilling a date on rear of the item. When a damaged book is broken it is usually good practice to note the date (from the title page) on the back of any maps or prints. The dates are sometimes taken at face value if there is no immediate means of verifying the date.
If the date of an item is not known, or not readily to hand, rather than guess or mislead, it will be excluded from the description.
Source
Most of the items for sale originate from old atlases and old books. I have had the occasional item returned from an indignant customer claiming ' .. it's no more than a page from a book'. Well, yes - antique maps come from antique atlases, sometimes disguised as books. Some items were produced as free standing maps, illustrations or posters, but the major source is from bound publications that have come onto the antique market as odd volumes or 'breakers' (books in such poor condition that they are beyond economic restoration). Double page illustrations naturally come with a centre fold. Some large maps and prints have multiple folds where they were compacted into a bound publication.
Colouring
The majority of prints were originally published uncoloured, and have been hand coloured at a later date. Some prints were coloured at the time of publication. Maps are more difficult. In some publications, such as Tallis, they were all coloured and it is rare to find one uncoloured. In other publications, such as Owen & Bowen's road maps, they were uncoloured - all coloured copies have acquired their visual enhancements at a later date. John Speed atlases were generally supplied to order with the buyer choosing coloured or uncoloured maps. Some maps appearing in books or atlases were also sold by the publishers as single sheet maps - coloured or uncoloured. Knowledge of the publication can sometimes be an assurance of original colouring. , tell-tale signs of paper degradation due to the acid in the colouring pigment can be a sign of original (or at least old) colouring. A map produced in 1640 and coloured in 1680 can't really be called original colouring. It is very difficult (impossible, really) to judge the age of hand colouring. A good modern colourist can select tones and shades to simulate old colouring styles. There is very rarely an absolute guarantee to the authenticity of the age of the colouring, and it generally has little influence on the market price of the item. Only the fussiest of collectors and stuffiest of academics will argue this point (and they do!). In most cases, collectors prefer to see a coloured map. As this has been with us since the start of modern map collecting the the early 1600s, and is not a modern fad. The market is comfortable with the practice.
Images & Photography
The images presented are of the item for sale, not a library file of a similar item. The image is cropped for optimum useful data. In most cases the paper size (and margins) is far greater than that shown. Cropping is generally done to represent presentation if mounted. Sometimes shadows occur during photography giving the impression of large discoloured areas. If the description does not mention discolouration, then assume any large uniform discolourations to be photography shadows. Even some images from flat-bed scanners have shadow effects from certain textures of paper. The fine lines on some images may interfere optically with the line definition on your monitor (or the digital camera/scanner) and cause 'banding' or 'fringing' across parts of the image. This may not be present on the original. Click here for a practical demonstration.
The image intensity and shades of colour will vary from monitor to monitor. The images are assessed here on a bright, high definition display. On some older displays, with less brightness, the same image may appear darker and the colours less vivid. There is no single solution to the variation in the quality of picture images across the internet. The quality and display settings of your monitor will have a large impact on your perception of transmitted images.
If in doubt please enquire.
Sometimes the image may appear distorted or out of square. There are two reasons for this:
(1) The original image was not engraved as a true rectangle. This quite common. Any side may be sloping and out of square with an adjoining side, and can only be attributed to sloppy engraving of the printing plate. Click here for examples
(2) The photography was sloppy and the camera was at a slight angle when taking that shot. This will cause a slight parallelogram effect. With very large items there may be a slight bowing of the sides caused by optical limits of the camera lens - sometimes called a 'fisheye' effect.
In very unfortunate circumstances there may be a combination of both of the conditions described above. If in doubt, please enquire for verification.
Orders & Enquiries
For Orders see the Terms,
Conditions & Ordering Page
Mission Control
The Past Pages web site is
designed, built, maintained, fed and watered
by
Tony Nicholls
(Resident and local bacon sandwich gourmet of Pembury, Kent, UK)
This web site uses 100% recycled pixels
Pembury is in the quiet countryside of Kent, just off the A21 London to Hastings Road.
Visit our village web site for more details.
www.pembury.org.uk or pembury businesses
You will also find a section on old maps featuring Pembury and the general locality. There is also an an article by Tony Nicholls about the significance of old maps to local historians and the pitfalls of interpreting old maps.
by
Tony Nicholls
(Resident and local bacon sandwich gourmet of Pembury, Kent, UK)
This web site uses 100% recycled pixels
Pembury is in the quiet countryside of Kent, just off the A21 London to Hastings Road.
Visit our village web site for more details.
www.pembury.org.uk or pembury businesses
You will also find a section on old maps featuring Pembury and the general locality. There is also an an article by Tony Nicholls about the significance of old maps to local historians and the pitfalls of interpreting old maps.
Site Map, Navigation & Updates
This is intended to be as simple
as possible.
The style is designed for maximum clarity - follow this link for details.
There is a minimum of indexing and sub-indexing.
You will not have to drill down though many page levels.
The menu list on the top-left gives the main category selection.
The marker arrow indicates your current location.
Links to larger illustrations are marked locally.
Use your browser 'Back' or 'Return' button to return from an image display.
Right click the browser 'Back' button to view your recent history of visited pages.
For maximum compatibility this site uses the minimum of complexity in its structuring.
This site will undergo maintainance as needed.
Stock updates will be frequent, but not necessarily regular.
Site testing is not possible for all flavours of browser and operating system.
Please report any problems running these pages.
I can't promise to fix all incompatabilities.
The button below is for searching the site for a specific item Ref No.
The style is designed for maximum clarity - follow this link for details.
There is a minimum of indexing and sub-indexing.
You will not have to drill down though many page levels.
The menu list on the top-left gives the main category selection.
The marker arrow indicates your current location.
Links to larger illustrations are marked locally.
Use your browser 'Back' or 'Return' button to return from an image display.
Right click the browser 'Back' button to view your recent history of visited pages.
For maximum compatibility this site uses the minimum of complexity in its structuring.
This site will undergo maintainance as needed.
Stock updates will be frequent, but not necessarily regular.
Site testing is not possible for all flavours of browser and operating system.
Please report any problems running these pages.
I can't promise to fix all incompatabilities.
The button below is for searching the site for a specific item Ref No.
Some Useful Links
Reference Sites
Reference Sites
Motco - an interesting collection of maps and prints of London.
Map Forum - an online map journal
MapHist - General map history and reference information
Images of Early Maps on the Web
The London Topographical Society
Internet Library of Early Journals
The Harvard Map Collection
The British Library
Bodlian Library Map Room
The David Rumsey Map Collection
Utility Sites
The Royal Mail web site
The Universal Currency Converter
PayPal.com PayPal (UK)
Dealer Sites
Simon Hunter Antique Maps - UK map dealer
Victor Southern - UK print dealer
Merringsprintsandmaps.com - North American Dealer of Antique Prints and Maps
Heaton's of Tisbury - UK print dealer
Other Business Sites
Aviator Sunglasses - HiSunglasses offers 100% authentic sunglasses for men & women at discount prices
I will be happy to include useful reference sites and reciprocal dealer links here.
Please report any broken links.
About Past Pages
Past Pages was started as a trading venture in the late 1970s and early 1980s by Tony Nicholls & Keith Sullivan. In 2005 Tony Nicholls embarked on an internet based mail order business and resurrected the old name as an internet address. A variation 'A21pastpages' is used on eBay as a trading identity name.