Geological Map of England and Wales on Six Sheets, Set of 6

London by: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, November 1st 1819 (but not published until 1820). First edition.

Six sheets, each 640 x 840mm, total if joined c. 1950 x 1610mm.

A very scarce undissected example of an important geological survey of England and Wales, published under the auspices of the Geological Society, led by George Bellas Greenough (1778-1855), only five years after William Smith’s landmark map.
Despite Greenough’s name in the title, the map was drawn by Thomas Webster (1772-1844) a Scottish geologist who was also a skilled watercolour painter.
It was compiled by Greenough from various sources, not only observations of the members of the Society but also Smith’s map (without acknowledgement until the 3rd edition). Despite this plagiarism, this map contains more geographical detail than Smith’s and is more cartographically correct.
It has been claimed that Greenough undercut the price of Smith’s map to drive him in bankruptcy; not only was the Society’s map at least the same price as Smith’s (five guineas for members and six for the public) but it was not issued until after Smith had been released from debtor’s prison.
In fact, in his ‘William Smith’s 1815 Map’ (2016) Tom Sharpe wrote that neither map sold well, estimating that Smith sold more than the 196 examples the Society sold.

A second edition was not published until 1839, and a third edition was published posthumously in 1865 and was the only one that carried the Geological Society’s name.