Sheet 55se, Old Series 1". 1853. First edition. Herefordshire, Worcestershire: Great Malvern. Hand coloured engraving

Sheet  55se, Old Series 1". 1853. First edition. Herefordshire, Worcestershire: Great Malvern near centre. Hand coloured engraving, 36.5 x 46cm. Topography 1831, geological dates omitted, issued 1853. Flat, linen-backed and linen is separating, age-toned, slightly soiled, colours dull. Marginal tear across legend without loss. Very worn. In poor condition.

 This is could be considered a corrected draft: (1) the legend is updated in manuscript using alpha-numeric shorthand later adopted; (2) there are manuscript pencil lines for proposed horizontal sections later published on Section sheet 13; (3) the colour selection is from an earlier specification, found on the earliest maps of Cornwall and Mid Wales, preceding the more familiar standard legend that soon followed. Principally, a pale green is used for alluvium and grey-green and olive green are used for Middle Silurian Limestone and granitic rocks that are now coloured shades of purple, orange, and red.

The usual ‘first edition’ maps in this area give the geological mapping dates as a range such as 1853/55 and have an slightly expanded legend. On this map which omits the geological dates, we take it as 1853 in view of the issue date of embossed stamp in the top right corner. RARE.

About the England & Wales One Inch Old Series

The Geological Survey of England and Wales used the Old Series of the Ordnance Survey topographic map at a scale of one inch to the mile as its basemap, initially. These engraved basemaps were published and revised between 1805 and 1885; the sheet sizes varied and the layout and numbering system were eccentric. The Old Series geological maps were hand-coloured and without geological sections, which were published separately. The GS of E&W published the Old Series from 1850 to 1900, when it switched to the colour printing and the New Series one inch maps. However, old stock of the Old Series continued to be issued, hand-coloured, until the 1930s.

See also: Index Map for England & Wales One Inch Old Series.