BRITSH COLUMBIA & VANCOUVER ISLAND CANADA 1863 WELLER UNUSUAL ANTIQUE MAP

British Columbia (New Caledonia). == Vancouver Island.

Description: Striking and highly detailed fine unusual 1863 original colored lithographic plate including, on one sheet, a map of British Columbia, Canada, at the top, and a map of Vancouver Island, Canada,at th elower side, by Edward Weller, for the Weekly Dispatch Atlas.
 
'The Weekly Dispatch' newspaper between the years 1856 and 1862 included in each edition a map of a part of the world. During this period a total of 118 maps were issued. The maps bear the distinctive sign of a half globe with the figure of Mercury above. The engravers varied but included John Dower and Edward Weller.
 
In 1863 'The Dispatch Atlas' was published which contained a series of English county maps. The two were combined in 1865 as 'Cassell's Complete Atlas', with many maps in a large scale of areas not often seen, including a number of town plans.

Date: 1863 ( undated )

Dimension: Paper size approx.: cm 33,9 x 47,1

Condition: Very strong and dark impression on good paper. Map old original colored. Corners partially missing. Small foxing and browning. Small amrginal tears. Conditions are as you can see in the images. 

Mapmaker: Edward Weller (1819-1884) was a London based engraver, cartographer and publisher working from offices in Red lion Square and later in Bloomsbury. Amongst his considerable portfolio were various atlases, many of which focused on the educational publishing market. Having established his credentials as an engraver of finely detailed works, he sold maps to be published in a number of regular magazines and pamphlets, perhaps the best known being "The Dispatch Atlas"; a compilation of maps Weller had already published in "The Weekly Dispatch". Although Weller usually engraved the maps himself, he did work in partnership with others, notibly John Dower for this Atlas. Weller also published "The Crown Atlas" in 1871,
 
"The Dispatch Atlas" featured well over 100 superbly detailed steel plate engraved maps, usually with simplistic, single colour outline hand colouring and a distinctive header style. Most English counties featured, some of which were divided onto separate sheets, affording space to engrave in greater detail. The maps of North and South Devonshire for example include such details as individual property names, as do those of Norther and Southern parts of Hampshire.
 
After Weller's death in 1884, many of these highly detailed plates were sold onto other map makers, include George Bacon, who whist retaining the level of details, expanded the printing area of each plate, adding more precise and varied hand colouring in keeping with the final decades of the century.