Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
surroundings. The complete map is three times as long and depicts the Thames between the
capital and its estuary in the east.
The map was made to fulfil a government commission. The man whom the Surveyor Gen-
eral, Sir Charles Harbord, selected to create it was Jonas Moore, who had mapped the Fens
a few years earlier (see
The dangers of decoration
)
. A leading mathematician, Moore took
a thorough and scientific approach to his task. This is reflected symbolically in the dividers
surmounting the scale bar and practically in the accurate detail of the city's streets. London
was at this time enjoying a cultural and scholarly revival. King Charles II's assumption of
the throne in 1660 - known as the Restoration - had marked the end of two unhappy decades
in the nation's history, and the newly-founded Royal Society was promoting science and an
understanding of the natural world.
More a work of art than a practical tool, the map is a fitting representation of a proud and
confident metropolis. A lavish production in ink and watercolour, with liberal use of gold
paint on the borders, it must have been breathtakingly impressive when new. It incorporates
detailed scenic views - possibly the work of the artist and engraver Wenceslaus Hollar - of
places along the river's lower reaches. The map's original owner was the Navy Board, so it is
unsurprising that the places featured in these views, such as Greenwich, all have strong naval
links.
Early users of the map would have included Samuel Pepys, who worked for the Board and
was a close associate of Moore. Pepys would record in his diary the catastrophes suffered
by London not long after the map was completed. In 1665, the city's population was decim-
ated by a plague that killed more than 70,000 people. The following year, vast swathes of its
buildings were burned to the ground in the Great Fire, which lasted for four days.
The map proved almost as vulnerable as its subject. It was kept for many years at the Office
of Works, where it is thought to have been placed on display. Prolonged exposure to light
probably contributed to the fading that has softened much of the detail over time, and made
some of the writing difficult to read. Yet despite its now delicate state, the map survives as a
visual record of a London lost to the changing fortunes of time.
