Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
6.1 Completing the sequence
Many collectors of everyday maps choose to focus upon one area. For
some the collected map offers, an autobiographical glimpse into past
experiences of that place (e.g. Harley 1987). However many everyday
map collectors merely aim for a complete collection of maps of their chosen
topic. Hodson (1991) describes collecting Lake District OS coverage:
acquiring all of the states of 'standard' series coverage, but also collecting
special editions covering the area. This quest for completion is much more
significant for everyday collectors than in the antiquarian field. Such a
concern may reflect a world where certainties no longer predominate, and
where control over a field becomes an important part of identity. For anti-
quarian collectors such an emphasis upon completion is usually unattain-
able, given the costs and rarity of the quarry.
The emphasis upon the ticking off yet another target has consequences.
Many more maps are accumulated than may be possible for antiquarian
collectors. Many OS collectors trace different states of their chosen OS
coverage. In the early years of this collecting field carto-bibliographic
activities have been significant, paralleling early emphasis upon listing of
antiquarian map states. Monographs have been published by the collecting
societies and CCS is notable for the quality of its publications. The
experts in the field are the collectors, rather than academics or the trade.
6.2 Not so much a trade…
The ready availability of mapping and limited number of specialist collec-
tors with interests in the area mean little money can be made from every-
day collecting. As a consequence no significantly developed trade exists.
The CCS maintains a list of dealers in Second Hand Ordnance Survey
maps that documents 13 specialists trading in secondhand OS material
(Charles Close Society 2004b). Only five of these specialists run web
sites, and only one trader maintains significant stock and specialization.
He is the only one to have published finding aids or bibliographic materials
for the collector. Few of these 'dealers' seem to be making much money
from buying and selling OS coverage. None are clustered in elite urban
areas. Instead they are informal operations, often run from home and on
a part-time basis. The 'trade' in secondhand OS mapping is much more
in the control of the collectors themselves, or else part of other trading
