Until the 1760s maps were barely more than guess work. One of the first to be mathematically drawn using triganometry.On 10th March 1759 the Society of Art announced that it would pay a premium for the best county maps at the scale of 1 inch to 1 mile, and specified the surveying methods to use.
Peter Perez Burdett in 1767 with this map of Derbyshire was the second person to receive the award out of the total of thirteen claimants. The map shows accurately and in much detail the towns and villages of the county with many interesting additions including churches, large houses (with their owners' names), smelting cupola, coal mines, mills (wind and water) as well as measurements in miles along all of the roads. On this 1791 edition many of the owners' names include the landed gentry and mill owners in the Derwent Valley, such as the Duke of Devonshire and Sir Richard Arkwright. William Snowden made the additions.
The map is printed onto paper from six engraved plates by Thomas Kitchen and mounted on cloth in a mahogany case for display in a library. Burdett was a close friend of the painter Joseph Wright of Derby.
Burdett's Map
Contributed by Derby Museums and Art Gallery
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Comments
Image could be better but it was new to me about the prize ... see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Perez_Burdett for a short biography
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