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 WELCOME to Kit´s Blog

Last update April 2025



WELCOME to the website of KIT BATTEN. I am the author of a number of books on Maps and Mapping, especially of Devon, my place of birth. 


Start here for an overview of all the blogs in these pages - simply click the title:

Latest Blog Updates:

NEW EXAMPLES OF PART ISSUES FOUND - April 2025

  • Jennings vs Fisher: Two Illustrated Books on Devon 1829 - - Second Edition - The London publishers Jennings and Fisher brought out copiously illustrated part-works issued monthly on the same day in September 1829 - a review and complete listing of all maps and images. Two almost complete parts issue sets found in spring 2024. Previously unrecorded.


NOW COMPLETELY REVISED AND UPDATED - October / November 2024
  • John Cooke - Cartographic Works - Third Edition The complete list of all John Cooke´s work - both his London maps and his Plymouth output. Together with a comprehensive overview of his life. Now with more examples of non-cartographic material.



Road Trip to Romania 2024 - access HERE






NOW FINISHED

Tourist Maps of Devon - My latest project. The on-line version with a complete listing of tourist and folding maps to 1901 with details of the people behind them - has now been updated and completed.

NEW Article - August 2023

Magna Britannia: Robert Morden and Thomas Cox - Many collectors of old maps have a copy of the smaller Morden map and a complete text on the county. This article covers the intricate publication of these text sheets which were often sold separately to any atlas and with the map.

NEW Article - July 2023

Mary Wyatt of Torquay and her Seaweeds - Mary Wyatt accompanied the noted marine algae expert, Amelia Griffiths, but became a noted expert herself and published books of pressed, dried seaweeds. Two volumes are fully illustrated here.

NEW FREE OFFER!!

Since my announcement in April 2022, Rolf-Barnim Foth´s excellent book on Delkeskamp (of the Rhine leporellos) has been translated into ENGLISH (by me!) and is now available FREE in A4 reduced resolution but still fully illustrated: go to 

Der Meister der Panoramen.

Recent articles

Edward Cockrem and the Durnford Sisters (The Alphington Ponies) - a look at the life and work of Edward Cockrem and the story of the Durnford Sisters. Includes an overview of the life and works of this important Torquay publisher; the story of the Durnford Sisters; an overview of Torquay publishers Croydon and Elliott; and a look at the Strand between 1830 and 1870.

Devon View Books - I have posted a number of books and booklets of views including Besley, Harwood and Rock & Co. A number of Edward Croydon´s works have been added.

Recently updated:

John Hayman´s two maps of Exeter 1805 and 1806 - In 1805 John Hayman of Exeter drew one map of Exeter which was published in Beauties of England & Wales (later used by Besley in his Itinerary) and in 1806 another for Alexander Jenkins´ History of Exeter. However, little is written about John Hayman and a proof copy of one of his maps has been found.

May 2022

  • The Eyre Brothers - Directories & Guides - The Eyre Brothers published a long-running directory of Plymouth and a hotel guide to tourist resorts but are virtually unknown. This is the fascinating story of George Pallant Butcher - a South Brent resident from 1890-1928.


May 2022

Dugdale´s Curiosities of Great Britain or England & Wales Delineated - all illustrations. I have posted all the engravings from an 11-volume example of Dugdale´s impressive work. A short introduction with over 200 steel engravings from c.1845.

June 2022

Thomas Vaughan and the Volunteer Reviews of 1799 and 1803. A fictitious story based on real life events. George III recruited voluhnteers between 1790s and 1800s and Thomas Vaughan was one of those volunteers. An account of the two reviews seen through the eyes of a participant.

Devon-related material

  • Plymouth Breakwater - An account of the building of this GREAT NATIONAL UNDERTAKING using plans and illustrations from the time.

  • Who Were John Cooke - Until this article appeared John Cooke, who engraved and published many maps of Plymouth and Breakwater plans, was virtually unknown

  • The Printed Maps of Exeter - The on-line version of a book I wrote with Francis Bennett with a complete listing of maps of the city to 1900
  • The Printed Maps of Devon - A link to the on-line second edition of a book I wrote with Francis Bennett with a complete listing of maps to 1837

  • The Victorian Maps of Devon - A link to the on-line second edition of a book I wrote with Francis Bennett with a complete listing of maps to 1901

Bartholomew's Reduced Ordnance Maps of Devon - John Bartholomew published his half-inch map in the late 1890s but they were constantly reissued for over 60 years - an overview

  • Devon County Maps - Another ongoing project. An attempt to list all printed maps relating to Devon mentioned in my four books and the collection of Devon Archives

  • Hearder´s Family Hotel in Torquay - The story of a hotel in Torquay sparked off by the discovery of a trade card with a map dating to circa 1850


Railway Development:  A Guide to Dating Maps of Devon - A table providing the opening dates of Devon´s Victorian rail network and an overview

Postcard and Trade Card History

  • Liebig Trade Cards - Two articles looking briefly at the life of Justus Liebig and the many maps produced on these attractive trade cards

  • Moresnet: A Neutral Area in Europe - For a brief period there existed a neutral zone between Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany: a brief look illustrated by maps on postcards

A German child´s school timetable c.1938 - A find on an internet postcard auction discovered a German school timetable used for propaganda purposes c.1938

Miscellaneous incl. items for sale

Dugdale´s Curiosities of Great Britain or England & Wales Delineated - all illustrations. I have posted all the engravings from an 11-volume example of Dugdale´s impressive work. A short introduction with over 200 steel engravings from c.1845.

  • Tobias Mayer´s Year - Tobias Mayer was born locally (Marbach am Neckar) but is virtually unknown among English map collectors but he helped correct maps and mapping as well as worked out a method to calculate longitude - a look at his celebratory year

  • Puzzles and Games - A small collection of Victorian wooden map puzzles I am selling plus a few German children´s geographical games from the early part of the twentieth century

  • Rhine Panoramas or A Bridge Too Many - A  look at the development of the bridges over the Rhine using leporellos as illustrations

Steel Plates of the Rhine - A discovery of steel plates used to print a map of the Rhine River and a guide book for travellers compared

  • Time Pieces - A collection of ten watches with maps on the dial (for sale)

Personal Blogs

  • Keep watching this space! Andalusian Adventure number 4 is due in July!!



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