Publications
Two Hundred and Fifty Years of Map-making in the County of Sussex: A Collection of Reproductions of Printed Maps Published Between the Years 1575 and 1825, edited by Harry Margary and notes by R. A. Skelton, published 1970 (Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd.) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Review by F. W. S. [F. W. Steer] in Sussex Notes and Queries, May 1971:From very early times men have drawn maps and plans either for the purpose of record or as an aid to the traveller. Many centuries separate the first crude efforts from the precise and beautiful maps now issued by the Ordnance Survey, but the mapping of large areas of land had not been seriously attempted until Christopher Saxton completed and published his great Atlas of England and Wales in 1579. Between Saxton's time and our own, the techniques of map-making have steadily advanced; the progression from what may be termed "outline picture maps" to the highly finished large-scale maps showing every building, boundary, natural or manmade feature is an exciting story of scientific achievement.
Between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries, cartographers produced maps of varying quality, utility and beauty; the original engravings of most of the earlier maps are now hard to find and most are either beyond the purses of would-be owners or so large that their display or storage present problems in this age of smaller houses. However, the fascination of old maps has grown rapidly during the last fifty years and several attempts have been made to meet the demand by the reproduction of various early maps of a convenient size for framing; some of these reproductions have been highly successful, but it is the larger maps which have hitherto proved so difficult and expensive to acquire or to publish as acceptable facsimiles.
Due to the initiative and perseverance of Mr. Harry Margary the great classic maps of English counties are being brought within our reach. His first production was a full-size facsimile of Andrews, Dury and Herbert's Topographical Map of the County of Kent, 1769, and Mr. Margary and Messrs. Phillimore & Co. followed this by a full-scale edition of the lovely Map of the County of Essex by Chapman and Andre, 1777; these were single maps (but comprising 25 and 26 sheets respectively) whereas now we have a Sussex atlas of 28 sheets through which we can trace the development of cartography and study the enormous changes in the Sussex landscape between 1579 and 1825.
Between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries, cartographers produced maps of varying quality, utility and beauty; the original engravings of most of the earlier maps are now hard to find and most are either beyond the purses of would-be owners or so large that their display or storage present problems in this age of smaller houses. However, the fascination of old maps has grown rapidly during the last fifty years and several attempts have been made to meet the demand by the reproduction of various early maps of a convenient size for framing; some of these reproductions have been highly successful, but it is the larger maps which have hitherto proved so difficult and expensive to acquire or to publish as acceptable facsimiles.
Due to the initiative and perseverance of Mr. Harry Margary the great classic maps of English counties are being brought within our reach. His first production was a full-size facsimile of Andrews, Dury and Herbert's Topographical Map of the County of Kent, 1769, and Mr. Margary and Messrs. Phillimore & Co. followed this by a full-scale edition of the lovely Map of the County of Essex by Chapman and Andre, 1777; these were single maps (but comprising 25 and 26 sheets respectively) whereas now we have a Sussex atlas of 28 sheets through which we can trace the development of cartography and study the enormous changes in the Sussex landscape between 1579 and 1825.