One further complication in all this: after about 1850, most
commercial publishers retained engraving on copper, but only used the
coppers to make transfers for lithographic printing. Bartholomew and
their half-inch map are a text-book example of this. As I believe a
lot of the Barts coppers survive, I'd be VERY interested to know
whether the half-inch plates bear ANY resemblance in their sheet
lines, to say no more, to either the original half-inch of
c.1880-1903, or the `revised' map published from the mid-1930s
onwards!
The problem of numbering states of maps, whether printed from copper
or by other means, is indeed an awakward one. In the published Harry
Margary Old Series Ordnance Survey cartobibliographies for which I was
responsible (most of vols 6, 7 and 8) numbering was retained for the
published version, but a multiple letter system was used for the
various drafts. Thus in the final draft (version `E') of the
cartobibliography for sheet 88 NE, state 12 is `State EL = DJ = CH =
BG = AG', i.e. it was state G in the `A' version of the
cartobibliography. This system is workable in an unpublished draft,
but I have some doubt whether it will catch on in publication, even
over the net!
Richard Oliver
-------------------
Richard Oliver, B.A., D.Phil., F.B.Cart.S.,
School of Geography & Archaeology
University of Exeter
Exeter, EX4 4RJ
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