In endeavouring to publicise a couple of humble maps I seemed to have 
stirred up an awful lot of words with half a sentance!

Paul Cooper asks what the demand for 'historical mapping' really is. 
With the experience of forty-odd years map collecting, and twenty-plus 
of making intensive use of libraries and record offices, from the 
British Library and PRO/National Archives at one end to the Morley 
Public Library in the West Riding and NE Scotland Libraries at 
Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire at the other, let me try to answer the 
question!

Most users of 'historical' mapping are interested in building and 
street-level data, i.e. nothing less than OS 1:10,560/10,000 standard 
will do, and ideally 1:2500/1250. Smaller-scale, and than means pre-OS 
large-scale, mapping is only consulted if nothing better is available. 
Ditto, largely, commercial large-scale mapping. It is perhaps 
significant that the only complete republication to date of OS 1:63,360
mapping is of the Old Series in England and Wales, most of which 
predates the OS large-scale surveys, that the initial David & Charles 
republication in 1969-71 averaged 1000 copies a year for many years 
(information from late Brian Harley, who wrote the historical notes for
them), that there was an upmarket issue in volume form by Harry 
Margary, which sold well bearing in mind the marketing methods used, 
and that a new series, enlarged to 1:50,000 and on Landranger 
sheetlines with the National Grid, is being brought out by Timeline, 
for completion later this year. There have also been series for 
Scotland (mostly late 1890s) issued by Caledonian Books and for Ireland
by Phoenix Maps (later 19th century), both I believe largely aimed at 
the 'ancestor hunter' market. Prices of all of these are reasonable in 
relation to the end-product (Timeline charge the same as for current 
Landrangers). Both Phoenix and Caledonian have issued larger-scale 
mapping of towns, of necessarily lesser general interest (but, I 
submit, of greater practical use!), but I have heard of no printing or 
sales figures for the Timeline, Phoenix and Caledonian enterprises. 
Given the retail prices and print costs, I reckon Phoenix and 
Caledonian could easily cover their costs on selling 1000 copies over 
10 years: Timeline's production is more sophisticated and they might 
need to move 1000-2000 a year. Note that these are all hard-copy maps! 
OS sales are commercially confidential, but known historic data 
suggests that Landrangers would have to sell an average of 10-20,000 
copies a year, and Explorers perhaps 2000-5000, to cover costs. In 
other words, the sale of SMALL-SCALE historic maps is [perhaps of the 
oerder of 10 per cent of that of current OS mapping, allowing for the 
fact that historic mapping, of its nature, can't get (further) out of 
date, and that therefore it lacks the incentive of a new purchase for 
access land, etc, which OS and other current publishers can benefit 
from.

So much for small-scale maps. The main series of OS large-scale issues 
are of course the Godfreys. I believe that the average run of these is 
about 1000-1500, for 5-10 years stock. However, 90 per cent are reduced
reproductions of OS 1:2500, and the print codes on the originals often 
indicate the vastly greater demand for these in their reissued form, as
compared with when they were first published (especially given that a 
lot of the demand, particularly during World war II, was from 
government depts for various purposes, which distorts the figures). 
Although nearly 2000 Godfreys have now been published, there are still 
significant areas practically untouched (e.g. much of south Wales). It 
must be borne in mind that eacgh Godfrey covers an area of 1.5 square 
miles, or about 4 sq km, so of necessity is of much less proprtionate 
interest than an OS Landranger coveribng 1600 sq km! Demand is 
therefore 'signiicant'!

What about the libraries? Well, it is not always easy to estimate 
the level of use of post-war OS National Grid large-scales in local 
authority libraries and record offices because sets are often very 
incomplete, but my impression is that the general demand in libraries 
is for superseded mapping, and that a respectable minority of that 
denmand is for relatively recent superseded mapping. The actual type of
use will tend to vary with the library: I have the impression that the 
main users at Oldmeldrum and Morley are family or local historians, and 
quite a number of libraries have a limited number of maps on open 
access, often encapsulated, which keep at least 95 per cent of users 
happy. (I must admit to being a member of the other 5 %, who like to 
see the reality hinted at by the card index - as it so often still is!)
However, at the British Library for the past 13 or 14 years up to half 
or more of the map room users have been 'Land Use consultants', relying
heavily on post-1945 OS large-scale mapping for site-check work: and 
this despite the automated service offered by Landmark and possibly 
other firms. (I have to say that I don't know what Landmark on the one 
hand and the regulars in the BLML on the other charge for their 
services.) A few libraries - e.g. Southport, when I visited about four 
years ago - do take advantage of local authority OS licences to provide
printouts at 1:10,000 and/or 1:1250: as these are encapsulated and on 
open access, one needs an eye for disorder to estimate popularity!

So for libraries, the predominant use is probably for superseded 
mapping: and as time advances, so the superseded mapping of later and 
later in the 20th century will become more and more attractive...

Richard Oliver

-------------------
Richard Oliver, B.A., D.Phil., F.B.Cart.S.,
School of Geography, Archaeology & Earth Resources
University of Exeter
Exeter, EX4 4RJ