Maps

Detail from Whitworth's South-West
prospect of Manchester

The collection of maps comprises several hundred items, of which the majority are of local interest. The Library holds copies of almost all of the maps of Manchester and Salford published between 1650 and 1850, including copies of each of the two prospects - Buck's 1728 and Whitworth's 1734. These elevational views provide a fascinating glimpse of the fast-developing town. There are also examples of the five pictorial maps published by Casson and Berry between 1741 and 1757.

If you have an interest in maps of the North West, you may want to know about the CD-ROM of early maps recently produced by the Digital Archives Association from material at Chetham's.

Each highly decorative edition features different views of noteworthy Manchester buildings including Chetham's, the Exchange and St. Ann's Church, creating valuable historical records which add considerably to the importance of these now very rare publications.

The maps illustrate the rapid growth of Manchester, showing around 160 streets and giving the number of inhabitants as about 30,000. Only a century earlier, as few as 24 streets were shown. Of Russel Casson, little is known, but his partner John Berry was a colourful character: as well as being printer of the Lancashire Journal, he also found employment as a watchmaker, bylawman for scavengers, grocer and officer for muzzling dogs. 

Back to the printed collections page.