39. Palmer & Stone / William Wood 1857
Palmer & Stone advertised in John Billing’s Directory and Gazetteer of 1857. They had
taken over from Angel & Co. and advertised themselves as
Practical Engravers, Copper-plate and Lithographic Printers as well as
providing the usual odd assortment of services, e.g. wedding orders, maps, bill
heads and cards all executed on very
short notice and at the lowest possible price. They operated the West of
England Engraving and Printing Office at 3, Waterbeer Street and were
established in 1816.
In or around 1857 the present map was included in two separate works. A simplified version appeared in W William Wood’s 3rd edition of the Hand-book to South Devon, Dartmoor Etc. with the imprint of Palmer & Stone, Exeter. A short time later Palmer and Stone published The Hand-Book to Exeter.[1] There were considerable changes to this edition: 10 attractive vignettes have been added and the map is considerably larger at 260 x 325 mm. The ten vignettes are: Exeter from Exwick Hill; Bury Meadow; Fore Street; High Street; Queen Street; Northernhay; Quay; Guildhall; Castle; and the Cathedral. An imprint replaces the signature Engraved for the Hand Book to Exeter, Published by Palmer & Stone, Waterbeer Street, Exeter.
The map was reissued in the
third edition of the Exeter Hand-Book
(circa 1863) with a new imprint: Engraved for the Hand Book to Exeter, by G.
G. Palmer, 3, Waterbeer Street, Exeter. The map is slightly wider (at
350 mm) and the vignettes are repositioned with the Castle vignette replaced
above the Guildhall so revealing the junction of Heavitree Rd and Magdalen New
Road and To Wonford replaced beyond the road. The London & South
Western Railway is shown with Queen Street Station and Longbrook ends at the
New North Road. There was the addition of the Agricultural Exhibition which occupies the same space
as the Show Yard of 1850, the adjacent note To Wonford, and the Free Cottages.
Title: MAP OF EXETER Corrected to the present time.
Size: 260 x 335 mm with SCALE Chains 40 = 41mm.
Signature: Palmer & Stone, Exeter.
Plain three line border, title
above the North point, the scale bar and the City’s Arms have seated pegassi.
The Reference Key is printed on the adjoining leaf: Public Buildings; Hotels;
Parish; Precincts; Dissenting Chapels &c. Note the detail and the parks and
planting reminiscent of Rocque’s and Hayman´s plans.
Although the Tallis map a few
years earlier is very attractive (and is usually found hand-coloured) this map
is a very well executed plan and has far more developments given that it was
engraved only about five years later.
The map was used again in 1872
in the fourth Handbook to Exeter. The
Arms and Northernhay have changed places as have the Guildhall and the Castle.
Development is shown east of Workhouse Lane and note the new brick fields south
of Black Boy Road. The Agricultural Exhibition has been erased, the Militia
Barracks are shown on Cowick Street, the county gaol and the
reservoirs are reshaped. Note the development by Bury Meadow and Longbrook has
disappeared. Circa 1877 new imprints appear: Entd. At Stationers Hall –
Engraved & Printed by E.S.A.Robinson & Co. Bristol; for the Handbook to
Exeter. About this time the county
prison changes from the cross shape to the H form. A New
Edition of the Hand-Book, possibly published by W Wood again,
appeared circa 1881 (illustrated below, cover illustrated above) with no imprint and some minor changes: city
crest simplified; Rougemont Hotel replaces the City Prison; and there are new houses opposite Bury
Meadow.
Return to Catalogue
[1] The
text of both was written about 1855 but as the vignettes were retained in later
issues it seems probable that Wood´s Hand-Book
appeared first.
