Published almost 300 years ago by master mapmaker John Rocque, this is the first detailed map of Central London and Inner London. It was originally published in 1746, following a highly accurate survey of London and its suburbs starting in 1740. It is a beautiful, highly detailed and extremely rare old map.
This is sheet 6 of 16, covering central London. Many of London's world famous landmarks can already be seen on this map, such as the Tower of London, London Bridge and Westminster Hall.
A few of today's most well-known districts and boroughs are still not on the map, such as Westminster and Covent Garden. It wasn't until fairly recently, for example, in 1965, that the areas of St Marylebone and Paddington formed the City of Westminster.
This Central London map covers many of today's inner city boroughs, such as the Borough of Southwark, Borough of Lambeth, the City of Westminster, City of London, Borough of Islington, Borough of Tower Hamlets and Borough of Camden.
Some of the locations on this map include: Waterloo, Lambeth, Westminster, South Bank, Covent Garden, City of London, Holborn, Islington, Saint Pancras, Stepney, Rotherhithe and St Katharine's & Wapping.
Rocque published two major maps of London. This map here is a single sheet from a very fine 16-sheet map of "London and 10 miles around". His other map, a 24-sheet map of central London with magnificent detail, is far more famous.
This map looks great at all sizes: 12x16in (30.5x41cm), 18x24in (45.5x61cm), 16x20in (40.5x51cm), 24x36in (61x91.5cm), 30x40in (76x101.5cm), 37x50in (94x127cm), 45x60in (114x152.5cm) and 52x70in (132x178cm), but it looks best at larger sizes.
I can create beautiful, large prints of this map up to 120in (305cm). Please get in touch if you're looking for larger, customised or different framing options.
The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45.5x61cm) version of this map.
The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.
The labels on this map are very small at 12x16in (30.5x41cm). The map is still very attractive, but you may struggle to read the smallest letters. Please buy a larger map if it's important to be able to read the map easily.
If you’re looking for something slightly different, another option would be this amazing map of Central London by Edward Stanford in 1862.
Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.
This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving or housewarming gift for someone interested in Central London and Inner London or someone who loves to visit London.
This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.