Geographia Ltd
A lot of the old maps in my collection were published by Geographia Ltd, of 167 Fleet Street, London, EC4. The company is no longer trading, so its web profile is almost non-existant. There is a Geographia Ltd of Hackensack, NJ, specialising in maps of mostly New Jersey and New York, but it seems to be unrelated to Geographia of London.
Further searches reveal that the company was founded by a Hungarian immigrant, Alexander Gross, in 1911 and eventually became part of Collins Bartholomew. For some reason his Wikipedia page redirects to “2002 Überlingen mid-air collision”, but his daughter’s page is slightly more useful.
More information can be found on this page, just over halfway down, including this interesting snippet:
Some of their maps use a code where the letters in CUMBERLAND correspond to the numerals 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 in the format MM.YY e.g. E.MC = 5.31 = May 1931. This is usually found in the bottom left hand corner of the first map in an atlas.
randomactsofcartography 
I have 2 geographia maps that i bought in an old book shop in Howarth west yorkshire. I was wondering if you could tell me there ages. Map 1 is coded B.ER and map 2 is L.EU. Thank you
Sure, substituting 1234567890 for CUMBERLAND gives you 4.56 and 7.52. So, if I’ve got that right, it looks like map 1 is from April 1956, and map 2 is from July 1952.
I worked as a Cartographic Draughtsman ay Geographia in St Albans and then Park Street, near Radlett circa 1970. The Chief Cartographer was Mike Middleditch and other cartographers included Dave Seagrove and Colin Cook
Hi just see your comment that you worked at Geographia St Albans , some of the names you mentioned sound familiar, im Lynn and i “was” the young girl who worked on the computer in the office, dont know if you were there or remember me? It wouldve been 1978/80
I have just purchased 2 ‘on cloth’ dissected maps, No4 Northern Counties and No 18 Hampshire and West Sussex, would you be able to date them. No 18 is priced at 4/- [white price label stuck over the old price], and N04 is priced at 5/-, Any suggestions as their age. They are for my family research.
Your help would be most welcome
regards
Andrew Longley
All I know is the numbering scheme in the bottom left corner. If that isn’t visible, you’ll have to try and guess a date by looking at landmarks on the maps.
Sorry I can’t be more help.
I have a box set of 4 maps, no. 8,9,12 and 13. On the box its says, “They are absolutely up-to-date, the whole series being completed in 1914”. If you don’t already know their date, I hope this helps, regards Simon Grace
I have found a old large scale road map on cloth of “30 miles around London” produced & published by GEOGRAPHIA Ltd 55 FLEET STREET , LONDON , E,C.4 on front blue cover it gives 2 prices, on cloth Price 3/6 Net, and below this it gives another ” On Cloth, Dissected 5/- Net have you any idea of the age of the map,
Regards Ron Blaylock
Some of the history of Geographia is given in Phyllis Pearsall’s book “From Bedsitter to Household Name: the history of A-Z maps”. Very briefly, Geographia was founded by Alexander Gross, but in the 1920s he lost the company to its creditors, so emigrated to the USA to set up the like named company there. In the 1930s he persuaded his niece, Ms Pearsall, to establish another company that became A-Z maps – and she was more successful than her uncle and partly to prevent it falling into the hands of rival cartographers, converted into what was effectively a worker’s co-op. Meanwhile, Geographia also prospered in the UK and, as you correctly say, eventually became part of Collins Bartholomew (I think in the 1990s).
I collect petrol company maps (and run the petrolmaps website) and have 97 Geographia maps in my collection, from companies as diverse as Amoco, Burmah, Chevron, Fina, MS, Murco, Regent, Texaco, Total and Zip, as well as the Kenning Garage group. Not all are dated using the Cumberland code, but the majority are.
Thanks for the info (and sorry for taking so long to reply – it’s been a busy few weeks!), especially the link to Geographia of NJ.
I have a few more petrol maps in my collection, I’ll try and dig them out.
Her uncle was Frank, Alexander Gross was her father. Phyllis Pearsall’s maiden name was Gross.
I don’t know whether anyone can shed any light on this but several years ago I bought some original artwork by Harold Tamblyn Watts from a house clearance . I have a couple of illustrations he did for Geographia Ltd. One is for their Clearway Mileage Map of England and Wales. It is a painting in shades of green of a country road with a red and white shield in the centre of the English rose and the Welsh leek. It bears the price 3/-. I have been trying to find out if the artwork was actually used. The date is probably about 1950.
I have just been looking more closely at an old set of maps which I believe used to belong to my grandfather. They include the address Geographia 55 Fleet street. My grandfather was a chauffeur from the 1950s to 1970s. The maps are in a slim case (4″ x 10″) and cover England and half of Scotland in 4 dissected maps. The code is B.MD so from your helpful advice this dates them to February 1930.
I would be interested to know if these are collectable?
Thanks, Steve Farmer
I have a Geographia wall map my father commissioned for his Belfast office in 1960. the address is give as 114 Fleet Street at that time.
I just bought The Rambler’s Guide Dorking from Ebay, no1 and the cost originally was 1/- net.
“Geographia” Ltd, 55 Fleet Street.
I wonder which year?
I have just bought an old Geographers road map of the UK. It is an Austin road atlas and touring guide priced at 12/6d. It shows a few new motorways so think it was printed in early 60’s? Is that right? What I really want , is a UK Railway map of 1950’s or a road map incorporating them. Any ideas? Many thanks Ray Young
I have 5 Phillips maps dating from the 60s one of them is rail roads of England they are a series all different
I have a map of cardiff using the CUMBERLAND method of dating it shows as R.BN this is June 1949 is this map worth anything?
Thanks for the info about dating Geographia maps.I have the ‘New Map of England & Wales,showing counties in colours’ which is perfect for as a base map in a forthcoming book, and despaired of being able to give full details. I now know it is July 1942.
Brilliant! Well done & thank you.
Alan Helsdon, Norwich
Interesting article in the Guardian about Comedian Isy Suttie, who is appearing in a musical about Phyllis Pearsall:
http://gu.com/p/3mfbz
Great help, thanks. Dated my map of Preston to Oct 56. Old town hall on the front, which burnt down in ’47 after a policeman’s ball. Wasn’t fully demolished till ’62.
I have a “GEOGRAPHIA” Regional Plan of Greater LIVERPOOL AND THE MERSEYSIDE (priced at 3/6). I was wondering if you might be able to tell me when it might have been printed. Also it is addressed as being from 114 FLEET STREET, LONDON, E.C.4 and not 167 as you state above. Is the address on my plan a miss print?
See PJM’s comment above – it looks like Geographia did trade from 114 Fleet St for a while. Unfortunately, I can’t give you any more information. Everything I know is on this site already.
I have a map on cloth of west central lancashire priced at 2/6 published by geographia
167,fleet st,london.E.C.4.any info most welcome thanks
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Hi, I have a small blue Road Atlas & Route Guide No4, Northern Counties. It’s priced at 6d and is published by Geographia ltd. Do you have any idea of its age? I have checked the bottom left hand corners of the maps for numbers but there aren’t any. Can you help? Cheers
Hi Lynn, that’s amazing! I worked there with a ll three you mentioned plus Steve? A young guy who wore a leather hat to work. I was in St Albans and then over to Park Street but it would have been early 70s maybe 72/3 I reckon. But if you were in St Albans it must have been around the same time?nwhat do you think?
I have a geographia large scale road map of 30 miles round London. ..price new was 2/6 net ..produced by “Geographia” Ltd. . Fleet Street London.
I have a Geographia plastic coil binding semi-hard cover “Great Britain touring atlas and guide” which I found in my late parent’s belongings. It contains an enormous amount of information. It shows the address for Geographia Ltd as 63 Fleet Street. Does anyone have any idea when it might have been published?
I have a Geograohia map addressed 55 Fleet st!
I gather no-one has any idea of when my Geographia (as above) was published? Thanks for considering my post anyway.
Hi
I found a map while looking though some books belonging to my partners grandmother.
It says “Up To date Road Map” it is a map of Ireland . The code on the bottom left is S.MA .
Any help with any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
The MA code would be 1938, though S (which should represent the month) is not part of the normal coding system based on the letters in the word CUMBERLAND.
Hi Ian
Thank you for that information.
Would you know if there is a different code used on Irish maps, or was CUMBERLAND used on all geographia maps?
Thanking you in advance.
Ellen
Just wanted to say thanks – am selling one of these on ebay in my store and thanks to you I figured out it is from Dec 1954 – wish we had more ppl like you on the net 🙂
Samantha @ Rivey’s Space.
@Ellen – As far as I am aware they used the same code system on all maps that had a code. (Not all do.) But I’m still a little unsure why there’s an S in your Irish map’s code. I’m just wondering if there’s a 10 letter county in Ireland t5hat contains S, M and A. The closest I can think of is Westmeath, but that’s only got 9 letters and two of those repeat…10 lettered words with no repeats are very rare!
I have a Geographia map of the United States, it is a hard cover fold out that unfolds into a large map.
There is no year on it, do you know what year it might be from? It is a color map of the United States.
Difficult to say from the brief description. Geographia USA state in the 1920s, as far as I remember, and didn’t use the same dating codes.
Hi-
can anybody tell me where i can get the Geographia county maps of Ireland please?These were simple,line drawing maps with a single colour highlighting the county.JOE KELLY
Hi I have the New Road Map of Wales price 3d and the code M MU (March 1932) is in the bottom right hand corner
I have just found a map of Swansea priced 1’6 can anyone tell me how to date this map so I can value it
Hi Caroline
It can only be dated if there’s a three or four character code, based on the CUMBERLAND code described above. But if it’s 1/6d, I’d guess 1960s – I was looking at a similarly priced map of Bournemouth last weekend that was dated in the mid 1960s.
i have a geographia ltd map of the world, measures 46×89″ approx, cant find any letters in the corners, only that its geographia lt 167 fleet street, how can i value this?
thanks
I have several “Geographia” road maps ,one is a very large Hardbacked fold out canvas ,Approx 107cm X 80cm of England,Scotland,wales and Ireland , Ireland is still represented as a whole so i think it is pre 1922 ,all around the borders are Great Britain’s economy IE, wool ,iron coal, armed forces , total expenditure, shipping,gold,population etc , the roads and rail are hand coloured, trying to work out the date of it .nothing on the bottom right hand corner to say what year it is.
Thank you for this information. I’ve now been able to date the map my dad bought as a child as being from Jan 1956. Interestingly the cover sells this as 30 Miles round Derby yet the map itself is centred on the neighbouring Nottingham and is titled as 30 miles round Nottingham! Quite amusing given the rivalry between our 2 cities 🙂
My late father passed an odd map case on to me several years ago. Apparently he had bought it in a junk shop somewhere in West Sussex. It’s a well made wooden box with plexiglass viewing window to back and front wherein are displayed maps which can be rolled back or forwards so that the display in the window changes. From the look of the maps, I think they have to be from the Thirties. On the base of the box are four D-shaped handles which are used to wind the map display North/South or East/West. Because of its antiquity and the fragility of the map in one of the display windows, I haven’t tried to turn the handles, but I seem to remember that my father demonstrated that strips of maps were joined together, so that as one turned and came to the Eastern edge of the map, for example, the Western part of the next map strip would be pulled into view.
On the sides of the case are two diagrams showing the key to the map strips, North/South on one side and East/West on the other. In very tiny lettering below the key, it reads “Copyright Geographia Ltd 55 Fleet Street, London EC4”. But there is not other indication on the case who the manufacturer was, and I am not sure whether Geographia would have been the publisher of the map, rather than the maker of the rolling map system.
Each face of the case is 220 mm x 270 mm.
My father was certain that the case was made for airmen in the Thirties (probably in open cockpit planes) so that they could navigate, but given the fact that the map is based on roads and the large scale, this seems unlikely. I wondered if it was made for motorcyclists use – or even for any motorist in an open and exposed car.
If anyone has any idea of the provenance or purpose of the case, I’d be most interested. I have photos available if anyone is interested.
hi nick i have the exact map slider in the same box , can you help me with what it is called and what year it is kevin
The Case was possibly for use in rallying or some other navigation event for cars. Something similar is used for that sort of motorcycle event.
@ Kevin Harmer. I’m sorry but I have no information at all about the map case at all. I’ve tried all sorts of people and associations to try and find out about it but to no avail. It was suggested to me that because there was no makers imprint (other than the Geographia imprint on the map ‘index’) it may have been made by an amateur user for his/her benefit.
But if you have a similar map case, that seems unlikely. Is there any makers name on your case, and can you tell me how you acquired it?
Go and look at this link for an idea of what I’m talking about:
https://www.motorpunk.co.uk/features/retro-satnav-a-little-history-of-reading-maps-on-the-hoof/
That sounds excellent – I’d love to see it. There are similar items in the Smithsonian Air and Space museum – strip maps that attach to the pilot’s leg and can be wound forward and backwards. Maybe the roads are so prominent because they are easy to spot from the air.
https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/america-by-air/online/abaImage.cfm?webID=111.p3a
Thanks for the link, but my map case is totally different.
Please have a look at these photos
I really do not think that it would have been strapped to a leg because the user would have had to unstrap it and then turn it over to move the map east/west instead of north/south and there are no strap attachments or markings.
The East Anglia pic shows the damage to the right hand side of the map. That’s the reason I have not dared wind it forward or backwards to see if there is any attribution of the map at the end of the strip. Each face of the map case is secure by small brass wood screws, so I would be confident to pass it over to an expert for careful dismantling.
Wow, that’s a really nice piece. Thanks for sharing. I’d love to know more about it, especially how it can be moved both north-south and east-west. Hopefully someone else will chip in…
I have a Primary Routes Map section 3 of Wales and Midlands of Geographia Ltd, 63 Fleet Street London EC4, ISBN 0092040306. Can you tell me what age it is? Thank you.
Hi Paula
It’s hard on limited information, but as it has a 10 digit ISBN number, it must be 1974 or later. I have a mental picture of a map that might be what you have there, and think it’s most likely to be mid to late 1970s. Primary Routes were created in 1964 with the Worboys report on UK road signage, but you map is clearly younger than that.
I have a map of swansea geographia street plan address is 11th leet street London by ph thorpe can any one help me with it how old is it.
Have map geographia cost 2′- mum says old cinema in Townhill is there possible 19th can’t find it anywhere on Internet address is 114 fleet street London by ph thorpe.
I have London street guide with 4 maps
Geographia ltd 55 Fleet Street
6d net
Little red book very very old but no date on it
Can’t find it online
I have a map clear road map of south east England
They also made games and jigsaws
Is a Geographia Ltd planning and record number 7 map of the World collectable ? Ive got 2 good examples has old Soviet states and Rhodesia and price on 5 shillings on one etc but no date
Lucky enough to find two mint no7 Geographia World maps using the Cumberland code they date to September 1969
Hi,
In the back of a second hand Spanish dictionary, I have found an old Geographia map of Spain.
It doesn’t have a year on it or appear to have any code to indicate time period. Can anyone help me date it please?
Thanks
Hi I have an old book (possibly 1915/16?) it’s called “things you ought to know” facts in a nutshell.
No real date indication, so was wondering what the publishing date was?
It’s “geographia” ltd 55 Fleet Street London E C 4 and cost 1/-
And hand written inside is University of California!
1920
My dad has a large scale road map of Lake District on cloth priced at 2/6d can someone please me know when it was printed
Many thanks,
[Geographia, 55 Fleet St.]
‘The rapid Route Indicator
Motoring Routes from Nottingham.
Price2/-
No dates or codes that I can find
They published several cities: I know of Plymouth, Bristol and Ipswich, but suspect there were many more. My copy (Ipswich) advertises a book called “An errant golfer” which was published in January 1929.
Have just bought a “Geographia” New Map of Easy Devon and Wessex, Approx 2 mile to 11 inch, folding, on cloth, 4/-. Address on this is 167 Fleet Street. Covers area between, Dawlish and Weymouth and as far north as Taunton. Cannot find any dating info just wondered whether the price and address could help identify the decade at least. Thanks for any info.
I have 2 old maps of London, one cloth (The New Pictorial Map Of London chief places of interest pictorially presented) and one paper (Map Of The British Isles showing main roads). I’m sure they were purchased there: cost 2/- Published on Fleet Street by Geographia LTD in London, E.C.4. I’m curious about publication dates. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!
Hello, we have come across an old map and wondering how old it would be,
“GEOGRAPHIA”
NEW MAP
OF
GREAT BRITAIN showing MAIN ROADS
Price 2/6 net, on cloth 5/* net
Produced & published
By
GEOGRAPHIA Ltd fleet Street London E.C.4
I worked as a cartographer for Geographia at their office in Cheltenham, I drew the last map of the UK sponsored by Jaguar also worked on maps for the caravan club…. happy days
Hi Reggie – I’m doing research into 20th century road maps for a PhD, and would love to talk to you about your time at Geographia, including anything you might have done on the Texaco account. I have at least one of the Caravan Club maps as my family were members for may years! Feel free to contact me by email at “ian (at) roadmaps.org”.
Hi yes contact me at reg.enderby@yahoo.co.uk
I have the set of 19 Alexander Gross cloth backed maps for England and Wales in a cloth covered wooden box which has an acetate front and leather straps and buckles. Case is in poor condition but all the maps are good. Not as nice as the wooden box posted above and doesnt scoll through the map area but still a nice set. Belonged to my Grandfather.
I’ve had an interesting question passed on to me by another Open Spaces Society member, the full(ish) text of which is:
Sites selling second hand books are selling a variety of Geographia footpath maps. Their covers say that they are designed for ramblers in the area.
The ones that I have seen advertised date from between 1920 to 1950. The maps say that they are based on the OS maps and there is the usual disclaimer that showing the path does not mean that it is a right of way
But does anyone know the source of the information about footpaths?.1920 was well before any survey and even the 1935 editions (one of which I have) may predate the surveys that were done in the 30s under the 1932 rights of way act
The maps show a large number of routes that are not on the rights of way map today.
Between 1920 and 1950 Geographia produced a series of Ramblers maps. Footpaths were very clearly shown in red. They boasted that this was the most comprehensive map of footpaths available. Does anyone have any idea where they got their footpath information from. The first definitive surveys of footpaths were not until after 1950 and although there was some kind of survey carried out by some councils in the mid 1930s, the information was not made widely available and, in any case would not have been available in 1920. So where did they get the footpath information from
Do you know anything about a picture map of London published by Geographia Ltd and given away in the Daily Telegraph sometime maybe in the 1950s or 60s? I have one my late father laminated in some primitive manner. I have asked the Daily Telegraph but they could not tell me much about it.
Sir, we have acquired a map by Geographia for England and Wales but cannot find any date code. Would you have any information that might help us date this please?
Hi I have a geographia map titled The daily telegraph war map. Alexander Gross F.R.G.S. Produced by Geographia 33 Strand London WC. I have seen a few pics online of this map and I think it’s number 1. It is printed on a mix of cloth and paper.
I am looking for any information and a valuation for it.
Any help would be gratefully received.
Kind regards
Angie Mabey