Antique map collection in Devon

An extensive collection of antique maps and associated items spanning over four centuries is going under the hammer at Chilcotts Auctioneers in Devon on November 16.

The Alan Winning Collection comprises around 750 individual items grouped into approximately 100 lots.

A private collector from East Devon, Mr Winning first became fascinated by maps in the 1970s through his childhood interest in steam railways and the way they had been mapped, which led to a more academic interest.

The collection set to sell contains plans and engravings of London from the 17th century through to the early 20th century. These include guides produced for visitors to the Great Exhibition of 1851, designed to help them find their way around the capital.

In particular, an engraved panorama of London is intriguing as it focuses on the banks of the Thames showing key buildings – prior to the Great Fire of London in 1666. This view by Swiss cartographer Matthaus Merian is highly sought after by collectors and is estimated to sell for between £800 and £1,200.

As well as loose maps, Mr Winning created a library of other related items from atlases to dictionaries and map directories. One of the collection’s highlights is a 1720 survey of the cities of London and Westminster by John Stow, a two-volume folio complete with 70 engraved plates, maps and plans bound in calf leather in good condition, which has a presale estimate of £800-1,200.   

There are also regional city and county maps, including a bird’s eye town plan showing Exeter as it would have looked in Elizabethan times, with complete city walls, the castle, cathedral and quay all highlighted. 

Additionally, the collection offers maps of Africa and the Americas, and one of Australia by Aaron Arrowsmith from 1806 drawn before the South side of the country was properly surveyed. Collectors are particularly interested in the ‘inaccuracies’ of these early depictions of the New World; for example Japan was initially drawn far larger than its actual size; California first as an island and then peninsula off the American mainland and the settlement that would become New York City initially noted as ‘New Amsterdam’.

There is also a small selection of charming Georgian board games, for example ‘The New Game of Human Life’ which was created by publisher John Wallis and Elizabeth Newberry in 1790. Beautifully engraved and with skilled hand-colouring, the 84 space game illustrates 12 ages of man from boyhood to decrepitude. The aim is to reach the final space which shows the Immortal Man – depicted as Isaac Newton. The game is estimated to sell at £200-300.

The Collectors Items auction also includes plenty of other interesting lots from toys, models and medals to good quality antiquarian books, a collection of phonographs and 20th-century antiques.