I.—The Earliest Engraved Geological Maps of England and Wales

Abstract

In a previous article, a sketch has been given of what is known concerning the origin and history of the early manuscript maps of William Smith. I have shown that concerning these maps, though they were not published, in the technical sense of that term, there exists a satisfactory body of external evidence with regard to the period of their preparation, while they furnish in themselves abundant proofs that they must have been constructed at the dates inscribed upon them. These facts have been so generally recognized that—since the clear statements on the question which have been made by Fitton, Parey, Sedgwick, and Phillips—no one has ever thought of either questioning the antiquity of the maps or denying to William Smith the honour of being the first to construct a true geological map of England and Wales.