DESCRIPTION:
Unrecorded map ca. 1774 (but printed early 19th C.?) of a proposed canal in England from the town of Leeds to Selby. Probably after the survey of John Longbotham who is reported to have been employed to survey the route.
The Leeds and Selby Canal would connect with another waterway, the Leeds to Liverpool Canal, then under construction. The canal was proposed to reduce the time and costs to ship bulky items between the two towns which were currently served by boats over the winding course of the River Aire.
The canal proposal ultimately was defeated in Parliament and the shorter Selby Canal was built to Haddesley on the Aire in 1778.
Similar to but much larger (28" x 13") than an anonymous map of the same name published in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1774 (~ 8" x 13"). With two tables of distances, a table of references to the River Calder and a table of references to the River Aire.
Fine circular inset context map centered on York showing the towns, villages and waterways. Title on the inset reads:
"A map of 40 miles round York shewing the advantageous situation of that city in a fertile country abounding with every convenience for the support of trade which would be greatly improved from the center to the utmost limits by making a canal navigation from Leeds to Selby."
On wove paper, with evident platemark. Unattributed.
The illustration and quotation on this trade card were not unique to John Cosgrove but rather part of a stock design widely used by 19th-century printers who specialized in producing humorous or sentimental advertising cards. Lithographers commonly kept catalogs of ready-made comic scenes—like this seaside mother-and-child vignette with the line “It’s a wise child that knows its own mother at the sea side”—which merchants could customize by adding their own business imprint below. In this case, the printer simply inserted Cosgrove’s name, trade description, and Poydras Market address into the blank advertising panel at the bottom, allowing a small New Orleans fish dealer to benefit from professionally printed imagery at a fraction of the cost of commissioning original artwork.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1800
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: England
BODY OF WATER: River Aire
CONDITION: Good.
Engraved , wide margins, on wove paper. No folds.
COLORING: None.
ENGRAVER:
SIZE: 28
" x
14 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 64
PRICE: $800
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