Unfortunately, over the centuries, having become collectors' items, they have been separated from their original books. We are very fortunate indeed to have had a copy of a book where they are all intact, and therefore we were able to scan them and include them on the CD.
Originals of these maps now cost anything from £100 to £200 to purchase individually.
Do bear in mind that they are bound into the book, and therefore, as the scanned images are literally digital photographs of the book, they usually have a slightly noticeable indentation at the centre. There was no way that I was going to remove the maps to scan them perfectly flat. The books are just too valuable to do that.
From the historian's point of view, however, they are ideal, as they show the location and extent of all towns and villages in Britain, with major roads as they existed in 1695, together with topographical features. Most of the maps measure approximately 16" x 21".
They are absolutely fascinating in themselves.
The small section reproduced below of London is from the Middlesex map. Note that in 1695 places such as Paddington, Chelsea, Kensington and Knights Bridge are tiny villages in the countryside! There is just one bridge over the River Thames.
