Homann Heirs’ 1741 map of London and surrounding counties, with a Thames panorama below
Homann Heirs’ 1741 London and environs map displayed in a black frame against a white brick wall
Detail of Surrey and Kent above the Thames panorama on Homann Heirs’ 1741 London map
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Old Map of London, England and Environs 1741 by Homann

£39.95

Old Map of London and Environs, published by Homann Heirs, 1741

London sits within a broad sweep of countryside on this antique map, with a panoramic view of the capital beneath it. The coloured counties make Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Essex, Surrey and Kent easy to distinguish, while the Thames winds from the Windsor area through London towards its estuary.

Look closely at the contrast between the small cluster representing the capital on the upper map and the crowded waterfront in the lower view. Roads connect villages and market towns across a landscape divided into historic hundreds. The large Middlesex lettering is a reminder of a county whose name once covered much of what is now London.

The panorama is labelled London und Westminster von der Süd-Seite — London and Westminster from the south side. It looks across the Thames from Southwark towards a skyline of towers and spires, with sailing vessels and smaller boats spread across the river. Rooftops fill the foreground, giving the view a character quite different from a conventional street plan.

Published in Nuremberg by Homann Heirs and adapted from an English original issued by Thomas Bowles, the sheet carries headings in Latin and German. Those two languages, the coloured county map and the river prospect make this a distinctive fine art print for anyone interested in London’s wider historical setting.

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This 1741 sheet combines a regional map with a prospect of London and Westminster. Its subject is the capital’s relationship with the surrounding counties: London occupies a relatively small part of the upper map, while the Thames and the roads linking neighbouring settlements give the wider area its structure.

Map Details

  • Original title: Regionis quae est circa Londinum, specialis repraesentatio geographica
  • Publisher: Homann Heirs (Homannsche Erben)
  • Source map: An English original published by Thomas Bowles
  • Publication: Nuremberg, 1741
  • Area shown: London and the surrounding counties, including Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Essex, Surrey and Kent
  • Format: Copper engraving with a regional map above a panoramic view of London and Westminster
  • Orientation: North at the top of the regional map

A county landscape around London

The coloured divisions help readers follow the historic counties, but smaller administrative areas also receive prominent lettering. Names such as Edmonton Hundred, Elthorne Hundred and Becontree Hundred appear within the counties. These hundreds were older local divisions; reading their labels alongside familiar settlements reveals a geographical framework that modern London maps rarely show.

The Thames can be followed through the western part of the map into the capital and eastwards through the wider river landscape. Windsor appears in the west, with Hertfordshire above London and Surrey below it. Villages, roads and local waterways fill the spaces between the larger labels. The map is intended to explain the region around London rather than provide a detailed guide to every city street.

London from the south bank

The lower prospect changes the scale of attention. Viewed from the south, the river becomes a broad foreground to the city, busy with vessels beneath its skyline. The roofs on the Southwark side bring the viewer close to the scene, while the towers and spires across the water identify London as a substantial, densely built capital. The German caption explicitly names both London and Westminster.

An English map for a continental readership

The title acknowledges an English original issued by Thomas Bowles. Both the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the University Library of Bern catalogue this edition as a publication of Homann Heirs in Nuremberg in 1741. The Latin and German headings on the artwork place the familiar London region within the publishing world of continental European atlases.

This combination of county geography and urban panorama is the sheet’s particular appeal. It lets the viewer move between the countryside around London and a river view of the capital itself, rather than looking at either in isolation.

Image size: approximately 24″ × 27″ (61 × 68.5 cm).

Supplied unframed.

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