Name: The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (the S.D.U.K.).
Dates: 1828-1848.
Map types: Very detailed steel plate engraved maps and town plans, printed on machine-made paper, often with original outline or wash hand colouring.
The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was founded in 1828 by, amongst others, Lord Henry Brougham. With others of like mind, including the somewhat radical publisher, Charles Knight, the Society intended, through the publication of affordable books, to fill the widening gap in education between the classes.
The project began with weekly, subscription-based publications such as: The Penny Magazine and The Penny Cyclopaedia. There were also bi-weekly publications that were more specialised (and more expensive, costing up to sixpence) such as: Gallery of Portraits and the Library of Useful Knowledge. This volume, somewhat in keeping with the times, focussed primarily in scientific issues and discoveries, areas covered included: biology, geography, botany, zoology and more.
It's thought that The Penny Magazine had in the region of 200,000 subscribers and the Library of Useful Knowledge is said to have sold something like 35,000 copies. The Society's forward-looking and largely altruistic remit; to educate the English working and middle classes through a potentially classless sharing of knowledge, was a remarkable notion for the 19th century. It was to result in the publication of some of the most strikingly detailed collections of maps, city plans and other outstanding engraved works.
Printed from steel plate engravings, and often with distinctive hand colouring, the S.D.U.K. is noted for its detailed country maps. Many of these take a wider view of areas, apparently ignoring existing borders and merely dividing the country or continent into equal sections. This idea had both merits and flaws: the maps often included areas around existing borders that were detailed in the middle of the page, whereas areas around borders on existing maps were often scantily detailed around the edges of the page border. The downside being that other areas were perhaps not given their deserved detail because they were moved to the borders of the map. Some maps and a number of the city plans include interesting historical notes, and most plans have extra graphics, usually notable buildings in the town or a striking panoramic view along the bottom border.
The Society's most renowned collection, published in c.1845 by (and in the name of) Chapman and Hall, was simply called: World Atlas . This venture featured 200 maps, most of which had already been aired by Baldwin & Craddock between 1829 and 1837. Although the organisation finished with the epithet useful knowledge in 1848, the plates were later published again in around 1875 with hand wash colouring by Edward Stanford. Today, The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge is still recognised as a remarkable, if not wholly successful foray into mass education.The maps, however, remain as a reminder of what can be achieved on a large scale with dedication, skill and, above all, useful knowledge.
The project began with weekly, subscription-based publications such as: The Penny Magazine and The Penny Cyclopaedia. There were also bi-weekly publications that were more specialised (and more expensive, costing up to sixpence) such as: Gallery of Portraits and the Library of Useful Knowledge. This volume, somewhat in keeping with the times, focussed primarily in scientific issues and discoveries, areas covered included: biology, geography, botany, zoology and more.
It's thought that The Penny Magazine had in the region of 200,000 subscribers and the Library of Useful Knowledge is said to have sold something like 35,000 copies. The Society's forward-looking and largely altruistic remit; to educate the English working and middle classes through a potentially classless sharing of knowledge, was a remarkable notion for the 19th century. It was to result in the publication of some of the most strikingly detailed collections of maps, city plans and other outstanding engraved works.
Printed from steel plate engravings, and often with distinctive hand colouring, the S.D.U.K. is noted for its detailed country maps. Many of these take a wider view of areas, apparently ignoring existing borders and merely dividing the country or continent into equal sections. This idea had both merits and flaws: the maps often included areas around existing borders that were detailed in the middle of the page, whereas areas around borders on existing maps were often scantily detailed around the edges of the page border. The downside being that other areas were perhaps not given their deserved detail because they were moved to the borders of the map. Some maps and a number of the city plans include interesting historical notes, and most plans have extra graphics, usually notable buildings in the town or a striking panoramic view along the bottom border.
The Society's most renowned collection, published in c.1845 by (and in the name of) Chapman and Hall, was simply called: World Atlas . This venture featured 200 maps, most of which had already been aired by Baldwin & Craddock between 1829 and 1837. Although the organisation finished with the epithet useful knowledge in 1848, the plates were later published again in around 1875 with hand wash colouring by Edward Stanford. Today, The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge is still recognised as a remarkable, if not wholly successful foray into mass education.The maps, however, remain as a reminder of what can be achieved on a large scale with dedication, skill and, above all, useful knowledge.