Name: George Washington Bacon
Dates: 1830-1922
Map type: Detailed steel plate engraved county and country maps, town and city plans, geological maps and more.
Born in Lockport, New York state, George Washington Bacon moved to London in 1861. A serial entrepreneur, he set up a number of diverse businesses, one of the earliest being importing maps that detailed areas and events relevant to the American civil war. He went on to write medical booklets, sell portable gymnasia and, amongst other things, sewing machines.
With the enthusiasm and folly of youth as major players, he failed to keep on top of his businesses and went bankrupt in 1867. He returned his focus to publishing maps and soon prospered after purchasing Edward Weller's English county steel plates, previously used for the incredibly detailed, but distinctly non decorative, Weekly Dispatch Atlas. Bacon expanded the plates, making them easier to read, improved them with a quality range of colour washes and published his remarkable work, The New Ordnance Atlas of the British Isles, first published in around 1882 and for several further editions until about 1912.
Bacon continued to publish a wealth of work which mapped London in a number of ways and to various scales. Towards the end of the 19th century, Bacon & Co. expanded his already vast portfolio with the acquisition of the London publisher James Wyld's business, which also included yet more thoroughly detailed maps of the capital.
When Bacon's company was finally dissolved, it was taken on by the well-established Scottish firm of
W. A&K Johnston.
With the enthusiasm and folly of youth as major players, he failed to keep on top of his businesses and went bankrupt in 1867. He returned his focus to publishing maps and soon prospered after purchasing Edward Weller's English county steel plates, previously used for the incredibly detailed, but distinctly non decorative, Weekly Dispatch Atlas. Bacon expanded the plates, making them easier to read, improved them with a quality range of colour washes and published his remarkable work, The New Ordnance Atlas of the British Isles, first published in around 1882 and for several further editions until about 1912.
Bacon continued to publish a wealth of work which mapped London in a number of ways and to various scales. Towards the end of the 19th century, Bacon & Co. expanded his already vast portfolio with the acquisition of the London publisher James Wyld's business, which also included yet more thoroughly detailed maps of the capital.
When Bacon's company was finally dissolved, it was taken on by the well-established Scottish firm of
W. A&K Johnston.
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