Remote British Isles

Three-part map showing some of the more overlooked elements of the British Empire.

This map, which is actually comprised of three separate maps in one, highlights several of the more remote islands that make up the British Empire. In the upper half, the image is evenly divided between the Scilly Isles, off the southeast tip of Cornwall, and the Shetlands, the northernmost territory of the United Kingdom.

Immediately below is a third map showing the location of the Channel Islands off the French coast. The most important of these are Jersey and Guernsey, remnants of the former Duchy of Normandy that remain Crown dependencies to this day. Within each map, topography is depicted with finely engraved hachures and navigational hazards (rocks, shoals, and sandbanks) are given extra emphasis.

The map was originally designed by Scottish cartographer John Pinkerton. As part of the Edinburgh School of Cartography (which included the likes of John Cary and John Thomson), Pinkerton was responsible for creating some of the most highly detailed and precise atlas maps of the early 19th century.

Today, his maps are prized for their size, color, and wealth of information. This particular example was included in the American edition of Pinkerton’s Modern Atlas, published in Philadelphia by Thomas Dobson in 1818.