2. Eyre´s Publishing History
2.1 The Watering Places
One of the first two volumes to bear the Eyre Brothers name was The
Watering Places of the South of England
which appeared in 1877. This was A guide to the health and pleasure resorts
of the South Coast (title page) and covered all the eight counties on the
south coast from Kent around the coast clockwise ending in Gloucestershire.[1] The first edition was a
comprehensive work with over 850 pages devoted to describing the counties in
sequence followed by an advertising section with 230 pages more. With changes
in annual holidays and affordability of train travel they endeavoured to answer
the question “Where shall we go?” To meet
this want we have endeavoured to prepare a work which shall be ... a guide, and
a directory.
Fig. 2. The 1st edition of Watering Places … South with standard cloth cover and gilt title.
This first edition of the guide was anything but handy. Although
measuring only c.120 x 185 mm it was nearly 70 mm thick and weighed over
1100 g. Nevertheless, the brothers felt that it would be an invaluable aid to
any holiday-maker (Figs. 1. & 2.).
In the introduction the brothers write: … we have endeavoured to furnish
reliable information … enabling anyone in a very short time, to become
acquainted with the position and features of any part of the South of England,
and to choose a place for the annual trip without the danger of subsequent
regrets. The plan was to re-publish the guide from time to time as occasion may require, i.e., there was no
strict schedule for issuing an improved edition. Consequently, only one later
edition appeared as Eyre Brothers’
Watering and Visiting Places of the South and West of England including South
Wales, published July 1880.[2]
Each section included a map of the relevant county (see below) and the towns selected for inclusion were described in terms of their History, Places of Worship, Walks, Public Buildings etc., Places of Amusement (actual entries depending on the town). This was usually followed by an Official Directory and a Trades Directory and it was probably the decision to include these sections which greatly increased the size of the tome. The Index to Principal Places lists well over 100 towns. As usual with this sort of guide advertisements abound including coloured page inserts – and adverts on the backs of all of the maps. Indeed, the first volume even had an advert for The Esplanade Hotel in Paignton taking up most of the cover space (and another for the Torquay Brewing Co. on the spine); an Esplanade Hotel advert would appear on the North volume cover when it was issued.
The work helpfully begins with a section on London: as many, from the northern part of England, in journeying to the south coast, must necessarily pass through the metropolis. This somewhat potted account of the city was reprinted almost word for word in Eyre´s Hotels of the UK which first appeared two years later (see 2.3).
In the first edition there are no advertisements to give any clue as to other publications the brothers were involved in at that time. Their address is Paternoster Square, which was a leading hub of booksellers, printers and publishers with Fleet Street just a six-minute walk away (see also 3.2 and 4.2).
Fig. 3. Devon in The Geography of Devonshire by Rev. Faunthorpe. (Note Philips title and imprint.)
The company of George Philip &
Son was based in Fleet Street and in 1862 they published a successful Atlas of the Counties of England. By
1873 they had exploited the success of this large atlas to produce Philips´ Handy Atlas of the Counties of
England (but with maps of North
and South Wales). The maps from this smaller atlas were prepared for the
company by John Bartholomew of Edinburgh who was the foremost producer of map sheets
at that time. Philips took advantage of this and occasionally made their county
maps available to others.[3]
Maps adapted for use for the Rev. J P Faunthorpe´s series The Geography of (Devonshire) were published in 1872, i.e. one year prior to release of the atlas. This was a special series of booklets designed for use in schools. Each booklet described a particular county and included a map which had a specially added title at top “PHILIPS` EDUCATIONAL SERIES OF COUNTY MAPS” (Fig. 3.). These are the earliest states of the maps known: maps were updated and revised and by 1876, when Watering Places first appeared, grid lines had been introduced. The format was just right for Eyre´s guide and the Eyre Brothers were quick to purchase similarly adapted maps from the Handy Atlas for each of the eight counties they presented in the Watering Places.[4]
The maps in this first edition of Watering Places … South had their own title added above the
top border “EYRE BROTHERS’ SERIES OF GUIDE MAPS“ and Eyre´s address is that in
the imprint below the map. Rather strangely, of
all the Philip´s maps used by the Eyre Brothers only the maps in bear the
signature of John Bartholomew (Fig. 4.).
Taking into consideration the special Eyre title,
Philip & Son´s proximity to their offices and their earlier connection with
Faunthorpe, the assumption is that the brothers bought map sheets from Philip
& Son directly. The page size for Philips Handy Atlas was 120 x 180 mm, i.e., all Philips maps are folded once, and this was precisely the
format chosen by the Eyre Brothers in this volume.[5] In addition, in the first
edition, there were 32 vignette illustrations produced by Rock & Co., one
of the leading producers of views at that time (Fig. 1.).[6] As the page size of this
volume was 120 x 180 mm this meant each map fitted with a single fold and one
vignette scene per page could be introduced oriented with title to spine
without folding.[7]
Fig. 4. Cornwall in Watering Places South (1st) by
Eyre Brothers. (Note Eyre title and address and the Bartholomew signature bottom right.)
Rock & Co. had important significance for Devon. William Frederick Rock (1802-1890) was the son of Henry and Prudence Rock. From humble beginnings as a shoemaker Henry Rock later became a freeman of Barnstaple. Through a family friend, William was able to attend Bluecoat School in London. Although his early work experience was in a bank, William went to work with the printer Thomas de la Rue before setting up on his own. He gave generously to his town and founded the North Devon Athenæum in 1888. His name lives on at Rock Park in Barnstaple, land he purchased for the town.[8] The output of the company was huge with some 260 of their 7000 views depicting Devon as well as a folding map of the county.[9] Their premises in Walbrook was only ten minutes from Eyre Brothers´ address.
Fig. 4. The
later Watering Places volumes had attractive covers by
Symmons.
The brothers used reviews of Watering Places from various newspapers to advertise later works: while the Graphic was somewhat reserved, “Let us commend the Watering Places of the South of England – a cheap, plain volume”; the reviewer for London Figaro was more positive, “Places by the score are delectably described in the Messrs. Eyre´s very creditable compilation” (Fig. 13.). The first edition was not always met positively, however: Lake's Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser (Sat. 18 August 1877) referring to the entry on Falmouth wrote; we find the following extraordinary statements respecting the hotels and population of the place. After quoting the guide verbatim he simply finishes: We leave our readers to make their own comments. From eight hotels originally listed for Falmouth only two remain in the revised second edition!
The second edition of the guide (Fig.
4.), now with title Watering and
Visiting Places ... including South Wales, was much improved and expanded
with a more lavish cover as well as 450 (larger) pages and now included 12
county maps plus a map of South Wales as issued in Philips.[10] Again the work was
illustrated, however, the twenty views by Rock included are not all the same
and this time the vignettes were two to a page horizontally (with the page size
increased to 170 x 240 mm). There were also a number of photographs and the
text was interspersed with occasional woodcuts and scenes to advertise hotels
etc. The books were attractively bound by E Symmons & Sons of Bouverie
Street in Fleet Street.
This was certainly an appealing volume to have on one´s shelf, but it is doubtful that anyone carried it on holiday with them. True, the section on London is now gone, saving a few pages, but South Wales is now included along with four more counties. In the second edition towns are listed alphabetically and not by county and, thus, the work begins with Aberystwith and ends with Worthing. There is no index to towns but approximately 80 towns are chosen for inclusion and there is now a small section on the Channel Islands.
Fig. 6. West Yorks in Watering Places of the North of England. (Note Philips` title and imprint.)
Some advertisements announce the
forthcoming publication of the 2nd Edition of Hotels of the UK (see below) but almost the final small advert
inside the back cover announces the publication of The Watering and Visiting Places of the North of England.[11] This companion volume was
published (1878) just prior to the move from No.10, Paternoster Square. The layout
and attractive cover were similar to that of the southern second edition and it
stretched to over 450 pages with Principal Places, History, Public Amusements
and Walks and Excursions all included. This work contains 10 maps: each retaining
the “PHILIPS` EDUCATIONAL SERIES OF COUNTY MAPS” title (Fig. 6.) and George
Philip and Son imprint as seen in the Faunthorpe series of maps.[12] The 19 views are again by
Rock & Co.
A volume on Devon and Cornwall appeared the same year (1878): Eyre’s Guide to the Seaside and Visiting Resorts of Devon & Cornwall (Figs. 7a. & 7b.).[13] The Devon and Cornwall volume has the relevant two county maps with the Eyre title top (and adverts on reverse). This is one of only two works known which has a clearly defined logo for the Eyre Brothers: an intertwined E and B is present in two advertisements in the Devon & Cornwall volume announcing the first edition of the Hotels directory; and on the cover of the Coal Trades´ Directory (see 4.3 below). At some time between the publication of the North of England (1878) and the second edition South of England (1880) the brothers had moved across the square from 10 to 27 & 28 Paternoster Square. This latter advert also announces the 1st Edition of The Plymouth, Devonport & Stonehouse District Directory (which is promised to be ready in August 1880). Further adverts in this second edition announce that they are sole agents for the Annuaire Didot-Bottin or French Annual Directory.
It is the Introduction to the Devon and Cornwall guide that gives us insight into the Eyre Brothers´ publishing plans. Announcing a cheap series of Guides to the Sea-side and Visiting resorts of each of the Counties included in their larger work, they then admit that they decided against amending any of the text they had previously used in Watering Places, but promise to rewrite in a future volume. This was to be an omnibus work covering the four southwest counties: Early in 1880 it is our intention to publish Somerset and Dorset with Devon and Cornwall in one entirely re-written volume. No such volume has been found by the Eyre Brothers but around the same time such a work was published by Percy & Co. (see 3.1.2).
The text and layout of much, but not
all, of Devon & Cornwall was copied word-for-word and line by line.
This volume does have new pagination: 1-290, with Devon pp.20-236 followed by
Cornwall and all but two of the original illustrations are repeated.[14] Changes to Cornwall, for
example, include some amendment to the text and new inclusions. The information
concerning hotels in Falmouth has been changed. Cornwall now begins with a
short section on Truro and The Lizard has its own page. Advertisements in all
works are interspersed at irregular intervals and there are again adverts on
the reverse of both maps in the Devon & Cornwall (D&C) edition just
as in both first and second editions of Watering Places.[15]
Figs. 7a. & 7b. Eyre’s Guide to the Seaside and Visiting Resorts of Devon &
Cornwall, 1878.
The suggestion that they were going
to have each county published separately in a cheap edition is reinforced in an
announcement found facing page 63 in the same work. Eyre´s current output is
listed and the New Shilling Guides are Now Publishing. Only
Sussex has been found but at Two Shillings the Devon & Cornwall
guide would essentially be a double county! However, while some 200 pages
describe Devon, Cornwall is covered in just fifty so it is highly unlikely that
Cornwall would be published separately (Sussex, for example, has 138 pages).
%20-%20tail.jpg)
[1] The counties covered were Kent, Sussex, Hampshire (with the Isle of
Wight), Dorsetshire, Devonshire, Cornwall, Somersetshire and Gloucestershire. There
is a short section on Guernsey after Weymouth.
[2] For a list of institutions holding copies of Eyre´s various works see Part 2, Locations: 4.1.1 for all works published under Butcher and Percy imprints: 4.1.2 for the 16 editions of Eyre´s Plymouth Directory; 4.1.3 for other works by the Eyre Brothers; and 4.1.4 for Hood and Hammond´s Eyre later publications.
[3] Full title: Philips´
Handy Atlas of the Counties of England. By John Bartholomew. This first appeared 1873 and was reissued
almost annually until 1900 with frequent amendment to maps, but by 1885-86
Bartholomew’s name had disappeared from the title page.
[4] Batten & Bennett; 2000; Victorian Maps of Devon; Devon Books; Tiverton. See B&B 149.5.
The Second Edition is online and there are illustrations of both Faunthorpe and
Eyre maps of Devon. Rather strangely, only the maps in the first edition of Watering
Places bear Bartholomew’s signature.
[5] Considering the
special Eyre title, Philip & Son´s proximity to their offices, the
connection with Faunthorpe and the size of the maps, the assumption is that the
brothers bought map sheets from Philip & Son directly.
[6] The 11 Rock views covering Devon and Cornwall were 1. Dartmouth 3802,
2. Dawlish 5169, 3. Exmouth 6364, 4. Ilfracombe 3947, 5. Paignton 5082, 6.
Plymouth (breakwater) 6875, 7. Teignmouth 5133, 8. Torquay New Pier 6876, 9.
Torquay from Terrace 6892, 10. Falmouth 5098 and 11. Penzance (Market Jew St.)
5321. Numbers are the Rock & Co. serial numbers on the engravings.
[7] This was simultaneously the usual format for Philips Handy Atlas,
i.e., all Philips maps are folded once.
[8] See northdevonathenaeum.org.uk/our-founder/ which also
has two pictures of William Rock.
[9] See Batten & Bennett; 2000; Entry B&B 125 (1851) has Rock
& Cos folding map of Devonshire with 19 circular mini vignettes. Only five
counties are known in this form.
[10] Besides the map of South Wales there are now maps of Berkshire, Essex,
Oxford with Buckinghamshire and Worcestershire, all with No. 10 address.
[11] The Watering and Visiting Places of the North of England, with the east and part of the west; a guide to
the health and pleasure resorts north of the Thames.
[12] The county maps are of Warwickshire,
Worcestershire, Derbyshire, Lancashire, Cumberland and Westmoreland, Yorkshire
(North and East Riding), Yorkshire (West Riding), Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.
Counties outside this area are mentioned, such as Northumberland, Cheshire,
Lincolnshire, Cambridge and even the Isle of Man and Roker-on-the-Sea at
Durham.
[13] The copy at Devon Archives is catalogued
correctly as Seaside and Visiting Places (title page) but the binder has produced a
cover title with Eyre´s Watering and Visiting Places in line with the
omnibus version. The author also has a copy. The adverts with the logo can be
found at pp. 3 and 113.
[14] Eight views are the same but in a new order. The
Plymouth breakwater view is replaced by two new views of Plymouth: Mount
Edgcumbe and Devonport 3955 and Royal Albert Bridge 3871. The view of Penzance
now depicts the station no. 1883. One extra view of the Royal Hotel in Plymouth,
is actually a woodblock style view of the hotel and not by Rock. See note 7
above.
[15] The map of Cornwall had Westwood Park House (right) and for Alfred Carver jeweller (left) (1st); a single advert for Apsley House school in Torquay “for delicate boys” (2nd, unfolded); and finally has Carver right and The Globe Hotel in Falmouth (facing map of Devon, D&C). Devon in Watering Places 1st had an advert for The College, Torquay (top) of the reverse and for Whiddon Farm Dairy (bottom); is blank (2nd, unfolded); and The College and for W H Soper & Son, carriage builders (bottom) (D&C). The maps change little but the Eyre title at top, formerly 120 mm (1st) is now 80 mm long (2nd and D&C). Right and left as one would view a horizontal map (Cornwall) if loose and turned over to view completely from the back, alternatively top and bottom for a vertical map (Devon).
Comments
Post a Comment