Decorative armorials at the top of the map and along the bottom of the map vignettes of Goodrich Castle, Garnstone House and a view of Hereford. The map is enclosed in a typical ornamental border.
Thomas Moule (1784-1851) was a British writer, engraver, cartographer, and antiquarian. Originally a writer on Heraldry and general antiquities, Moule was born in Marylebone, London. From around 1816 to 1823 He became a bookseller, from his establishment in Grosvenor Square, London from around 1816 to 1823. He then became an inspector of letters in the General Post Office, where his responsibilities included trying to ‘read’ illegible hand writing.
His highly decorative series of county maps were first published in separate issues for each county between 1830 and 1832. In 1836 these were brought together in one work, by George Virtue & Co after the company purchased the plates. Virtue & Co, printers and publishers, had their establishment at 26 Ivy Lane Paternoster Row and continued to publish Moule’s English Counties to 1837.
James Virtue continued to use Moule’s county maps in Reverend Barclay’s Complet Universal Dictionary into the late 1840’s.
