JOHN TALLIS MAPS, 1851 Copper engraving printed by London Printing & Publishing co. Wrights Universal Pronouncing Dictionary

This is a highly decorative engraved map titled “Northern India,” created by renowned 19th-century cartographer John Tallis. Finely detailed and beautifully embellished, the map covers the historic regions of Northern India with a focus on colonial-era boundaries, princely states, and major geographical features. Elaborate Victorian scrollwork features several finely rendered vignette illustrations that highlight important architectural landmarks, scenes of local life, and the colonial presence in the region.

Among the vignettes, scenes of native processions, colonial buildings, and religious structures appear, emphasizing the cultural diversity and richness of the region. Place names and borders are finely inscribed, often colour-outlined to denote contemporary political divisions. This map is both a functional historical record and a decorative work, notable for Tallis’s meticulous linework, attention to illustrative detail, and the integration of artistic elements that evoke the era’s fascination with exotic lands.

Produced in the mid-19th century, Tallis maps are prized by collectors and historians for their combination of cartographic accuracy and artistic flourish. This particular example provides a compelling visual document of Northern India during the British colonial period, reflecting the geopolitical complexity and cultural vibrancy of the time.

About the Cartographer

John Tallis (1817-1876) was a British map publisher. Born in the Midlands, Tallis came to London in the 1840s. Tallis began his London career with a series of remarkable London street views. He began a partnership with a Frederick Tallis, possibly his brother, but their collaboration ended in 1849. For the Great Exhibition of 1851, Tallis published the Illustrated World Atlas, one of the last series of decorative world maps ever produced. The maps were engraved by John Rapkin, a skilled artisan. The maps were later reissued by the London Printing & Publishing Company, who left the Tallis imprint intact, thus ensuring his enduring fame.

The map is professionally framed using high quality and acid free materials.