Bidspirit auction | The Royal Geographical Survey Atlas

The Royal Geographical Survey Atlas of England & Wales, Bartholomew 1903. The Survey Atlas of England & Wales; A Series of Eighty-Four Plates of Maps and Plans, with descriptive text, illustrating the topography, physiography, geology, climate, and the political and commercial features of the country. Designed and prepared under the direction of J. G. Bartholomew, F.R.S.E., F.R.G.S. Drawn, Engraved, printed and published at the Edinburgh Geographical Institute under the patronage of the Royal Geographic Society, 1903. First edition.A very substantial early 20th Century atlas with an impressive collection of colour plates. A very good copy after professional restoration. Original covers remounted and binding completely secured.� Embossed crest to front cover. The text and plates are in very good condition with only very minor age discoloration. Gilt edges to text block. An impressive tome of considerable scarcity. Only 28 copies are listed in major libraries worldwide in Worldcat. 84 Plates; Plates are large double page colour spreads. Dimensions: Approximately 463mm� x 335mm x 65mm - approximately 18” x 13” - large folio size. Weight approximately 7kg unpacked. This edition is signed inside by Colonel Austin Porritt. Austin Townsend Porritt was born in Bury in 1876. He was the son of the Lancashire textile manufacturer Richard Porritt. The Porritts were an enormously wealthy and influential family and their legacy is still felt in the town of Ramsbottom, for in 1928 they donated Nuttall Park for the enjoyment of the local population. Austin Towsend Porritt attended Rossall School from 1885 until 1891. The 1891 census records his presence as a pupil here. Upon leaving school, Austin joined the family business and he also became a territorial officer, serving in the Lancashire regiment. After the outbreak of the First World War, he was tasked with raising the 2/5th East Lancashire Regiment which was sent to France. The men whom he recruited were lacking in experience and Austin worked extremely hard to get them into shape. He was afforded the privilege of accompanying the battalion to France but he did not stay for long because he was invalided home before the end of 1917. At the end of the war, he was to observe that, �my dear old battalion is now extinct and the N.C.O.s and the men are scattered amongst the other battalions of the East Lancashire Regiment.� In 1932, Austin was appointed High Sheriff of Lancashire and he became Honorary Colonel of the 4/5th Battalion of the East Lancs Regiment. Austin�s son Richard attended Marlborough College before going up to Cambridge in 1929. Richard was elected MP for Heywood and Radcliffe in 1935 at the age of just twenty four. Tragedy struck when Richard was killed during the retreat towards Dunkirk in June 1940. Not only was he one of the youngest MPs in the House of Commons, but he was also the first serving MP to be killed during the Second World War