A revised edition of an important geological map of England and Wales

A fine example of the third (and final) edition of an important geological map, published posthumously. First published in 1820, it as a compilation of the work of other geologists, mostly members of the Geological Society of London but also William Smith (not a member), whose own geological map was published five years earlier. This edition has been heavily updated, most noticeably with southern Scotland now included in the colour scheme and with Smith's work acknowledged for the first time. The contributors include some notable figures: Roderick Impey Murchison (1792-1871), the director-general of the British Geological Survey; John Phillips (1800-74), reader of geology in the University of Oxford and keeper of the Ashmolean Museum; and Sir Joseph Prestwich (1812-96), a chair of geology at Oxford and president of the Geological Society (1870-2). George Bellas Greenough (1778-1855) was the founding president of the Geological Society of London in 1807. The society started working on a geological map in 1807, asking for contributions from its members. A draft map was prepared in 1812, but the underlying topographical map was considered unsatisfactory, delaying the drafting of the strata until 1814. Greenough certainly took advantage of Smith's map for delineating the strata, but Greenough's map has more geological detail and is better cartographically.