Thomas Moule

Moule is probably, best known for his set of maps of the English counties, the last set by a cartographer to be highly decorated.

Thomas Moule was born in 1784, he was variously a writer on heraldry and antiquities, a bookseller, an Inspector of Blind Letters at the General Post Office, and the holder of a post under the Lord Chamberlain, which enabled him to live in Stable Yard, St. James's Palace, London, where he died in January, 1851.

His maps, published in 1836, when seen at their best, properly coloured and mounted, have a charm and decorative quality unlike that of any other map. The delicacy, the wealth of exuberant foliage, of shields, views, figures and `gothick' ornamentation, has a considerable charm.

The earliest issues, published in English Counties Delineated, are the best, the paper, the quality of printing, and the delicate original hand-colouring on the county area, which was usually a wash of different hue for each hundred, with delicately softened boundaries to the neighbouring counties, make them most desirable.

It appears that the abundant ornamentation was never originally coloured, but if the recent colouring has been done with skill, knowledge, and patience, it can enhance the maps immeasurably. A number of later issues were produced, and these illustrate the growth of the railway system.