Edward Stanford

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Edward Stanford
Born 27 May 1827 (1827-05-27)
London, England
Died 3 November 1904 (aged 77)
Detail of Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster, from Stanford's 1862 map of London
Detail of Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster, from Stanford's 1862 map of London

Edward Stanford was the founder of Standford's Ltd [1], now a duo of Map and book stores based in London, and Bristol.

Born in 1827, and educated at the City of London School, Edward got into maps after being employed by Mr Trelawney Saunders, at his map and stationers. He became a partner to Mr Trelawney Saunders in 1852 at the age of 25. Just one year later the company was dissolved, and Edward took over the remains of the business with the intent of turning it into a map specialists. With British colonial expansion pushing the demand for maps worldwide, and being the sole specialist of maps in London, the move was both obvious and lucrative.

The name Stanfords became prominent in 1862 when his project to make the most accurate map of London possible was published. The Library Map of London is still on sale today, some 145 years later.

Company ownership remained in the family until 1947, when it was absorbed into George Philip & Son. However, in 2001 Stanfords separated from George Philip & Son and the name Stanfords is proudly displayed on both stores and on many lines of maps and books produced by the company.

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