I spent some time in May at the British Library randomly looking at atlases and maps, some of which will be featured here in upcoming weeks. They have a huge collection of Ordnance Survey atlas books of 1:1056 scale (1 inch = 88 feet) map sheets. While these maps are primarily black lines on white paper, their beauty lies in the remarkable detail.
Note: these maps are in great shape, with fairly pristine white paper. My phone has a tendency to darken maps when I photograph them. I could have brought back the actual color by adjusting the brightness and contrast but I kind of like the old-timey sepia look of these images.
Here are the gas tanks at Kennington.
Here is some nice detail of the railroad infrastructure at the Nine Elms Works, near the Battersea Power Station.
The only color I saw in any of these is in the water bodies.
One of my favorite places is the Greenwich Observatory, right on the Prime Meridian.
Finally, a little more detail in Greenwich Park showing the Queen's Oak and Bower and the old Magnetic Observatory.
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