86 Neele / Pinnock 1819

William Pinnock (1782-1843) of Alton, at first a schoolmaster then a bank teller, was also a historian and topographer. He joined Samuel Maunder in 1817, marrying his sister. They published educational books including Catechisms and Geographies and the History and Topography. Pinnock edited The Guide to Knowledge (108) with the interesting white on black maps by Joshua Archer. Maunder (1785-1849), a Devonian, was mainly a compiler of dictionaries. His little gazetteer was published in 1845.

Pinnock’s History and Topography of Devonshire was one volume in a series of eighty-three County Catechisms published by Pinnock and Maunder. The series was published in parts, each county being published separately, with Bedfordshire and Berkshire appearing first. The text of the histories was set out in question and answer format consisting of some seventy pages and included such information as the sites of fairs. From this we learn that Upottery had a toyfair in October, Denbury a cheese and soap fair on September 8th and many towns held wool markets in the autumn. The page size was only 130 mm so that the Neele imprint from the Histories is often missing, the map being cut along the bottom border and folded twice. Later editions have Whittaker’s imprint; he possibly bought the plates when Pinnock got into financial difficulties. Whittaker also published editions of A Topographical Dictionary with maps by Cooper (72).

Size 128 x 160 mm.                                                                                                                                    Scale of Statute Miles (10 = 17 mm).

DEVONSHIRE. Signature: Neele & Son, fe, 352, Strand. (EeOS). No Explanation key.