Lecture by Hugh Torrens and display of two versions of Strata Smith’s large map

On Saturday 14 February, Mr. Gamolfeax and myself attended a Lecture by Prof. Torrens, organized by the East Midlands Geological Society at the University of Nottingham. The Lecture was entitled 'William Smith and his geological advances as expressed through his work in Yorkshire.'  Prof. Torrens is attached to the University of Keele, where a Geology Department resides in a building named in my honour (and there is a building named after me here at the Geological Survey). Prof. Torrens gave a satisfactory, if incomplete account of my connections with Yorkshire, as well as expounding a little upon the history of my Map of the Strata of England and Wales. I was particularly obliged that he was able to explain to the audience some of the difficulties I experienced in correlating certain Strata around Bath with those in Yorkshire.

Those attending the Lecture were provided with an opportunity to view two versions of my Map, one from the Geological Survey and the other from the University of Nottingham. Mr. Gamolfeax was inclined to prefer the colouring applied to the University’s version, which is delicately executed and incorporates revisions made subsequent to the issue of the Geological Survey’s version. Yet this excellent copy was very nearly lost, I am told, about 24 years ago. There was a Department of Geology at Nottingham which was dismantled in about 1991. The Geology Library was dispersed and my Map, out of simple ignorance as to its value, was thrown into a container of rubbish. It was then retrieved by a gentleman who understood its worth. This gentleman returned the map to its proper place, only to find on the following day that it had been once again cast into the rubbish. He took the map home for safe keeping, where it remained for some years while he was out of England. On his return, he brought the map back to the University and, upon explaining matters, the University immediately understood the need to preserve this wonderful copy.

Mr. Gamolfeax has more than once told me of the great peril in which our institutional libraries now stand, for it seems that in these times books are esteemed as things of little account. As I understand it, knowledge is now stored by some electrical process which makes printed paper redundant. Mr. Gamolfeax believes that some map collections will suffer the same fate once they have been copied and stored in what he calls electronic form.

Mr. Gamolfeax has appended some representations of the event which he was able to capture on what he describes as a digital camera―a most striking invention, which he tells me originated as a photographical process that was first demonstrated in Paris by a Frenchman, Louis Daguerre, in the year of my death. He regrets that the images are imperfect owing to a transparent overlay.

Detail of SE England from early version of 1815 map held by BGS

Detail of SE England from later version of 1815 map held by NU

Strata Smith's 1815 map: Nottingham University version