Professor J. W. Judd—Wm. Smith's MS. Maps. 441 



many biographical details of interest were collectecl by Mr. Mitchell, 

 yet that no fresh manuscripts of Smith were found to reward his 

 labours. 



This being the case, the three documents in the possession of the 

 Geological Society must be regarded of the very highest iniportance 

 and of priceless value. They have been mounted on linen and 

 framed, and have never left the custody of the oflicers of the 

 Geological Society, except in the year 1876, when they were 

 exhibited for some months at the Loan Collection of Scientific 

 Apparatus in the South Kensington Museum. 



As it appeared to me that this valuable evidence of the early 

 work of William Smith ought to be made more accessible to the 

 general public, while it is manifestly desirable that the precious 

 originals themselves should never leave the custody of the Society, 

 or be subjected to the smallest risk of loss or injury, I sought some 

 time ago (on behalf of the Department of Science and Art) the per- 

 mission of the Council of the Geological Society to have facsimile 

 copies made of these important documents, for exhibition in the 

 Science Museum at South Kensington, among the illustrations of 

 British and Foreign Geological Maps. 



This permission having been generously granted to me, I have 

 taken the opportunity of making a careful and critical examination 

 of the documents, the age and value of which are substantiated by 

 such eminently satisfactory external and internal evidence. 



It is obvious from an inspection of these manuscripts, that they 

 have been many times folded and unfolded, and probably carried 

 in a pocket or pocket-book, and that at the time they were mounted 

 they were in a state of extreme dilapidation. Unfortunately, as is 

 now only too evident, the manuscripts, after being pasted on linen 

 mounts, were covered with a coating of varnish, which was very 

 unevenly applied. This varnish, which has turned perfectly yellow 

 with age, renders it very difficult to get good photographic repro- 

 ductions of the documents, or to be quite certain, in some cases, 

 as to the nature and distribution of the colours upon them. The 

 removal of the varnish would have been attended with risk to the 

 watei'-coloured maps ; I therefore had to be satisfied with the best 

 reproductions that could be obtained by the skilled photographer 

 of the Department of Science and Art, and these were carefully 

 coloured, after the originals, by Miss Margaret Reeks, under my 

 superintendence. In the choice of colours we were guided to some 

 extent by the later published maps and sections of William Smith, 

 for it is evident that in many of his methods he was very conserva- 

 tive. It is hoped that these facsimiles, though they are not so good 

 as could have been made from manuscripts in a less permanently 

 discoloured condition, show all the important features of the 

 documents as they originally left the hands of their author. 



Four sets of these facsimile reproductions have been prepared. 

 One set is exhibited in the rooms devoted to Geology and Mineralogy 

 in the Science Museum at South Kensington ; a second set is placed 

 in the Library of the Geological Society ; a third goes to the 



