A Map of the Threatened
Invasion of England by
Napoleon Bonaparte

By Ashley
Baynton-Williams

A MAP intended to illustrate the threatened INVASION of ENGLAND by
BONAPARTE. [2a, ob - 4a, ob] A / Complete Representation of the / COAST OF
ENGLAND, / ALSO / FRANCE and HOLLAND, / From the Texel to Brest, / With
the Bearings from LONDON, and the Distance, in Miles, / from Port to Port.
/ To which is annexed EIGHTEEN PLANS of the PORTS of  / The ENEMY, /
The PRINCIPAL DEPÔTS of the FLOTILLA / intended for the / INVASION OF
ENGLAND. / [rule] By John Luffman. Geog.r [4b] Engrav'd & Publish'd
Nov.r 17. 1803, by John Luffman, N.o 28, Little Bell Alley, Coleman
Street, London Price 1.s 6.d Plain, 2.s 6.d Coloured.  Of whom may
all be had all the principal Sea Ports of Holland, Spain, Portugal,

& Italy. The Population of England Scotland & Wales &c.

Rare broadsheet map, published by John Luffman, in London in 1803.

Copper engraving, 403 x 353 (widest: 415 x 353), in contemporary
outline colour.

John Luffman (fl. circa 1776-1820) was an accomplished engraver,
mapmaker and publisher, working in London.  He started his career as
an engraver, with his earliest work being for two road books, Mostyn John
Armstrong's An Actual Survey Of The Great Post-Roads Between London And
Edinburgh and Taylor And Skinner's Survey And Maps Of The Roads Of
North Britain, Or Scotland., both published in 1776.  However, in
the early years of the nineteenth century, he seems to have established
himself as a publisher, issuing  A New Pocket Atlas And Geography
Of England And Wales in 1803.

The history of western Europe at this time is dominated by the
personality and military feats of Napoleon Bonaparte.  This map was
published at a time of, and to capitalise on, widespread fear that
Napoleon was planning to invade Britain.  The map illustrates
possible launch points from Continental ports, routes across the Channel,
and potential landing points. The insets around the map are thumb-nail
sketches of Continental ports (working in order from east to west), and
include Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Calais, Boulogne, Dieppe and
Brest.

In his text to the reader, Luffman explained his motivation for
issuing the map - to highlight the danger presented by France's occupation
of the Austrian Netherlands. The extensive canal system allowed the French
to move men and equipment from  Calais to Antwerp and Amsterdam, out
of reach of the Royal Navy, and it was from here that Luffman feared that
the invasion would come.

To counter this, Luffman proposed that the British should seize a
number of islands at the mouth of the main rivers of the region, such as
Walcheren, and thus by controlling the estuaries effectively prevent any
invasion force actually putting to sea.

Despite Luffman's fears, the threat of invasion never
materialised.  Not for the first (or last) time, the twenty-two miles
of the English Channel proved an insurmountable barrier for a
Continental enemy.

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