Deacon's Norfolk Court Guide 1885 First Edition Foldout Map County Directory
 
Title & Bibliographic Details
 
Deacon's Norfolk Court Guide and County Blue Book: Fashionable Record, Professional Register and General Survey of the County; With a Complete Coloured Map of Norfolk
 
“Scarce first edition Victorian county directory with coloured fold-out map of Norfolk.”
Published by C. W. Deacon & Co., Charing Cross Chambers, Duke Street, Adelphi, London.
 
Printed in London and entered at Stationers' Hall.
First edition, dated in the preface December 31st, 1885.
 
The volume was issued by subscription and sold for 5 shillings to subscribers and 7s. 6d. to non-subscribers.
 
Historical & Bibliographic Context
 
Victorian county directories and “court guides” were important reference works for the professional and social networks of the time. They combined topographical description, county history, aristocratic registers, and professional directories, creating a comprehensive portrait of local society.
 
This example provides a wide survey of Norfolk’s social, political and professional landscape in the late Victorian era, including lists of county families, clergy, Members of Parliament, magistrates, and professional practitioners such as architects, engineers, bankers, doctors and surveyors.
 
The work also includes contributions from notable Victorian scholars, including antiquarian James Croston F.S.A. and geologist Professor Edward Hull F.R.S.
Such publications are valued today for the genealogical information, local history, and insight into Victorian social hierarchy they preserve.
 
About the Author / Editor
 
Little is known about C. W. Deacon, though the firm specialised in producing subscription directories and regional reference works in the late nineteenth century. Publications of this type were compiled through extensive local research and correspondence with clergy, officials, and civic authorities.
 
Binding & Exterior Description
 
Bound in red cloth over boards with bevelled edges.
The front board features blind-stamped lettering and a crown motif, while the spine carries gilt titles and a gilt coat of arms.
 
The rear board is particularly distinctive, displaying gilt advertising text for The Hôtel Métropole, London.
 
The book retains all-edge gilt page edges, giving it an attractive Victorian presentation.
The binding remains structurally sound and robust, though there is cosmetic wear including rubbing at the edges and corners, small marks and stains, fading to the cloth on the spine, and light discolouration consistent with age.
 
Interior Condition
 
Pastedowns contain period advertisements, with additional illustrated adverts appearing throughout the volume.
 
The pages are lightly tanned but generally clean and well preserved, with only occasional small marks that do not affect the text.
 
A number of early preliminary pages show light gutter cracks, and one page is partially loose along half of the inner margin but remains attached.
 
The book includes a large coloured fold-out map of Norfolk, prepared specially for this publication and based on Ordnance Survey mapping. The map is present but torn near the centre fold, leaving approximately half detached though still retained within the volume. The map also shows creasing and small edge tears.
 
The main text begins at page 19 and runs to page 320, all present and accounted for.
Advertisements appear at the front, rear, and occasionally within the text, offering a fascinating glimpse into Victorian commercial life, including a period advertisement for Dr. J. Collis Browne’s Chlorodyne.
 
Overall, the interior remains complete and readable, with the expected age-related wear.
 
Physical Details
 
Pages: Pages 19 to 320 of main text and pages prior are advertisements and fold-out map plus additional adverts at rear
Dimensions: approx. 19 x 13.6 x 3.1 cm
Weight: approx. 534 g
 
Rarity & Collector Notes
 
Victorian county court guides were typically printed in limited subscription runs, often for regional distribution. As such, many copies saw heavy use as working reference books and few survive in strong condition today.
 
The inclusion of a large, coloured fold-out county map, extensive professional registers, and numerous advertisements significantly increases the historical value of this example.
 
Copies appear uncommon on the modern market, particularly with the original map present.
 
The volume will appeal to collectors of:
Victorian directories
Norfolk local history
genealogical reference works
antiquarian county guides.