Reginald Piggott

Bede's Britain c. 700 by Reginald Piggott, 2012. Drawn for the University of Cambridge.

Reginald "Reg" Piggott (1930 - c. 2014) was a British book cartographer whose maps were known for their elegance and clarity. Maps by Piggott were published by Cambridge University Press and The Folio Society among other presses.

Early life and family

Reginald Piggott was born in 1930.^[1] In 1952 he married Marjorie Rudd in King's Lynn, Norfolk.^[2] He was a long time resident of Decoy Lodge, Decoy Road, Potter Heigham, Norfolk.

Career

Piggott produced maps for the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at the University of Cambridge for 20 years as well as maps for use in books published by Cambridge University Press.^[3] He also had a long association with The Folio Society for whom he produced maps too numerous to list but which included a double page map of the spread of the Great Fire of London which was included in their volume on that topic published in 2003.

In 2012, Aurum Press published Mile by mile London to Paris in which the route between the cities was mapped out by Piggott with a text by Matt Thompson, assuming a journey by the Golden Arrow, when it existed, and the Eurostar more recently.

In 2014, travel writer Nicholas Crane described Piggott as "the most brilliant book-cartographer of our generation".^[4]

Selected publications

• Practical handwriting. Blackie & Son, London & Glasgow, 1955.
• Handwriting: A national survey, together with a plan for better modern handwriting. Allen & Unwin, London, 1958.
• Handwriting: Teacher's book. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1976. (With John Bright) ISBN 0521211662
• Mile by mile London to Paris: The entire route by historic Golden Arrow and modern Eurostar. Aurum, 2012. (With Matt Thompson) ISBN 978-1845137724

References

1. British Library catalogue. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
2. England & Wales marriages 1837-2008 Transcription. Retrieved 22 April 2016. (subscription required)
3. Maps of Anglo-Saxon England. Kemble: The Anglo-Saxon Charters Website. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
4. "Cartographers: Masters of omission" by Nicholas Crane in Folio, March 2014, pp. 37-41.