This Victorian city map shows Lundenwich, the dark, ghost-ridden version of London where Víctor Sellés sets La Sociedad de Lundenwich. I illustrated it for the first book of the saga, Fantasmas de verde jade (Ghosts of Jade Green), published by Obscura Editorial.
Victorian city map
A Victorian London bathed in the supernatural
Lundenwich is a city inspired by Victorian London, but full of spectres, secret societies and mysterious crimes. The map had to feel like an old document found in a drawer of the Wickfield funeral parlour: something that belongs to the world of the novel rather than a modern guide.
Working with both the publisher and the author was a pleasure. We talked about the important details, the dark corners and the special places of the story, and adjusted several elements so the map matched exactly what happens in the book.
What the Victorian city map shows
- The River Isis winding through the city from west to east, the natural backbone of the map.
- Coloured districts that matter in the plot: Cameliard, the Press Quarter, the Financial District, Maleperduis and Nueva Nassau.
- A numbered legend with 19 key places, among them the Company headquarters, the Tower of Lundenwich, Glass Town Market, the W.T. Wickfield funeral parlour, the Golden Lion Theater and the Panopticon prison.
- Bridges and streets such as Bow Street, Milton Street and the Pendragon, Geneviève and Dindraine bridges.
Designing an antique map
To make the map look genuinely old, I combined a dense street plan with several aging effects:
- Sepia tones and worn, layered paper with torn edges.
- Baroque ornaments in the corners and a framed cartouche with the city’s name.
- A coffee ring stain, as if someone had been studying the map on a desk at night.
- Subtle colour washes to highlight the districts without hiding the streets underneath.
The result is a map that readers can use to follow Tom’s steps through the city, but also an object that adds atmosphere to the book.
About the novel
Young Thomas Blackpole wants nothing more than to escape his sentence in the Panopticon, Lundenwich’s infamous prison. A job offer from Mrs Wickfield changes his life: Tom discovers he has the Gift and that his new home, a funeral parlour, hides more secrets than anyone could imagine. There, Wickfield secretly leads the Lundenwich Society, a group of young people with extraordinary abilities who keep the balance between the living and the supernatural forces of the city. Tom’s first case will be the Vampire of Maleperduis, an elusive killer who has baffled the police.
Need a city map for your novel?
City maps are perfect for urban fantasy, gothic fiction and mystery, where streets and buildings are almost characters. You can see more of my work on the map illustration page, read how to hire a map illustrator, or get in touch to talk about your own Victorian city map.
