Edward Stanford Sr. (1827-1904) was an English mapmaker and publisher, who built his firm to be the largest, and best, mapmakers and publishers in London by the end of the nineteenth century. He began his career working for Trelawny Saunders, an enterprising mapmaker who supplied a daily weather chart for the Great Exhibition. In 1853, he took over Saunders's firm and set about expanding its cartographical aspect, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society the following year. Then in 1857 he founded "Stanford's Geographical Establishment", a business which quickly won great success at a time when colonialism, railways and other contemporary issues raised the demand for high-quality, accessible maps.

In 1882 Edward Stanford Sr. retired and passed on the firm to his son Edward Jr. After taking over many map businesses and their inventory, Stanford was recognised by their appointment as Geographer to the Queen in 1893. By this time he had also become the sole agent for Ordnance Survey Maps in England and Wales, an agent for the Admiralty, the Geological Survey, the India Office, the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge and the British South Africa Company.

The present work is Stanford's catalogue from 1883, published just a year after he had taken over the firm from his father. It is advertised specifically as a list of "Tourists' Books and Maps, selected from the stock of Edward Stanford". The catalogue is sorted geographically, and the reader is advised that "in addition to the Maps mentioned in this List, the Stock of Edward Stanford includes the best general Maps published in England, the Continent, America, and the Colonies".

As well as the title and a short description of each item, most are accompanied by a printed price and some include information about postage. A notice on the first leaf informs the potential customer that "when Cash accompanies an Order, any book below the value of Three Shillings and. Sixpence is forwarded post paid, and off all books of that price and upwards, a Discount of Two-pence in the Shilling is allowed, and Postage is charged. Maps are not subject to Discount, and Postage is charged".

The work also includes a loosely inserted order form, and three fold-out index maps, of the Ordnance Survey, Cassini's map of France, and Dufour's survey of Switzerland.