Complete Map

The relative unreadability of the complete map speaks for the narrative density of the three-volume realist novel. Closer analysis, however, shows that while central London is highly delineated, the further the narrative moves from Clerkenwell-based topoi, the less specific the toporefs become. Herein lies the worth of our mapping method since, unlike traditional processes based on matching novelistic space to real-world maps, it gives equal weight to ‘real’ (or GIS-plottable) places and invented or imagined sites within the real. It also provides the means of picturing the narrative proximity of Bolton and London, or America and Australia, despite their geographical distance.