William Thomas Stannard (1815-1895) was a famous London-based printer and lithographer known for his innovative contributions to mapmaking. He won fame for his work on sheet music covers, theatrical posters, and various other artistic endeavors. Still, Stannard’s true claim was his specialization in compiling stunning bird’s-eye views of places currently in the news, particularly battlefields and theaters of war.

Stannard began his career in collaboration with Francis Dixon as “Stannard & Dixon,” where they produced remarkable panoramic views of crucial historical events. One of their most notable works was A panoramic view of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea, which depicted the fortified places from the Åland Isles to St Petersburg in 1855. Stannard also worked on panoramic maps related to the Indian Mutinies 1857 and the conflicts in Italy in 1859. His expertise extended to various geographical regions, as seen in his panoramic maps of South Africa, Egypt, Afghanistan, and more. When Stannard passed away in 1895, he left a legacy of artistic mapmaking, and his work remains a valuable resource for understanding historical events.