Herdman was a teacher and a successful commercial artist. He took commissions and after completing a series of paintings of scenes around Liverpool, which were also used to illustrate Herdman's books. The Pictorial Relics of Ancient Liverpool contained 62 drawings on 49 plates, which he published in 1843 and 1856. Other publications include A Treatise of Curvilinear Perspectives and its applications to Art published in 1854 and Thoughts on Speculative cosmology and the principles of Art published in 1870.
