Donald Hodson, in his work on Hertfordshire county maps, first reported the existence of a 'General and County Atlas' with the series of county maps by John Harrison acquired by the firm of Francis Edwards in September 1967. In this work the last two digits of the imprint date 1788 had been erased. The paper in the atlas was all watermarked with the date 1815, hence his approbation. When David Kingsley published his study on Sussex maps in 1982, he reported that the atlas had been broken up. Fortunately, a further example in beautiful early wash colour appeared at auction in 1997 and we secured it.In this example, the date is erased from all of the imprints to varying degrees of neatness. The atlas is expanded with nine further maps of the world, continents and three general maps of England and Wales, Ireland and Scotland. The title page bears a list of contents although it is incomplete, omitting to list those of Cambridge and Northamptonshire. A further example with this title page was sold at a Phillips auction 15 June 1995 lot 14. However, in that example since broken up, the maps were all in the earlier state with their dates present. No institutional example could be traced, that was the only surviving known example. Then recently we acquired the complete collection of the maps, the only item missing apart from the binding was a title page. All of the contents matched the 1997 example. We have made an excellent facsimile of the title and had the whole rebound to be able to offer only the second known example of this work in beautiful early wash colour.No name appears on the title page although none are removed from the imprints on the maps. Harrison died it is believed in 1812. The will for a John Harrison of Newgate Street survives in the National Archives and is dated 21 May 1812. Harrison’s 'Ancient Geography' was re-published by John Hearne if the Strand c.1824. He was active from 1822 to 1860. Not in ESTC; Hodson (1974) 50.iii; Kingsley (1982) no. 54.ii; Tooley’s Dictionary (1999-2004).

This map of the Caspian Sea was published by John Harrison in various composite atlases in the late 1780s and early 1790s. It was engraved by Garnet Terry an engraver and jeweller in Cheapside, London. This is an example of the first state lacking his imprint. Shirley 'Atlases in the British Library' T.Har 1a no. 12.

This detailed view of Acton appeared in one of the better eighteenth century copperplate view books relating to London. Adams 57 no. 75.

Tooley, p. 212; Abbey, Scenery, 30.

From the French edition of of Hawkesworth's 'Account of the Voyages Undertaken'. Refer Shirley BL G.Hawk 1a no. 6.

This map of the Falkland Islands comes from the official account of the First Voyage of the Pacific by Captain James Cook published in 1773. It records the voyage of Captain Carteret (1766-69) to the Solomon Islands as they are now called in the South Pacific. For the compilation of this work Hawkesworth received £6,000 from the Admiralty. Shirley G.Hawk 1a no. 6.

This map comes from the official account of the First Voyage of the Pacific by Captain James Cook published in 1773. It records the voyage of Captain Carteret (1766-69) to the Solomon Islands as they are now called in the South Pacific. For the compilation of this work Hawkesworth received £6,000 from the Admiralty Shirley G.Hawk 1a no. 11.

A magnificent example of a highly influential work from the famous noble library of Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld. Following the publication of Louis Hennepin’s first work, the 'Description de la Louisiane' published in Paris, 1683, there were claims that he usurped the narrative of Robert Cavalier, Sieur La Salle. Hennepin (c.1640-c.1705) was banished from France for reasons unknown and fled to Utrecht about 1687. Indeed Louis XIV later issued an edict ordering his arrest should he arrive at any French port. In 1697 Guillaume Broedelet published Louis Hennepin’s second work entitled Nouvelle Decouverte … It contained the body of his first work and is updated with a new account inserted before the description of his voyage up the Mississippi River describing his journey down river to the mouth, and back. It is actually drawn from the journal of Father Zenobius Membré as published in the Etablissement de la Roy dans la Nouvelle France by the Jesuit Chrestien Le Clerc in Paris, 1691 and is discounted as entirely fictional by authorities. Hennepin in fact claimed the reverse was the case. One of the views is the first of Niagara Falls. One of the book's chief claims to fame is containing the first illustration of Niagara Falls. Hennepin’s account of the Upper Mississippi has great significance as he had penetrated further west than any European recorded before him. Thwaites stated that his works were ‘invaluable contributions to the sources of American History; they deserve study, and to this day furnish rare entertainment. We can pardon much to our erratic friar, when he leaves us to such monuments as these.’ The work was first published in Utrecht the previous year. 'The family of La Rouchefoucauld had been established in the annals of France for over six hundred years ...' (Sotheby's). The library was begun by the sixth Duke, it was later successors who showed a fascination with voyages and travels. Amongst there circle was Benjamin Franklin and Lafayette. In fact it was with the encouragement of Franklin that Jean-Baptiste-Louis-Frederic La Rouchefoucauld produced the first full translation of the American Constitution into French. He had a distinguished political career leading up to the French Revolution. In 1792 he was stoned to death whilst travelling with his wife and mother. A descendant travelled North America and published his account in French and English in 1799. Provenance Sotheby's Monaco 8 December 1987 lot 581. Howes H416; JCB 698/ 103; Sabin 31350.

“In 1601 Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas published the first four parts of his ‘Historia General’. It is usually bound in two volumes; at the end of the second is often found the ‘Descripción de las Indias Occidentalis’ containing fourteen maps of Spanish possessions, largely in America ... Herrera was the official historian of Castile and the Indies to Philip II of Spain. Considering the dearth of Spanish publications on the New World, particularly cartographic, it is noteworthy that this book had official backing. It details the early exploration of the New World by the Spanish and assembles many documents lost to us today. The geography of the maps is largely derived from the manuscript charts of Juan López de Velasco, c.1575-80. At least four of these have survived; one resides in the John Carter Brown Library, Rhode Island. On this map the most noticeable feature used is the distinctive narrow Florida peninsula. The lack of any great detail still reflects the official policy of protecting Spanish knowledge of the New World; despite this the outline of the maps is accurate. The only name to appear in North America is ‘la florida’” (Burden). A rare item. Borba de Moraes (1958) vol. 1, p. 336; John Carter Brown Library Annual Report, 1944-45 pp. 12 & 24-5; Burden (1996-2007) 141; Martin & Martin (1984) p. 77; Wagner (1937) pp. 66-7; Wagner (1924) no. 12; World Encompassed (1952) no. 231; Wroth (1944) pp. 158-9, no. 55 and pl. XII (López de Velasco charts).

Although considered part of the series of miniature Abraham Ortelius atlases this series is distinctly different. They are woodcut productions first and foremost and slightly larger in size. Koeman II p. 132; Shirley 'Atlases in the British Library T.Heyn 1a.