Ex Edmund Gibson's edition of Camden's 'Britannia'. Gibson announced that his maps engraved by Robert Morden utilised unpublished surveys where available and the knowledge of local gentlemen who supplied corrections. Morden was an accomplished bookseller and publisher who contributed a great deal to geography and cartography. Morden's maps were very popular. 'Britannia' was first published in 1695, and subsequently in 1722, c.1730, 1753 & 1772. Refer to Skelton no. 117

Ex Edmund Gibson's edition of Camden's 'Britannia'. Gibson announced that his maps engraved by Robert Morden utilised unpublished surveys where available and the knowledge of local gentlemen who supplied corrections. Morden was an accomplished bookseller and publisher who contributed a great deal to geography and cartography. Morden's maps were very popular. 'Britannia' was first published in 1695, and subsequently in 1722, c.1730, 1753 & 1772. Refer to Skelton no. 117.

Ex Edmund Gibson's edition of Camden's 'Britannia'. Gibson announced that his maps engraved by Robert Morden utilised unpublished surveys where available and the knowledge of local gentlemen who supplied corrections. Morden was an accomplished bookseller and publisher who contributed a great deal to geography and cartography. Morden's maps were very popular. 'Britannia' was first published in 1695, and subsequently in 1722, c.1730, 1753 & 1772. This is an example from the first edition. Rawnsley 17; Skelton no. 117.

Robert Morden was by 1701 a successful publisher on the London scene. His most notable cartographic contribution to date was arguably the county maps for Gibson's edition of Camden's 'Britannia' in 1695. A smaller more manageable atlas seemed to be called for and in 1701 he teamed up with Thomas Cockeril and Ralph Smith to produce 'The New Description and State of England'. Morden contributed 54 small maps known as miniature Morden's. Following the death of Robert Morden in August 1703 there would have been a distribution of shareholding. Unfortunately, no record survives of these transactions. We can see from the new list of publishers on the title page that Thomas Cockerill also disposed of his shares, Ralph Smith retained his ownership and may well have expanded it. This edition was first advertised in the 'Term Catalogues' for Hilary in 1703/4 indicating a publication early in the year. Smith alone advertised the work in the 'Daily Courant' 9 March 1703/4. The title is entirely reset including now a reference to Robert Morden. The body of text however is a reissue of left-over sheets from the 1701 printing complete with pagination errors. In this example however, pp. 129-136 and 113-128 are bound in order of pagination which although the text is not disrupted places the counties out of alphabetical order. Hodson is incorrect in stating there are no alterations apart from the title page. The ‘List’ of notable people bound at the end is entirely renewed and expanded by a further fifty-one pages. Provenance: signature of 'Robe: Morell'? on the title page; private English collection. References: Chubb (1927) 125; ESTC T225736; Hodson (1984-97) 125; Shirley (2004) T.Mord 4b.

From Edmund Gibson's edition of Camden's 'Britannia'. Gibson announced that his maps engraved by Robert Morden utilised unpublished surveys where available and the knowledge of local gentlemen who supplied corrections. Morden was an accomplished bookseller and publisher who contributed a great deal to geography and cartography. Morden's maps were very popular. 'Britannia' was first published in 1695, and subsequently in 1722, c.1730, 1753 & 1772. Harvey & Thorpe 18; refer to Skelton no. 117.

This pack was first announced by Robert Morden (fl.1669-1703) in the ‘Easter Term Catalogues’ for 5 May 1676 and are otherwise undated. A second state was advertised in the ‘Term Catalogues’ for October of the same year, 1676. This is identified by the presence of the names of neighbouring counties as here. For each county Morden displays below the map its Length, Breadth and Circumference in Old English miles. Below that he gives the chief city or town and its distance from London first in reputed and then measured miles according to John Ogilby. Lastly, he states their latitude. Each map bears the roads featured by Ogilby in his Britannia of 1675 ‘with his leave’, the main ones double lined and minor ones identified by one. Each bears a compass for bearing. In most cases, they are the first printed maps of the county to include roads, included within only six months of Ogilby’s publication. This map of Worcestershire is from a rare later issue of Morden’s playing cards entitled ‘A Brief Description of England and Wales’ by Homan Turpin. The whereabouts of the plates since Morden last issued them is unknown, but they eventually came into Turpin’s possession. He was a bookseller from at least 1764 to 1787 who interestingly traded in second-hand books and buying libraries. The date of their issue is speculative as none of the six known Turpin catalogues list the cards it has been presumed to have been issued late in his career. Arber (1903-06) I. 263; Hodson no. 273; Mann & Kingsley ‘Playing Cards’, in Map Collector Series no. 87 p. 26, 3.3.

Lewis Morris (1701-65) from his early twenties was employed as an estate surveyor in and around Anglesey many of which survive to this day in Bangor. In 1729 he was appointed ‘Searcher and Customs Officer’ at Beaumaris and Holyhead. It is whilst employed here that he learnt of the poor quality of the charts of the island and coastline of Wales in general. At that time mariners were relying on those of Captain Greenville Collins published in the ‘Great Britain’s Coasting Pilot’ from 1693. Although they were undoubtedly and advance at the time they were still inadequate and inaccurate. In 1735 he proposed to the Admiralty that he undertake a large scale survey of the Welsh coast. As is often the case he received little support. So he began surveying the island of Anglesey in 1737 using his own funds. With the help of his old employers influence at the Admiralty he managed to acquire the use of a vessel in 1739 to continue the work. Still his work received no official backing for publication so in 1748 he published the work privately.The ‘Plans of Harbours, Bars, Bays and Roads in St. George’s Channel’ was an immediate success, there are no less than 1,247 individual subscribers listed. His son William (1758-1808) re-published the book in 1801 with entirely new engraved plates. Evans (1964). ‘Maps of Wales and Welsh Cartographers’, in Map Collectors’ Circle no. 13 pp. 11-12; Evans, Olwen Caradoc. (1969). ‘Marine Plans and Charts of Wales’, in Map Collectors’ Circle no. 54 pp. 28-31 no. 80; Morris, Rear Admiral R. O. (1998). ‘Lewis Morris and his ‘Plans in St. George’s Channel’’, in IMCoS Journal no. 74 pp. 45-50; NMM 402; Robinson (1979) 'Lewis Morris, Chartmaker Extraordinary', in The Map Collector no. 8 pp. 32-6; refer Shirley Atlases in the BL M.Morr 1a.

Lewis Morris (1701-65) from his early twenties was employed as an estate surveyor in and around Anglesey, many of which survive to this day in Bangor. In 1729 he was appointed ‘Searcher and Customs Officer’ at Beaumaris and Holyhead. It is whilst employed here that he learnt of the poor quality of the charts of the island and coastline of Wales in general. At that time mariners were relying on those of Captain Greenville Collins published in the ‘Great Britain’s Coasting Pilot’ from 1693. Although they were undoubtedly an advance at the time, they were still inadequate and inaccurate. In 1735 he proposed to the Admiralty that he undertake a large scale survey of the Welsh coast. As is often the case he received little support. So he began surveying the island of Anglesey in 1737 using his own funds. With the help of his old employer's influence at the Admiralty he managed to acquire the use of a vessel in 1739 to continue the work. Still his work received no official backing for publication so, in 1748 he published the work privately.The ‘Plans of Harbours, Bars, Bays and Roads in St. George’s Channel’ was an immediate success, there are no less than 1,247 individual subscribers listed. His son William (1758-1808) re-published the book offered here in 1801 with entirely new engraved plates. There are also some entirely new plates including one large folding one of Liverpool and Chester, and another of Dublin. The dedication to the Lords Commissioners is dated Aberystwith, 1 June 1801. Notable names listed amongst the subscribers is Alexander Dalrymple and William Faden, the publisher who ordered 20 copies, Evans (1964). ‘Maps of Wales and Welsh Cartographers’, in 'Map Collectors’ Circle' no. 13 pp. 11-12; Evans, Olwen Caradoc. (1969). ‘Marine Plans and Charts of Wales’, in 'Map Collectors’ Circle' no. 54 pp. 28-31 no. 102; Morris, Rear Admiral R. O. (1998). ‘Lewis Morris and his ‘Plans in St. George’s Channel’’, in 'IMCoS Journal' no. 74 pp. 45-50; NMM 402; Robinson (1979) 'Lewis Morris, Chartmaker Extraordinary', in 'The Map Collector' no. 8 pp. 32-6; refer Shirley Atlases in the BL M.Morr 1a.

The FIRST AMERICAN GEOGRAPHIC WORK TO CONTAIN MAPS. Jedidiah Morse (1761-1826) was born in Woodstock, Connecticut, and became a Congregational Minister and geographer in New Haven. His book ‘The American Geography’ was first published in 1784 with text only and its success earned him the title of the ‘father of American geography’.‘Prior to the Revolution, atlases were made in Europe and most of those used in the United States were published in England or France, although some of the individual maps, especially of the states, were drawn by local cartographers. This situation was due in part to the lack of skilled craftsmen and limited tools and equipment. Even locally produced paper in the colonial period was of poor quality. By the end of the Revolution the situation had changed and a number of elements had combined which permitted American commercial atlas publishing to develop and flourish’ (Tyner). She went on to identify five reasons; Independence, Exploration, Development of statistics as a field, National censuses and the Rise of thematic cartography.Early American cartographic works were geographical texts, only some of which contained any maps. One of the first to do so was this work by Morse published in 1789. It should be pointed out that in the same year Christopher Colles published his ‘Survey of the Roads of the United States’ of which according to Schwartz and Ehrenberg only 15 copies survive. The ‘American Geography’ covered the western hemisphere. In 1793 a second volume covering the eastern hemisphere was published. The two were then issued as the ‘American Universal Geography’ in 1793. The premise of the book was laid out in the Preface where he states ‘So imperfect are all the accounts of America hitherto published, even by those who once exclusively possessed the best means of information … But since the United State[sic] have become an independent nation, and have risen into Empire, it would be reproachful for them to suffer this ignorance to continue … To furnish this has been the design of the author’. The two final leaves contain the errata and ‘Corrections respecting France’.To illustrate the work are two important maps. The Preface introduces them; ‘It is to be regretted, that so few Maps could be introduced into the work; but the author hopes to be enabled to increase the number in future editions. The Map of the southern states, was compiled from original and authentic documents, by Mr. joseph Purcell, of Charleston, South Carolina, a Gentleman fully equal to the undertaking … The Map of the northern states was compiled principally by the Engraver [Amos Doolittle]’. Both maps were engraved by Doolittle (1754-1832), like many engravers of his day he was apprenticed to a silversmith. He is most famous for his series of engravings of the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775. The southern map is of interest as it includes a reference to the ‘New State of Franklin’. This ‘State’ has a curious history. It was first offered as compensation to Congress by North Carolina in 1784 to help pay off debts from the American War of Independence. When the offer was not taken up it effectively seceded from the state on 23 August 1784 at a meeting held in Jonesborough. The idea was to eventually become the fourteenth state of the Union. It was effectively a Republic for four and a half years until early in 1789 North Carolina assumed control again. Provenance: Manuscript ownership of ‘Isaac Lathrop’s 1789’ on the title page; Robert Rulon-Miller, 1998; private collection. ADNB; Brown, Ralph (1941) ‘The American Geographies of Jedidiah Morse’; ESTC W31207; Evans 21978; Howes (1962) M840; Ristow (1985) p. 71; Sabin (1868) 50924; Schwartz & Ehrenberg (1980) p. 209; Tyner, Judith (1989) ‘Development of the American Atlas: 1790-1980 pp. 1-2; Wheat & Brun 1985) nos. 149 & 491.

From 'Barclay's Dictionary'. Moule (1784-1851) was a noted historian, map seller and publisher. His finest work is the 'English Counties Delineated' first published in 1837. The publisher was George Virtue who used the same beautiful plates in his publication of Rev. James Barclay's 'Dictionary'. The maps are considered the most attractive of all the later English county maps. This plan of Oxford is engraved by James Bingley is attractively decorated with heraldic arms of the city, and the various University Colleges along with views of Christchurch College and Oxford itself.