This is the third edition of Edmund Gibson's English translation of William Camden's Britannia>. It is complete with 51 maps engraved by Robert Morden, mostly of counties, along with maps of ancient Britain, England, Scotland and Ireland. It includes desirable maps of Middlesex, Kent, Cambridge and Oxford along with seven plates depicting various Saxon coins. The majority of the maps are based on Christopher Saxton's monumental survey of England and Wales, as no additional surveying had been completed at the time of publication. Each is finely engraved with handsome embellishments including elaborate title cartouches and decorative distance scales. The full list of double-page maps include:
Britannia Romana Britannia Saxonica. Condition: Worming confined to the bottom blank margin. England Cornwall Devonshire Dorsetshire Somersetshire Wiltshire Hampshire Barkshire Surrey Sussex Kent (folding, 24.7 x 13.7"). Condition: There is a small split at a fold intersection and light dampstains at bottom. Gloucestershire Oxfordshire Buckinghamshire Bedfordshire Hertfordshire Middlesex Essex Suffolk Norfolk Cambridgeshire Huntingtonshire Northamptonshire Leicestershire Comitatus Rotelandiae Tabula Nova & Aucta Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire Darbyshire Warwickshire Worcestershire Staffordshire Shropshire The County Palatine of Chester Herefordshire A New and Correct Map of North-Wales South Wales The County of Monmouth The West Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire The Bishoprick of Durham The County Palatine of Lancaster Westmorland Cumberland Northumberland A New Map of the South Part of Scotland A New Map of the North Part of Scotland The Kingdom of Ireland The Smaller Islands in the British Ocean
2 volumes with frontispiece of William Camden (volume 1), title pages, 48 page introduction, 1526 pages of text, appendix, and index. Folio, hardbound in modern brown cloth with gilt titles on spines.
References: Shirley (BL Atlases) T.CAMD-5d.
Condition: B
The maps are good to very good with overall light toning and light to moderate offsetting (see description for additional details). The text has moderate toning, scattered foxing, and occasional dampstains mostly in the bottom blank margin (volume 1 only). There is a small chip in the lower left blank margin of the frontispiece that has been backed with old paper. The text block of volume one is starting to separate at top, but still intact. Modern covers have light shelf wear.