John Ogilby's 'Britannia' was published between 1675 and 1698. It is a landmark in the mapping of England and Wales. Its unique format constituted the first national road-atlas of any country in Western Europe. It was composed of maps of seventy-three major roads and cross-roads, presented in a continuous strip-form, on a uniform scale of one inch to a mile. Each beautiful map includes wonderful detail of the countryside with each strip containing a large compass rose to indicate changes in direction.

This very nice road map is in the pictorial style pioneered by Ogilby, with the road from London to the port city of Hythe laid out in several ribbon-like panels. Filled with details, the map includes villages, bridges, castles, forests, and river crossings. This fine sheet is decorated with a compass rose to orient each panel and a boldly engraved title cartouche featuring the royal coat-of-arms flanked with mythological figures including Neptune on a chariot pulled by three hippocampi.

References: Moorland & Bannister, pp. 157-8; Shirley (BL Atlases) T.OGIL-4a #93.

Condition: B+

A nice impression on a lightly toned sheet with a bunch of grapes watermark, light foxing that has mostly confined to the blank margins, a hole along the top edge of the sheet, and an edge tear at left that has been closed on verso with old paper.