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Chapter 18
MAPS OF THE BRITISH ISLES
The works of many British cartographers have been described in other chapters without any attempt to specify the contents of their atlases in detail; this task, however desirable, is beyond the compass of this work. It is obvious that a high proportion of the maps in the atlases of the national cartographers will be of the counties and these are well documented elsewhere. In recent years, however, interest has grown in maps of the British Isles (as an entity) and of England and Wales, and accordingly in this chapter will be found brief details of some of these maps, most of them still obtainable by collectors. Some are rare but the parameter for inclusion is that it would have been possible to purchase each of them readily during the 1970s.
In writing this chapter the surprising fact emerges that probably more maps of the British Isles were issued in European atlases than in those produced in this country. It is to be expected, therefore, that the names of many of the cartographers included will not be familiar to collectors of English county maps. To avoid repetition, biographical details of the European cartographers will not be given here - this information will be found in the preceding chapters - and special emphasis will be given to the 'modern' geographic content. This excludes, by definition, the Ptolemaic maps, which were known to be only of academic and historic interest at the time of publication, and means that the earliest 'modern' map of the British Isles is that first published in 1523 at Strassburg by Martin Waldseemuller, which is our starting-point.
Whilst many of the available books on cartographic subjects include information on maps of the British Isles, Rodney Shirley's Early Printed Maps of the British Isles 1477-1650 must be mentioned as the definitive work on this subject; it would be quite impossible to write credibly about (or collect) these maps without reference to it.
Plate: MARTIN WALDSEELMULLER Tabula Nova Hibernie Anie et Scotte 1513
MARTIN WALDSEEMULLER
- Tabula Nova Hibernie Anglie et Scotie: Strassburg 1 5 1 3 360 x 10 mm, woodcut
Martin Waldseemuller undoubtedly used Italian portulans as a source for this woodblock map but apparently did not include the most recent available information. The basic outline was used on manuscript charts of the late fourteenth century and it is difficult to identify some of the names on the map, probably due to errors made in copying from other maps but despite this it may still be described as the first 'modern' map of the British Isles. The extensive naming of ports, especially on the Irish coastline and Eastern and Southern England, reveals the extent of trading and cultural connections which are known to have been established by the Phoenicians as early as zoo BC and continued in medieval times by the Genoese, amongst others .
Amongst the identifiable towns are Dover, Portsmouth, Southampton, Plymouth and Bristol. Following earlier traditional marine charts Ireland is pearshaped and the 'Purgatorium of St Patrick' is shown. The myth about the island off the west coast of Ireland called 'Brazil' is described in Chapter 10. Despite its German origins the scale on this map is in Italian miles! There was only one further issue, again at Strassburg, in 1520.
Plate: MARTIN WALDSEEMULLER Taba. Hiberniae Sco 1522
MARTIN WALDSEEMULLER
- Tabu. Hiberniae Sco.: Strassburg 1522, 280 x 410 mm, woodcut
A re-drawn version of the 1513 map which, despite the 25 per cent reduction in overall size, includes all of the information from its predecessor with only minor changes in the lettering and coastline. The scale is now given in German miles and as less of the European mainland is shown the actual printed size of the British Isles is very little smaller than on the earlier map.
There is reason to believe that the decorative Renaissance panels enclosing the text on the back of this map were from designs by Albrecht Du'rer, who was known to have produced designs used elsewhere in this atlas. The printer was Johannes Gruninger.
Further issues, with varying titles, were made in 1525 (Strassburg), 1535 (Lyon illustrated) 1541 (Vienne, a town on the Rhine just south of Lyon).
Plate: BENEDETTO BORDONE Inghilterra Secodo Morderni 1528
BENEDETTO BORDONE
- Inghilterra Secodo Morderni Venice 1528 140 x 150 mm, woodcut
Bordone's woodcut map was published in an Isolano or Book of Islands, a very popular form of atlas, the first of which was printed between 1477 and 1485, although earlier manuscript versions are known. The outline uses the traditional curved shapes from the portolani and the medieval cartographers' error of showing Scotland separated from the mainland betrays the map 5 early origins. This is the first printed map of the British Isles to use the new conventional symbol of a small towered building to represent a town but only Dover, Southampton and London are specifically named.
There were three later issues of the map in 1534, 1547 and c. 15 65, some of which have the Ptolemaic map of the British Isles on the reverse.
SEBASTIAN MUNSTER
- Anglie Triquetra Descriptio: Basle 1538 135 X 110 mm, woodcut
The first of the five maps of the British Isles by the eminent Sebastian Munster, this woodcut map is scarcer than the other four, due probably to the fact that there was only one other issue, in 1543, and that it was published in Munster's version of the works of Pomponius Mela, a classical Spanish geographer working in Italy around the first century AD.
Despite its small size this is an informative map, the outline probably being derived from the Gough map dating from the time of Edward l. It is the first map to show Anglesea separate from Wales and is also the first to show the existence of the six major rivers: the Tweed, Humber, Trent, Severn, Wye and Thames.
Plate: SEBASTIAN MUNSTER Anglie Triquetra Descriptio 1538
SEBASTIAN MUNSTER
- Anglia II Nova Tabula: Basle 1540 240 X 335 mm, woodcut
The second of Munster's maps of the British Isles, this important woodcut has North at the left-hand side of the page enabling a larger scale to be used than would have been possible with North at the top. A very considerable advance on any of the earlier maps, it had a very wide circulation, being issued in over twenty-five separate publications of Munster's Geographia and Cosmographia from 1540 until 1588, when an entirely new block was cut for the later editions. More than fifty rivers and some seventy or more named towns are shown, most for the first time on a printed map.
The panel in the top left corner gives 'Interpretationes' of the Latin names into English whilst the Scottish flag is shown firmly planted in the sea! On the first edition of the map the text on the verso was contained within two pillars surmounted by a decorative archway. Identification of various issue dates is practically impossible without comparing loose maps with the complete dated atlases. In the late 1970's this map was still easily obtainable.
Surprise is often expressed that North is not always shown at the top of the sheet on this, and various other, maps. Two reasons have been suggested for this: many of the very early maps were drawn in religious foundations and it is to be expected that East would be given prominence at the top - the Hereford World Map being an example of this type; latterly the more prosaic reason that it was sometimes possible to use a larger scale on a given piece of rectangularly-shaped, handmade paper was given as the justification - the British Isles map by Ortelius with West at the top is an example of this category. Navigators on ships even today have their charts displayed on chart tables of a size sufficient to enable the chart to be turned so that the ship is always going 'up' it. This avoids errors in turning 'left' or 'right' (to use the more easily understood terms for Port and Starboard). Conventional usage makes us always expect to find North at the top of a map but really there is no geographic justification for this long-established habit.
Plate: SEBASTIAN MUNSTER Anglia II Nova Tabula 1540
Plate: SEBASTIAN MUNSTER Von Den Britannischen Inseln Albione dos ist Engelland und Hibernia 1550
Plate: GIROLAMO RUSCELLI Anglia et Hibernia Nova 1561
SEBASTIAN MUN5TER
- Von Den Britannischen Insein Albione das ist Engelland und Hibernia. . . Basle 1550, 80 x 130 mm, woodcut
This small Munster map appeared set in the text of various editions of the Cosmographia from 1550 onwards. Considerably less advanced geographically than his two earlier maps it reverted to the Ptolemaic distortion of Scotland and fewer names were included than previously, the type setting of the names being changed in different editions. The map illustrated is from an edition dated 1552.
The inclusion of this map in some of the editions of the Cosmographia, which also included the double-page map of 1540 can, perhaps, be explained by regarding it as an aide memoire for readers, saving them the necessity of finding the other larger map which is normally bound in a totally different part of the book.
GIROLAMO RUSCELLI
- Anglia et Hibernia Nova: Venice 1561 180 x 250 mm, copper engraving
This elegant copperplate map is apparently based on the 1546 Lily map but because of the considerably reduced size much detail has been omitted. No scale is given, but latitude and longitude are shown.
A number of later issues of this map are found including 1562, 1564, 1574, 1598 and 1599; these last two constituting State II of the map with a ship and two sea monsters added to the plate.
ABRAHAM ORTELIUS
- Angliae, Scotiae et Hiberniae Sive Britannicar. Insularum Descriptio: Antwerp 1570, 345 x 495 mm, copper engraving
The publication of Ortelius's atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, from which this map comes, was the start of the epic 100-year period when the Dutch cartographers were the supreme exponents in all aspects of cartographic production. Based on the famous large wall map by his friend, Gerard Mercator, a number of errors have occurred in this reduction, many of the copied names being quite different from the original. More than thirty separate issues of this map were made, both coloured and plain, with the descriptive text on the back in a variety of languages including Latin, German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian and even English (this being very scarce). It is sometimes possible to date individual examples exactly with reference to Koeman's Atlantes Neerlandici but often it is difficult to be precise due to the complicated printing history; for example, there were four printings in the year of publication alone! For many years it was supposed that the various issues were printed from only one plate, until in 1981 it was discovered that two states existed. (See illustrations on following pages.) It is known that the first state was used in the first edition of 1570 and in a number of later editions. At the time of writing the earliest recorded usage of the second state is from 1583 onwards.
This is probably the earliest map of the British Isles still readily available in the early 1980s, and the collector will at once see that the proportions of Ireland and Scotland compared with England and Wales are not correct; but, nevertheless, it was an influential map with a very wide circulation. Many of the names betray its ecclesiastical sources; it was issued only about thirty years after the Dissolution of the Monasteries and quite a number of the religious institutions shown on it no longer existed when it was published. No roads, rivers or bridges are shown, although towns where fords would have been are indicated, but it would have been practically useless as a route map. It should be remembered, of course, that speeds were so much slower when travelling in the sixteenth century that exact directions could easily be obtained by word of mouth provided the general route was known.
Examples of this map may be found with original colour or uncoloured and whilst an early coloured example is preferable for a collection, the extra premium on the price may put this beyond many collectors' pockets.
Plate: ABRAHAM ORTELIUS Angliae, Scotiae vi Hiberniv Sive Britannica. - Insularum Descriptia 1570
Plate: First state 1570
Plate: Second state 1583 onwards
TOMASO PORCACEHI DA CASTILIONE Inghilterra (I 572) 1620
TOMASO PORCACCHI DA CASTILIONE
- Inghilterra: Venice (1572) 1620 100 x 140 mm, copper engraving
Taken from an 'Island' book entitled L'Isolapiu Famose del Mondo . . . this quaint map has West at the top and is unusual in not showing London!
There is evidence to suggest that Girolamo Porro, the engraver, copied manuscript sources and early Lafreri maps for the outlines of this map. A number of further issues were made, all in Venice, notably in 1576,1590,1604,1605, 1620 and 1713. There was also a complete re-engraving of the maps published in 1586, of which many issues were made over a period of about a hundred years in a wide variety of travel books.
Plate: HUMPHREY LHUYD and ABRAHAM ORTELIUS Angliae Regni Florentissimi Nova Descriptio Auctore Humfredo Lhuydd Denbygiense 1573 (a later edition)
HUMPHREY LHUYD - ABRAHAM ORTELIUS
- Angliae Regni Florentissimi Nova Descriptio Auctore Humfredo Lhuyd Denbygiense 1573: Antwerp 1573, 380 x 470 mm, copper engraving
Humphrey Lhuyd died in 1568 and therefore the information on this map must have been five years old when Ortelius published it in the first supplement to his atlas. It is difficult to understand why Ortelius had not used information from it for his British Isles map of 1570, as it shows a considerable geographic advance on the Mercator sources which he had used, especially relating to the southern Welsh coast and the Devon and Cornwall peninsula. The names included come from sources unique to Lhuyd although counties are not marked.
The map appeared in more than seventeen of the later editions of the Ortelius Atlas from the date of its first appearance until i6o6, when the sole English version was published in London.
SEBASTIAN MUNSTER
- Beschreibung Engellandts und Schottlandts: Basle 1578 250 x 170 mm, woodcut
The fourth of Munster's representations of the British Isles, this map shows a considerable geographic regression compared to his first two. Scotland is again shown using the traditional Ptolemaic projection, similar to his 1550 map, although many more names of towns and rivers are included.
A later version of a Munster map, entitled Engellandt mit dem anstoffenden Reich Schottland (310 x 360 mm) published by Sebastian Petri in Basle in 1588 with later editions in 1592,1598,1614 and 1628, is described asa woodcut 'engraved in the copper plate manner'. It may be speculated that the blocks from the 1544 Cosmography had worn out by this time (the world map had been completely re-cut for the publication of c. 1555) and by producing another set of maps the market for this very popular work would have been considerably extended.
West is shown at the top of the map and many of the rivers are shown as emanating from lakes - a geographic regression compared with the important 1540 map. Many of the names included on this earlier production are now left out and altogether this is rather a poor production. It must, however, be pointed out that due to its pedigree this would have been an influential map with a wide distribution and is, therefore, worthy of inclusion in any collection, being one of the more readily obtainable sixteenth-century maps.
It should be noted that the illustration numbers in the written descriptions of these maps in Rodney Shirley's Early Printed Maps of the British Isles are incorrect: the 1578 edition is shown on Plate 32; the 1588 edition on Plate 28.
Plate: SEBASTIAN MUNSER Beschreibung Engellandts und Schottlandts 1578
Plate: CHRISTOPHER SAXTON Anglia 1579
CHRISTOPHER SAXTON
- Anglia: London 1579 380 x ~ mm, copper-plate engraving
The first map of England and Wal(s published in England, this map is probably the most difficult (and expensive) to find of all the maps described in this selection and is only included because of its importance. Most of the known examples have original colouring, the magnificent engraving being the work of Augustine Ryther, the most accomplished of the three English engravers used by Saxton.
Geographically it is a very significant advance on all previous maps, all the place names being shown in English; the basic outline was later used by Mercator, Speed, Blaeu and Jansson besides many other cartographers for nearly two hundred years.
The plate was altered for the only variant issue after 15 83 when indications of latitude and longitude were added. Later issues, all with alterations to the original plate, were made in 1645, i66~, 1689-93, c. 1730, c. 1749 and c. 1770. No issues of this map are known with text on the back. It has been reproduced by the British Museum (along with the county maps) and the authors have seen 'doctored' copies purporting to be genuine antique maps of both the England and Wales and county maps.
Plate: GERARD MERCATOR Anglia, Scotia et Hibernia 1595
GERARD MERCATOR
- Anglia, Scotia et Hibernia: Duisburg 1595 325 x 410 mm, copper engraving
Although this map was published a year after Mercator's death (by his son Rumold) there seems little doubt that he was personally responsible for its compilation. Signed 'Per Gerardum Mercatorem . . the quality of workmanship prevented speedy publication. Part III of the Atlas, in which this map was issued, was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth 1 of England.
The outline is a composite one, being derived from at least three separate sources. The outline of Scotland
became the standard - although slightly improved by Speed - until the Robert Gordon map was published in the Blaeu atlas of Scotland in 1654. The publishing history of the Atlas is complicated and this map was issued in a number of editions between 1595 and 1630. There is also evidence to suggest that it appeared in the three French editions of 1639, 1640 and 1641 although it was generally replaced after 1630 by other maps. The descriptive text verso was printed only in Latin and French, but note that examples, including some in the first edition, were issued with blank backs.
Plate: GERARD MERCATOR Anglia Regnum 1595
GERARD MERCATOR
- Anglia Regnum: Duisburg 1595, 350 X 470 mm, copper engraving
Issued in the same atlas as the last map this is on a considerably larger scale as a result of the smaller area shown and includes many more names copied from Christopher Saxton's map of 1579. County boundaries and the Latinized names of counties are shown.
Although it initially appeared in the same atlas, the life of this map was rather longer than the previous one and the last edition was in 1641. The descriptive text on the verso was published in Latin, French, German, Dutch and English. The original plate was considerably altered for the later publications.
Plate: GIOVANNI MAGINI Britanicae Insulae 1596
GIOVANNI MAGINI
- Britanicae Insulae: Venice 1596, 130 X 170 mm, copper engraving
This elegant map comes from one of the many editions of Ptolemy published during the late Renaissance, containing Ptolemaic and 'modern' maps. The engraving was probably by Girolamo Porro under the supervision of Giovanni Magini, one of the most prominent Italian cartographers of the time.
It is one of the earliest maps to show a river bridge at London: latitude and longitude are also included. The lettering is a fine italic script and despire geographical shortcomings this is a good example of Italian map production.
There is a Latin text on the back of the map and further issues were made in 1597, 1598 and 1621, all in Italy. Some almost identical maps were issued in 1 597, i6o8 and 1617 in a German-inspired version of the Magini Ptolemy.
Plate: WILLIAM HOLE Engla/ond Anglia Anglosaxonum Heptarchia 1607
WILLIAM HOLE
- Englalond Anglia Anglosaxonum Heptarchia: London 1607, 290 x 335 mm, copper engraving
This unjustly neglected map is the earliest obtainable (at a modest price) of England and Wales, printed in England. It was first published in the sixth edition of William Camden's Britannia, the first book to contain complete series of individual maps of the English and Welsh counties.
Designed to illustrate the Anglo Saxon Kingdom for the historical section of the Britannia - a complete description, both historic and modern, of the British Isles - the names are given in a script which purports to be 'Anglo-Saxon', a key being given in the top left corner. Derived from an earlier map of 1 6oo by William Rogers, this map was issued again in 1610 and 1637. The back of each issue is blank and no plate changes were made to the issue of i6io, but a plate number '1' was added in the lower left corner for the 1637 edition. (First issues of the county maps have Latin text on the verso, later issues are blank with plate changes including the adding of a number on most of the maps.)
Plate: JOHN SPEED The Kingdome of Great Britaine and Ire/and 1611
JOHN SPEED
- The Kingdome of Great Britaine and Ireland: London 1611, 380 x 510 mm, copper engraving
This famous map by Speed was engraved by Jodocus Hondius in Amsterdam. Although proofs from the plates are known to have been made in 1608, publication was delayed until 1611-12, perhaps caused by Hondius's illness. Finally dated 1610, the outline of the map is based on original work by Saxton, Hondius and Mercator and on the excessively rare 'Battles' map of 1603 compiled by Speed himself.
Panoramas of London and Edinburgh decorate the top of the map, whilst the skill of the engraver in incorporating a profusion of decorative detail - ships, sea monsters, putti etc. - is evident. The lettering is especially fine and the sea is portrayed in the famous shot silk style; in later editions this fine effect is lost as delicate engraving of this type soon wore smooth. For some curious reason no river bridges are shown except those crossing the Thames! The map was re-issued many times in Speed's atlases and as a separate publication. The text on the reverse, if present at all, is in English, except for the Latin version of 1616.
Plate: JOHN SPEED The Kingdome of England i6i 1
JOHN SPEED
- The Kingdome of England: London 1611, 380 x 510 mm, copper engraving
Speed acknowledges that Saxton's maps (and their derivatives) provided most of the information on this map. The outline and place names came from this source as does the panel containing 'A Catalogue of all the Shires . . .' alongside the costume vignettes at the top right-hand side of the map. Hondius was one of the first engravers to introduce vignettes on his maps and the eight on this one show A Nobleman, A Gentleman, A Citizen, A Countryman, and their wives, in characteristic costumes.
The text on the verso is normally in English, but one issue, that of 1616, has it in Latin. Included in all editions of Speed's atlas until (and including) 1627, this map was replaced, as the plate was worn, by another engraved by Abraham Goos for later editions. Although very similar to the original, this may be identified by the imprint 'Abraham Goos' contained in a box beneath the scale in the bottom right-hand corner.
Plate: JOHN SPEED Britain as it Ivas devided in the tyme 0f the Englisbe-Saxons especially during their Heptarchy 1611
JOHN SPEED
- Britain as it was devided in the tyme of the Englishe-Saxons especially during their Heptarchy: London 1611 380 x 510 mm, copper engraving
This highly decorative map, often described as the 'Speed Heptarchy', was the original from which both the Blaeu and Jansson maps on the same theme were copied. Arguably one of the masterpieces included in the Speed Theatre, seven vignettes on the left side show various Saxon kings, whilst the right-hand side depicts the conversion to Christianity of seven others - the forcible nature of the tactics depicted on two of these vignettes giving the impression that the conversion was hardly voluntary!
Later issues were made, as for the atlas, the text on the verso being in English except for the Latin version of i6i6.
Plate: JOHN SPEED The Invasions of England and Ire/and with a/ their Civill Wars since the Conquest 1627
JOHN SPEED
- The Invasions of England and Ireland with al their Civill Wars since the Conquest: London 1627, 380 x 510 mm, copper engraving
This interesting map is derived from the earliest known printed map by Speed of which only three sections have survived. Engraved by Cornelius Dankerts, it was first included in the last edition of Speed's Atlas to be published in his lifetime. Usually found between the Theatre and the Prospect there are four pages of separate text describing the battles depicted. The map was subsequently issued in all editions of the Atlas until 1676 and for this last issue descriptions of the Civil War conflicts were included in the text, but no alterations were made to the map to show where they had taken place. Text on the verso (and accompanying sheets) was only in English.
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Plate: WILLEM BLAEU Magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae Tabu/a (1631) 1662
WILLEM BLAEU
- Magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae Tabula: Amsterdam (1631) 1662, 385 x 500 mm, copper engraving
This fine production from the firm of Blaeu is believed to be printed from a cut-down plate of a map which first appeared in 1630. A number of map plates which had previously belonged to Jodocus Hondius had come into Blaeu's possession and as they were rather larger than his standard size it is presumed that he cut them down. On some examples of the map traces may be seen of alterations which have been made in erasing the figures and town panoramas of the earlier map.
The map appeared in many of the Blaeu atlases between 1634 and 1672 and was included in all editions of the Blaeu atlas of England and Wales from 1645 onwards. Examples may be found with the text verso in a number of languages including Dutch, French, Latin, German and Spanish, besides issues with blank backs. The text on the Blaeu and Jansson maps (unlike Speed's) is not complete in itself and collectors should enquire whether the remaining text sheets are available if they wish to have the complete descriptive text which is, incidentally, a translation of William Camden's Britannia.
Plate: JAN JANSSON Anglia Regnum 1636
JAN JAN55ON
- Anglia Regnum: Amsterdam 1636, 385 x 500 mm, copper engraving
It is considered likely that when preparing this map Jansson copied directlv from the Blaeu map of England and Wales of 1634, rather than from the Speed of 1611, which Willem Blaeu had utilized. It can be distinguished at a glance from the Blaeu map as the national crests of Scotland and Ireland are included and there are, in addition, many other less significant changes of detail.
Many issues of Jansson's atlases included this map some 20 or so before 1650 - with the descriptive text on the back (which is not complete in itself) in Dutch, Latin, German or French, besides issues from 1646 onwards without any' text. It is difficult to identify the date of individual loose examples of the earlier issues, but some of the editions by later publishers (including Visscher, Overton and the partners Peter Schenk and Gerald Valck) can often be attributed to specific dates.
Plate: MATTHAUS MERIAN Alagnae Britanniae et Hiberniae Tabube. Die Britannischen Insulen 1638
MATTHAUS MERIAN
- Magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae Tabulae. Die Britannischen Insulen: Frankfurt 1638, 270 X 355 mm, copper engraving
This map of Great Britain was copied from the Bleau map of 1631 by Merian himself as his signature in the lower right-hand corner shows. The studio employed a number of prominent seventeenth-century engravers -including Wenceslaus Hollar - to produce an important 21-volume illustrated descriptive and historical text about seventeenth-century Europe, which contained nearly 700 maps, some 250 portraits and 34 large panoramas of towns! A standard reference work on the European mainland, it is rarely found in Great Britain and few copies can have come here at the time of publication.
The map is approximately one third smaller than Blaeu's and the Stuart coat of arms has been added in the North Sea. The map was published again in 1646 and a re-engraved version, lacking Merian's signature, appeared c. 1649.
Plate: NICOLAS SANSON Carte Generale des Royaume d'Angleterre Escosse et Irlande 1640
NICOLAS SANSON
- Carte Generale des Royaume d'Angleterre Escosse et Irlande . . . Nouvellement Dresse'e & Tire'e . . . par N. Sanson . . . a Paris par Melchior Tavernier 1640, 405 X 530 mm, copper engraving
This rather sparse map was a production of the Sanson workshops and it is typical of their output. Lacking the visual beauty and appeal of the Dutch maps of the same period, it was engraved by Melchior Tavernier. Examples are usually found with original outline colouring which is often quite attractive. The distortion oflreland and the condensed size of Scotland is,in part, caused by the projection used by Sanson.
Nicolas Sanson (1600-67) was an influential cartographer who is described by many authorities as the founder of the French School of Geography. In his early days he was tutor to Louis XIII and after his death in 1667 the business was continued by his three sons, Nicolas, Adrian and Guillaume. Latterly his grandson, Pierre Moulard-Sanson and then his nephew, Gilles Robert de Vaugondy, continued the firm until the end of the eighteenth century.
This map was much copied by other French publishers around the 16405 and also by Richard Blome (in London) in 1669. Blome's map was engraved by Francis Lamb and - unusually for Blome - acknowledged its source as being Sanson.
Plate: JOAN BLAEU Britannia prout divisafuit temporibus Anglo-Saxonum, praesertini' durante illorum Heptarchia 1645
JOAN BLAEU
- Britannia prout divisa fuit temporibus Anglo-Saxonum, praesertim durante illorum Heptarchia: Amsterdam 1645 425 X 530 mm, copper engraving
This is the only map of the British Isles published under the aegis of Joan Blaeu, who took over the publishing house upon the death of his father, Willem, in 1638. Arguably one of the finest maps published anywhere in the seventeenth century, Blaeu used Speed's map of i6i 1 for source material. It is generally accepted that the copy is far finer than the original. Each of the fourteen vignettes - seven on each side of the map - is a work of art in its own right; miniatures in the style of renowned Dutch painters of the day. The original coloured examples of this map are often exceptionally beautiful, showing seven Saxon kings down the left-hand side and the conversion to Christianity of a further seven down the right-hand side.
This map appeared on a number of occasions in each issue of Blaeu's atlas of England and Wales until the destruction (by fire) of the Blaeu workshops in 1672. The text verso may be in Latin, Dutch, French, Spanish or German; issues were also made with blank backs. The text, when present, is not complete in itself and is a translation from William Camden's Britannia.
Plate: JAN JANSSON Britannia prout divisafuit temporibus Anglo-Saxonum, praesertim durante illorum Heptarchia 1646
JAN JANSSON
- Britannia prout divisa fuit temporibus Anglo-Saxonum, praesertim durante illorum Heptarchia: Amsterdam 1646, 420 X 530 mm, copper engraving
Jansson copied the 1645 map by Blaeu for his version of Anglo-Saxon Britain. It may be identified at once by noticing the compass lines radiating through the seas. Issued in various publications for very nearly a hundred years this map is less often found than the Blaeu. It is difficult to understand why this is so and, perhaps, the fact that the paper used by Jansson for his atlases was inferior to that used by Blaeu has some bearing on this matter. As a generalization it is harder to find fine examples of Jansson's maps than those of almost any other of the popular seventeenth-century cartographers; the colouring is often faded or foxed and in consequence extensive restoration and preservation is needed. It is possible that the general lack of care in original production is responsible for this state of affairs.
Each issue of Jansson's atlas of England and Wales contained this map until 1649 when it was published in the i6~ 2 Jansson classical atlas which had a text by Georg Horn. The plate was then passed on to the various heirs and successors of Jansson until at least the 17405. The map maybe found with the text verso in Dutch, Latin, German and French; issues were also made with a blank back.
Specialist References
SHIRLEY, R. W., Early Printed Maps of the British Isles 1477-1610 Descriptive detail of virtually every map of the British Isles published in the period covered
SKELTON, R . A., County Atlases of the British Isles 1579-1703 Although basically concerned with county maps, much of the information in Skelton's book also applies to maps of the British Isles