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OGILBY, John : Britannia, Volume the First. Or An Illustration of the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales: by A Geographical and Historical Description of the Principal Roads Thereof

Folio (425 x 275 mm.), contemporary speckled calf, rebacked ribbed spine, ribs with ornate blind strokes, double gilt and blind ruled compartments, each with ornate gilt feature, preserving original red calf gilt title label. With frontispiece engraved by Wenceslaus Hollar; typographic title page as above printed in black and red, verso blank; dedication to Charles II pp. (3), blank verso; Preface pp. (5); Post Roads pp. (3); London description pp. (8); Catalogue of the roads pp. (4), pp. 1-200 with 100 strip maps interspersed; A Table directing to the Cities ... pp. (4), general map omitted, never bound in, title with two small areas of margin loss repaired, upper corner of first leaf of dedication with small loss repaired, marbled fore-edges, complete with original blank endpapers, small paper fault to Hh2, light worming in lower margin maps 90-94, otherwise in good condition.

A good example of John Ogilby’s seminal work ‘Britannia’, in the first edition. It “remains unchallenged as the greatest advance in the mapping of England between the sixteenth-century surveys of Christopher Saxton and the county surveys of the second half of the eighteenth century� (Harley). It was the first national road-atlas of any country in Western Europe and a landmark in the mapping of England and Wales. Ogilby (1600–1676) had a remarkable life and this is arguably his finest achievement published just before his death the following year. The 100 double-page engraved road maps were composed of seventy-three major roads and cross-roads, presented in a continuous strip-form. For the first time in England, the atlas was prepared on a uniform scale, at one inch to a mile. In the Preface Ogilby justifies his employment of 1760 yards to the mile, later named the Statute Mile. It was the influence that the ‘Britannia’ was to have through this work and others that made the Statute Mile the standard. Ogilby claimed that 26,600 miles of roads were surveyed in the course of preparing the atlas, but only about 7,500 were actually depicted in print. “In its comprehensiveness, its incorporation of new devices of computation and delineation, and its opulence of paper, design and decoration, it immediately set a new standard for map-making in England ... this volume was an attempt at a scientific study not only of the roads but also the terrain and habitations on either side of the roads� (Eerde). This example is according to Hodson’s intensive study issue number 8 of 12. The first two being issues for the King and for dedication copies. Here the general map is omitted as in issues of the 'Itinerarium Angliae' which was published at the same time as this issue. For that work, the road strips are in their third numbered state as here. The introductory descriptive text of London is in its revised eight-page form. The ‘Britannia’ was first advertised as being available in November 1675. Provenance: with twentieth century ex libris bookplate of 'Will C. Priestley' affixed inside upper board. A William C. Priestley presented the Royal Society with the spectacles of Joseph Priestley in 1957. Bennett (1996) pp. 12-13; Chubb (1927) no. 100; Eerde (1976) p.137; ESTC R483348; Harley (1970); Hodson (2000) B8; Shirley (2004) T.OGIL-4a; Wing O168.

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