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OGILBY, John : The Road from York to West=Chester

340 x 440 mm., some reinforcement to extreme edges of the side margins, one light crease otherwise in good condition.

John Ogilby's seminal work was entitled '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'. 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 arguably its finest achievement published just before his death the following year is the 'Britannia'. The 100 double-page engraved road maps were composed of maps 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, based on the statute mile of 1,760 yards to the mile. 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" (K.S. Eerde, 'John Ogilby and the Taste of his Times', 1976, p.137). This sheet is plate 89 in its numbered state with ornate title cartouche. The map shows the road from York to Warington displaying Leeds, Rochdale and Manchester. Chubb C; Shirley, British Library T.OGIL-4a; Wing O168.

OGILBY, John : The Road from York to West=Chester

340 x 440 mm., light paper wrinkle to left and lower margins, otherwise in good condition.

John Ogilby's seminal work was entitled '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'. 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 arguably its finest achievement published just before his death the following year is the 'Britannia'. The 100 double-page engraved road maps were composed of maps 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, based on the statute mile of 1,760 yards to the mile. 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" (K.S. Eerde, 'John Ogilby and the Taste of his Times', 1976, p.137). This sheet is plate 89 in its numbered state with ornate title cartouche. The map shows the road from York to Warington displaying Leeds, Rochdale and Manchester. Chubb C; Shirley, British Library T.OGIL-4a; Wing O168.

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