CARY, John
Cary's Traveller's Companion, or, a Delineation of the Turnpike Roads of England and Wales; shewing the immediate Rout to every Market and Borough Town throughout the Kingdom. Laid down from the best Authorities, On A New Set Of County Maps. To which is added An Alphabetical List of all the Market Towns, with the Days on which they are held
Imprint: London, Printed for John Cary, Engraver, Map & Printseller, Strand, 1 Jan. 1791-[92]
Binding:
Hardback
Octavo (180 x 115 mm.), recent half red calf by Bayntun, red cloth boards, spine with two raised bands and gilt embossed titles, later endpapers. With engraved title page, Advertisement and Contents and 43 engraved maps printed back to back, all in early outline colour, that of Yorkshire folding, 6 page Index bound at the front, in good condition.
This is the second edition of the smallest of three English county atlases produced by John Cary. The ‘Advertisement’ for Cary’s New Itinerary for 1802 described it as being an abridgement of the New and Correct English Atlas of 1787-89. The immense success of that work clearly encouraged Cary to issue a smaller, pocket size version for the traveller. It was designed to be of use to them on the widening network of turnpike roads. Travel is at the core of each of the maps, the clear feature of each is the road network. The Advertisement at the beginning stated his intent, ‘With an anxious desire to render this work useful to travellers, the Proprietor has paid every attention to accuracy, and in the endeavour to render it of real utility …’On each map Cary is prominently identified as the engraver. Above the title on each map may be found a compass rose with the points of the compass, these indicate the orientation of the map. In the border below are found a list of distances to London from key towns and cities found within. The seven-page Index at the end compacts a considerable amount of information. The market days for each town are given, borough towns are marked with an asterisk with the number of their representatives given in brackets. Cities and universities are given in capital letters. As might be expected, a clear and detailed method. The work proved extremely popular. So much so that not one, but two, entirely new series of copper plates were produced during the lifetime of the work as the plates wore out. The imprint date on all but that of Yorkshire has been altered to 1 September 1792 and the index is now in six pages. Provenance: manuscript ownership inscription of J. Milbourne of Hammersmith to title page; private English collection. Chubb 275; ESTC N26954; Fordham (1925) pp. 35-7; Shirley (2004) T.Cary 3c; Smith 'The Map Collector' 43 pp. 40-47; Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).
Stock number:10202.
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