Saxton, Christopher, 1542?-, [Atlas of the counties of England and Wales], [1590?]
- Title(s):
- [Atlas of the counties of England and Wales].
- Published/Created:
- [London] : [s.n.] [1590?]
- Physical Description:
- 1 atlas ([74] leaves) : 34 maps (some folded) ; 44 cm
- Holdings:
- Rare Books and ManuscriptsFolio A 2011 12 Copy 1Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection[Request]Rare Books and ManuscriptsFolio A 2011 12 Copy 2Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection[Request]
- Copyright Status:
- Public Domain
- Full Orbis Record:
- http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/583929
- Classification:
- Maps & Atlas (printed)
- Scale:
- Scales differ.
- Notes:
- Consists of 1 map of England and Wales, 34 maps of all the counties of England and Wales, a frontispiece portrait of Elizabeth I (engraved by Remy Hogenberg), and a letterpress index leaf.
The work is the earliest national atlas produced by any country. Its general map of England and Wales is the earliest map of the two countries printed in Britain.
The maps were drawn by Christopher Saxton and engraved (from 1574 to 1578) by RemyHogenberg (9 maps), Lenaert Terwoort (5 maps), Augustine Ryther (4 maps), Francis Scatter (2 maps), Cornelis de Hooghe (1 map), Nicholas Reynolds (1 map), and Johannes Rutlinger (1 map). 11 of the maps are unsigned.
Title and imprint from STC.
The work was probably first published circa 1579. The present "definitive" edition, as defined by Hind, includes the following: a) the frontispiece portrait of Queen Elizabeth in state II, with her dress falling in folds between her knees; b) the index printed in three columns of small lettering (Hind setting 4, Skelton setting D); c) an engraved double plate with coats-of-arms and a table of towns (absent from the 1579 edition). For a full list of points, see Hind and Skelton.
Skelton, R.A. County atlases of the British Isles, 1579-1850, 1
Hind, A.M. Engraving in England in the sixteenth & seventeenth centuries (1952), p. 73, 88-103
Chubb, T. Printed maps (1927), p. 3-6
Shirley, R.W. Early printed maps of the British Isles, 1477-1650 (1991 edition), 128
BAC: British Art Center copy 1 is complete. All plates are hand-colored. Bound in later rough calf; rebacked.
BAC: British Art Center copy 2 is imperfect: lacks frontispiece portrait of Queen Elizabeth and the double plate with British coats-of-arms. Uncolored throughout, except for the map of England and Wales. Bound in contemporary limp vellum. Has bound with it: Britanniae insulae quae nunc Angliae et Scotiae regna continet cum Hibernia adiacente [by George Lily] Romae, [s.n.], 1558. - Subject Terms:
- Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533-1603 -- Portraits.England -- Maps -- Early works to 1800.Wales -- Maps -- Early works to 1800.
- Form/Genre:
- Atlases -- England -- 1579.
Atlases -- Wales -- 1579.
Engravings -- 1590.
Engravings -- Hand-colored -- 1590. - Export:
- XML
- IIIF Manifest:
- JSON
Making History - Antiquaries in Britain 1707-2007 (Yale Center for British Art, 2012-02-02 - 2012-05-27) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
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