John Speed's maps of the English and Welsh counties are amongst the most decorative of early, British cartographic work, and are eagerly sought after today. They were first published in 1612 in The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, designed as a companion volume to Speed's History of Great Britaine. The maps were based on the earlier surveys of Saxton, Norden and a few others, with engraving contracted to Jodocus Hondius whose signature appears on 33 of the maps. Speed's greatest innovation was the inclusion of inset plans of major towns and cities. Although some were copied from earlier work, for many towns this was first plan ever published. Speed's county atlas was re-issued a number of times for a period of around 160 years, with new publishers making various small changes and updates to the maps over time. This example bears the imprint of Sudbury and Humble dating it to one of the earlier editions between 1611 and c1650. A couple of minor repaired marginal tears not impinging the printed area. The colouring is less skilful than the best examples, but still an attractive example of this popular map.

Originally intended as volume 3 of a larger cartographic project (The English Atlas), Richard Blome's Britannia was published alone in 1673. A rare second edition was issued in 1677. This Cambridgeshire map is from the first edition of the work, and was dedicated to Sir Thomas Chicheley of Wimpole Hall (today owned by the National Trust).At the time of the map's publication he was Master General of the Ordnance and was a privy councillor to King Charles II. In return for his patronage of Blome's project Chicheley received this dedication on the county map, and also appeared in the list of the nobility and gentry of the county, his coat of arms being further included amongst the 816 illustrated in the volume. Mounted.

Morden's set of smaller maps may originally have been drawn and engraved for Camden's Britannia, but rejected as too small. They were first published in 1701 in The New Description and State of England. This example is from Magna Britannia et Hibernia, originally issued as a 92 part topographical work between 1714 and 1731, but gradually also made available in 6 finished, bound volumes. The text and map of Cambridgeshire first appeared in the partwork in October 1715, but further editions were issued up to 1739 with the maps unchanged.

This map was first published in the December 1750 edition of the London Magazine, which between 1747 and 1754 issued a complete set of English county maps by Thomas Kitchin. The maps were later re-published by Alexander Hogg in Boswell's Antiquities of England & Wales, initially in partwork from c1787-9, and then in several complete editions of the work up to 1798. This example of the Cambridgeshire map is from the first complete edition of Boswell's Antiquities dating from c1789.

Joseph Ellis's English Atlas was an entry into the market for small county atlases by its publishers Robert Sayer and Carington Bowles. The county maps were closely based upon those drawn by Thomas Kitchin for the 1763 topographical work England Illustrated, the major difference being the attractive vignettes which replaced Kitchin's rococco cartouches. The atlas was first published in 1765, and soon became a commercial success, running to many later editions. It was promoted as a travelling atlas, and made available in various formats. These included a version with the maps printed back to back on each page, as with this example from a 1766 edition which has a map of Cheshire on the reverse.

Charles Smith was a successful London publisher and map-seller, whose work is stylistically very similar to that of John Cary. His large format New English Atlas first came to market in 1804, but many of the maps have also been found in folding format and may have been sold individually before the publication of the atlas. Smith's maps were well designed and accurate, making use of the large scale county surveys of the previous half-century. The atlas was a commercial success and was up-dated and re-published regularly until c1865 (the latter editions produced by lithographic transfer). This example, in full original colour, is from an early edition of the atlas in 1804. Slight creasing to the outer right, white margin.

It is suprising that Cary's large county atlas was issued as late as 1809, as individual maps from it seem to have been sold singly from 1801. The atlas format was perhaps to compete with the similarly sized atlas of Charles Smith, which went under the same title and was published in 1804. It is perhaps Cary's finest production, the maps being notable for their fine design, detail and engraving. The atlas ran to several later editions by Cary, and the plates were later used for a variety of lithographic transfers by G.F. Cruchley. This example is from the second edition of 1811, and is in original full colour.

Uncoloured. The map is supplied together with its original 156 page guide book. The guide was published in paper covers - the front and spine still extant but the rear cover missing. The pages are uncut. The map shows some slight offsetting, and some of the pages of the descriptive text are a little rubbed at the edges, but nice to own the complete item. The maps were also used in other later publications.

This work was published in 1835 as a companion volume to Lewis's Topographic Dictionary. It contains county and borough maps, drawn by R. Creighton and engaved by J.& C. Walker, and was designed to show the electoral and boundary changes effected by the 1832 Reform Act. There were 2 issues of the work in 1835 and 1840, this example of the county map being from the 1835 first edition. Original outline colour.

These maps were first published in partwork by Fullarton and Co. in 1833-34 in James Bell's New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales. The complete work was subsequently re-issued three times in 1834, 1836 and 1837. They were later re-published (again by Fullarton) in 1840 in The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales, with several further re-issues up to 1849. The maps were engraved on steel and sometimes bear the name of the engraver and sometimes not. This example is from the 1834 edition of Bell's Gazetteer and bears the signature of R. Scott as engraver. The attractive vignette shows King's College Chapel, the Old Schools' Libray and the Senate House. Modern colour. Supplied mounted and ready for framing. Coloured. Mounted.

In 1849 maps from the Walkers' British Atlas (first issued in 1835) were used for this new publication for the hunting enthusiast. Lithographic transfers were taken from the basee maps, which were then overprinted and coloured to show the territories of the various hunts.The Atlas continued into the 1880's, later editions being titled "Walkers Fox-hunting Atlas" This example is from the first edition of 1849, so identified by the hunt names being overprinted in black outline and then hand coloured in blue. Later editions had the hunt names printed in blue, with references to adjoining pages removed. Slight soiling to the outer margins.

This map formed part of a Parliamentary Report, submitted in December 1831, showing proposed changes to electoral arrangements and boundaries which were subsequently enacted in the 1832 Reform Act. The report and maps were subsequently published for public consumption in 1832. Dawson was a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers charged with survey and production of maps to illustrate the changes. Original colour.

Camden's Britannia was first published in 1586. County maps by Kip and Hole were first added in 1607, being supplanted by those of Robert Morden for the five editions from 1695 to 1772. In 1789 a new translation of the work by Richard Gough was published by T. Payne and G.&J. Robinson, with updated and modernised maps by John Cary. The same maps were also later used in Cary's New British Atlas of 1805. This example is from the first Gough edition of Britannia, published in 1789. The coluring is modern. The right-hand white margin has been trimmed to the border, and has been restored to facilitate mounting. A repaired tear to the left hand border, without loss. These blemishes are reflected in the price.

This set of maps were first published in 1831 in A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland by John Gorton. They were later re-issued, with various amendments, in several other works including Hall's New British Atlas (1833-36) and A Travelling County Atlas (1842-1875). Based on the publishers' address in the imprint and markings for stations, this example can be dated to the 1853 or 1854 editions of the A Travelling County Atlas. Original outline colour to the county border, with later enhancements. Supplied ready-mounted.

The ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica in 1887 included a set of county maps drawn and engraved by Bartholomew & Co. and printed by lithographic transfer. The maps were subsequently updated for the re-issues of the Encyclopaedia in 1892 and 1887/99, but for the latter issue the Bartholomew signature is replaced by that of W.& A.K. Johnston, as in this example of the map of Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire.

The first 5 editions of Camden's successful history and topography of Britain were without maps, but for the sixth edition of 1607 the engravers William Hole and William Kip were commissioned to provide a set of maps of the counties of England and Wales, plus 3 general maps of the countries comprising the new "United Kingdom". These maps were retained for the subsequent 1610 and 1637 editions. They are based on the earlier work of Saxton, Norden, Smith and Owen. The Cambridgeshire map,engraved by William Kip, is based on that of Saxton, and is the second earliest printed map of the county as an individual entity.This example is from the 1610 edition of Britannia, so dated from the lack of text to the verso, and lack of the plate number 21 which was added for the 1637 edition.

Thorney Abbey. The Antiquities of England and Wales was the product of Alexander Hogg who was well known as a partwork publisher. Under the claimed authorship of Henry Boswell it was issued serially from c1787-9, and subsequently made available as a complete work. The format was typically two (though sometimes up to 6) prints to a page, with one or two accompanying pages of descriptive text on each pair of subjects. It also included the set of English county maps by Thomas Kitchin first used in the London Magazine from 1747-54. Thorney Abbey lies on what was once an island in the fens. The Benedictine Abbey was founded in 972AD, but a new Abbey church was built around 1085-9 after the Norman conquest. Following the dissolution of the monasteries this fell into disrepair and was robbed of much of its stone, but part of the nave was restored and became the parish church which is still in use today. This print was engraved by Warren.