W. Kip Camden's Britannia 1637 (1607)
The first five 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. This attractively coloured example is from the 1637 edition.
Britannia Depicta was one of 3 pocket-sized reductions of Ogilby's road book that appeared within an 18 month timeframe between 1719 and 1720. It was more innovative than the others in including much additional topographical and historical information (researched by John Owen) on the maps. The work was a commercial success and ran to many later editions.
This small county atlas of England and Wales was first issued in 1748 by a consortium of 7 publishers who also had a stake in the publication of Daniel Defoe's Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain. It was advertised as a companion volume to Defoe's work, or as a pocket atlas in its own right. Thomas Hutchinson's name appears as the engraver on 2 maps, but the rest are unsigned and may be by a variety of hands. They are sometimes also known as Osborne/Wale maps. There was a second edition in 1756. Faint ex-library blind stamp to top 2 corners.
Cowley's work was a topographical guide to England and Wales with text and county maps. The title page is dated 1744, though other evidence suggests an actual publication date of November 1743. The 52 maps were re-issued in 1745 as a county atlas without text under the title A New Sett of Pocket Maps of all the Counties of England and Wales. The maps are uncommon.
The Panorama was published by Reid around 1820, although individual counties are sometimes found with the imprint of C. Hinton and J. Wallis, and may be earler. A final 1825 edition was published under the imprint of Hodgson and Co.Original colour, with a page of descriptive text.
J. Blaeu Theatrum Orbis Terrarum 1645, 1648 or 1662
The Blaeu family were one of the leading Dutch map producers of the 17th century. Their major work was a multi volume world atlas initiated by Willem Blaeu and expanded by his son Joan. Their maps were beautifully designed and engraved, and are often found with original colour, making them most desirable to collectors. 1645 saw the first publication of volume 4 of the atlas, containing maps of England and Wales. There were several re-issues between then and 1672 when most of Blaeu's plates were lost in a fire which engulfed his Amsterdam premises. Latin text on the verso narrows dating of this example to the editions of 1645, 1648 or 1662. The map is in original colour, and covers the counties of Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire