CAMDEN | Britannia, London, 1607, contemporary calf gilt

The Property of the Downside Abbey General Trust

CAMDEN, WILLIAM

Britannia, sive florentissimorum regnorum Angliae, Scotiae, Hiberniae, et insularum adiacentium ex intima antiquitate chorographica descriptio. London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1607

folio (327 x 222mm.), additional engraved title-page, woodcut cartouche and armorial on letterpress title-page, woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces, engraved and woodcut illustrations, double-page engraved map of England under the Anglo-Saxons, 53 (of 54) double-page engraved maps, 2 single-page maps (of Rutland and Anglesey), contemporary calf gilt, lacking Kk2-3 (map of Essex), engraved title frayed and repaired, a few other leaves slightly frayed, map of Kent shaved at left hand edge, light damp-staining towards end, rebacked retaining some of original spine

The detailed county maps were engraved by William Hole or William Kip after Saxton or Norden; this is the first edition of Camden's Britannia to contain maps.

LITERATURE:

STC 4508; Skelton, County Atlases 5

PROVENANCE:

Will. Hopkins, early inscription at head of engraved title-page