Britannia Depicta Or Ogilby Improv'd was the most popular and successful Ogilby derivative atlas, published in response to public demand for a small road atlas that could be easily carried by travelers. The atlas reproduced Ogilby's strip-style road maps and added individual county maps. It was published by Thomas Bowles in a series of editions between 1720 and 1764. The historical notes that accompany each map were compiled by John Owen, a respected lawyer and antiquarian. The maps were engraved by Emanuel Bowen who went on to become one of London's leading engravers and print sellers in the 18th century. The maps are embellished with coats of arms and contain immense detail and topographical information. A compass rose orients each map and useful landmarks include hills, bridges, rivers and streams, windmills, churches, markets, parks and forests, water wells and even gallows.

Each sheet is double-sided with road maps, a county map, or a road/city description. This lot includes the following plates:

55/56 Road maps - Lichfield, Rugeley, Stone, Darleston, Nantwich, Tarporley, Chester. (Plate 55 is uncolored)
101/102 Part of a description of London / Road map - Tamesford, Eaton, Stilton, Peterborough.
113/114 Road maps - High Barnet, Hatfield, Baldock, Biggleswade, St. Neots, Oakham.
149/150 Road maps - Bristol, Wells, Glastonbury, Taunton, Wellington, Exeter.
193/194 Road map - Bury St. Edmunds, Needham Market, Ipswich / County map of Suffolk. (The map has a clean horizontal cut through the map, nearly invisibly repaired with archival tape on the road map side.)
225/226 Road maps - Presteign, Builth, Carmarthen.
263/264 Road maps - Alresford,Winchester, Rumsey, Ringwood, Poole, Lymington, Southampton, Winchester. (There is a short tear at bottom just entering the text of plate 264.) Images representative of lot.

References:

Condition: A

All very good except as noted in the description.