Catalog Archive
Auction 129, Lot 471

"[Lot of 4 - County Maps]", Blome, Richard

Subject: England

Period: 1673 (published)

Publication: Britannia

Color: Hand Color

Size:
9.5 x 7.5 inches
24.1 x 19.1 cm
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A nice group of county maps from this infamous edition of Britannia. The maps include dedication cartouches with coats of arms and decorative cartouches and other embellishments. (sizes vary slightly)

1) A Mapp of ye Bishoprick of Durham
2) A Mapp of Oxfordshir with its Hundreds
3) A Mapp of the County of Hartfordshire with its Hundreds
4) A Mapp of Leicester

Richard Blome is one of the most interesting figures in cartographic history. He is most renowned for what his contemporaries considered the plagiarism of the maps in the Britannia from Camden and Speed. In actuality Blome did not claim that the maps were original works and the atlas filled an important gap in the market. In the preface he wrote, "I do not own myself the Author, but the Undertaker of this work". He was one of the most active publishers of illustrated books in post-Restoration London and his career provides in insight into the nature and activities of the London map and print trade of the period. There is an excellent biography on MapForum.com MapForum.com.

References:

Condition: B

Original color with some minor foxing and short centerfold separations. The map of Oxfordshire has an old paper repair on the lower centerfold and the map of Durham has a small worm track in the lower blank margin.

Estimate: $450 - $550

Unsold

Closed on 9/23/2009

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