Catalog Archive
Auction 140, Lot 460

"The County Palatine of Chester", Morden, Robert

Subject: Cheshire, England

Period: 1722 (circa)

Publication: Britannia

Color: Black & White

Size:
16 x 14 inches
40.6 x 35.6 cm
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This county map of Cheshire shows the early road system with the town of Chester located on the left side of the sheet next to the River Dee. The map is divided into Hundreds and displays interesting detail including the locations of buildings, rivers, bridges and parks. There is a decorative title cartouche and three distance scales. Sold by Abel Swale, Awnsham & John Churchil.

Morden was one of the first English cartographers to show longitudes measured from the meridian of St. Paul's Cathedral (shown in degrees at the bottom of the map) and time in minutes measure locally from the sun (shown at the top in Roman numerals). The roads on his maps are based on Ogilby's earlier survey. The Britannia was first published by historian William Camden (1551-1623) in 1586. After the publication of the final edition of Britannia in 1637, the work was not published again until 1695 when Gibson revised and translated the text from the original Latin and included fifty maps, mostly of the English counties, prepared by Robert Morden, replacing the outdated maps of Christopher Saxton. This map is from the subsequent edition of 1722.

References:

Condition: B+

There is light toning along the centerfold, faint offsetting and a few tiny spots in the image. There is one minute pinhole at left and a printer's crease along the lower neatline. Watermarked paper.

Estimate: $150 - $200

Sold for: $100

Closed on 5/23/2012

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