Subject: Southeast England, London
Period: 1612 (circa)
Publication: Poly Olbion
Color: Black & White
Size:
12.8 x 10 inches
32.5 x 25.4 cm
This elegant, decorative, and rare map is from Michael Drayton's Poly-Olbion, a romanticized, poetic topography of England. It covers London, Surrey, and Sussex and names Chichester, Arundel, Hastings, and a few other towns and cities. Typical of the maps from this publication, it teems with allegorical figures. Huntresses guard the forests at the map's center, while the cities are towered over by crowned female figures. Shepards keep watch over the hills and an area on the southern portion of the map labeled The Douns. A river god emerges from the Thames and numerous nymphs spring from the various rivers and waterways throughout the countryside. At top right, a hunt is underway in Part of the Weald. Engraved by William Hole.
References:
Condition: A
A crisp impression on watermarked paper with very minor soiling along the centerfold.