"A Mapp of Kent with Its Laths and Hundreds", Blome, Richard

This lovely map depicts the county of Kent in southeast England. The map divides the county into hundreds and names towns, villages, and cities. London is depicted as a cluster of buildings on the Thames at top left. The decorative title cartouche features birds, leaves and fruit, and there is a coat-of-arms and dedication encased in an elaborate cartouche at bottom right.

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 References: Shirley (BL Atlases) T.BLOM-2a.

Condition: B

A dark impression on a toned sheet with a foolscap watermark. The map has been fully backed with archival tissue to repair some short tears and chips along the edges of the sheet.