An Accurate Map Of Berkshire, Divided Into Its Hundreds ...
|
hover the cursor over image to pan/zoom, or click the image to view a larger version 
click here to view a large version in a separate window |
"The Large English Atlas" was, as its name suggests, a large folio series of county maps conceived in about 1749 but, because of financial problems, not completed until 1760. Hodson describes the atlas as "by far the most important eighteenth-century English atlas to be published before the appearance of John Cary's "New And Correct English Atlas" in 1787". Earlier county atlases were predominantly derivative, using old survey work, many in fact, traceable back to Saxton's work of the sixteenth century. "The Large English Atlas" maps were drawn from the most up-to-date surveys, and so mark an important stage in the development of the county atlas (Hodson). Through its commercial success, this atlas encouraged a new generation of county atlases, of both large and small scales, but of greater precision than before. The maps, drawn either by Emanuel Bowen or Thomas Kitchin, are finely produced. A particular feature is the vast amount of additional detail engraved in the blank areas around the map, lists of the landed gentry, descriptions of the towns, produce and other notable features of each county, and in some cases, fine insets of the county town. All have elaborate title cartouches, illustrating the produce of the county, rural scenes and so on, many signed by Antony Walker Jr. Besides the separately published multi-sheet maps of various counties these are the most detailed and most interesting county maps of the eighteenth century.
region: Berkshire
mapmaker:
E. Bowen
place and date of publication:
London 1756-1780
medium and colour:
copperplate, Original outline colour
ref:
42401
size in mm: 540 by 695mm (21.25 by 27.25 inches). literature: Hodson, County Atlases, II, p.127: Berkshire, state e. Price: £ 420 |
|
return to English County Maps B-K |