c1700 Robert Morden Engraved Map of Middlesex

A very interesting c1700 hand coloured engraved map of Middlesex, showing all the small villages and boroughs before they got swallowed up as part of London.

It shows a good view of the city of London and the Thames River along with the locations of towns, buildings, forests, rivers, bridges and parks, which are noted by fenced areas. There is a decorative cartouche and three different distance scales. It was sold by Abel Swale, Awnsham & John Churchil, during the period 1695 – 1722. After that it was slightly altered to take in the evolution of the area. The map is printed on laid paper. It has been tastefully mounted, framed and glazed.

Condition is good, without foxing, but is slightly creased.

Robert 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). 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the original Latin and included fifty maps, mostly of the English counties, prepared by Robert Morden and replacing the outdated maps of Christopher Saxton.

Size image: 42 x 36 cm (16 ½ x 14 1/8 inches)
Size frame: 57.5 x 52 x 1.5 cm (22 5/8 x 20 ½ x 5/8 inches)
Weight: 2130g