The New Description and State of England, Containing the Maps of the Counties of England and Wales, In Fifty Three Copper-Plates â ¦ The Second Edition

MORDEN, Robert

Published by Printed for Ralph Smith, at the Bible under the Piazza of the Royal-Exchange Cornhill., London, 1704

About this Item

AN UNRECORDED ISSUE. Octavo (190 x 130 mm.), full contemporary calf, gilt panelled boards, ribbed spine with ornate blind ruled and decorated compartments, calf gilt title label, gilt ruled top and bottom. With frontispiece engraved portrait of Queen Anne facing typographic title page, address to the reader, General Account, Contents and 55 copper engraved double page maps, pp. (4), i-[xx], 96, 89-96, 129-36, 113-128, 137-287 with 79-80 mis-numbered 78-79, despite the pagination the counties are in order, title page with old paper backing, some light waterstain at the top in the centre of the book, a wormtack in the last twenty leaves of text, otherwise in good condition. AN UNRECORDED ISSUE OF MORDEN'S 'NEW DESCRIPTION'. Robert Morden was by 1701 a successful publisher on the London scene. His most notable cartographic contribution to date was arguably the county maps for Gibson's edition of Camden's 'Britannia' in 1695. A smaller more manageable atlas seemed to be called for and in 1701 he teamed up with Thomas Cockeril and Ralph Smith to produce 'The New Description and State of England'. Morden contributed 54 small maps known as known as miniature Morden's. Following the death of Robert Morden in August 1703 there would have been a distribution of shareholding. Unfortunately, no record survives of these transactions. We can see from the new list of publishers on the title page that Thomas Cockerill also disposed of his shares, Ralph Smith retained his ownership and may well have expanded it. This edition was first advertised in the 'Term Catalogues' for Hilary in 1703/4 indicating a publication early in the year. Smith alone advertised the work in the 'Daily Courant' 9 March 1703/4. The title is entirely reset including now a reference to Robert Morden. The body of text however is a reissue of leftover sheets from the 1701 printing, complete with pagination errors. Both the 1701 and 1704 editions were issued in two formats, octavo and oblong quarto. However, in 1704 both formats were also issued with Ralph Smith named alone on the title page supporting the case that he expanded his ownership. The oblong quarto format is known by one example only at the Folger Library, Washington DC. This octavo issue is unrecorded although their is one other example in the Burden collection. The text is identical except for the 'Address to the Reader' which has "Their Humble Servants & c." added at end. Also Hodson is incorrect in stating there are no alterations apart from the title page. The 'List' of notable people bound at the end is entirely renewed and expanded by a further fifty-one pages. Provenance: private English collection. Refer Chubb (1927) 125; refer Hodson (1984-97) 125; refer Shirley (2004) T.Mord 4b.

Seller Inventory # 10886

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The New Description and State of England, Containing the Maps of the Counties of England and Wales, In Fifty Three Copper-Plates â ¦ The Second Edition
• Publisher: Printed for Ralph Smith, at the Bible under the Piazza of the Royal-Exchange Cornhill., London
• Publication Date: 1704
• Binding: No binding
• Seller catalogs:
  • British County Atlas
  • Wales