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First Edition. Illustrated throughout with 30 finely engraved copperplates generally a third of a folio page in size, title page printed in red and black. Large Folio, bound in contemporary calf. [xii], 253, [15, A Table], [1] pp. A well worn copy lacking the 5 map and the double-page or folding plates, the text block and textual engravings all well preserved, the paper crisp and unpressed, some of the usual mellowing and evidence of age or use, and old worm track to the bottom blank area of the leaves, again, not obtrusive, the "Directions to the Binder" leaf not present at the end of the volume, otherwise, collated complete. FIRST EDITION. John Ogilby was a Scottish translator, impresario, publisher and cartographer. Ogilby established Ireland's first theatre in Werburgh Street, Dublin, and following the Restoration, that country's first Theatre Royal. Ogilby played a significant part in arrangements for the coronation of King Charles II. Following the Great Fire of 1666, Ogilby's large-scale map of the City of London was founded on precise survey work, and his Britannia is the first road atlas of England and Wales to be based on surveys and measurements, and drawn to scale. During the Great Fire of London in 1666, Ogilby's house in Shoe Lane, together with its printing works and most of his stock, was destroyed; he estimated he had lost £3,000. After the Great Fire, the Corporation of London appointed Ogilby and his wife's grandson William Morgan as "sworn viewers", members of a group of four trustworthy gentlemen directed by Robert Hooke, to plot disputed property in the city. Ogilby later made what he called "the most accurate Survey of the City of London and Libertyes therof that has ever been done". By 1668, he had a new house in Whitefriars, and was ready to resume his printing and publishing work. Ogilby's next major venture was a series of atlases of China, Japan, Africa, Asia and America. The first of these was An Embassy from the East India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperor of China, which was published in 1689. This book was substantially a translation of Johan Nieuhof's Dutch publication of the same name with English copies of the Dutch engravings. Ogilby's Africa appeared in 1670 and was followed in rapid succession by Atlas Japanennsis (1670), America (1671), Atlas Chinensis (1671) and Asia (1673). In 1671, in response to his proposal to make a detailed survey and atlas of Great Britain, the King appointed Ogilby Royal Cosmographer. Thus, at about the age of 70 and with the scientific advice of Robert Hooke,[58] Ogilby began work on Britannia, the project for which he is best known among cartographers.[. Seller Inventory # 33344
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