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Folio (12 6/8 x 9 inches). Additional engraved allegorical and cartographical title-page, letterpress title-page with woodcut device and ornament, 8 full-page engravings of coins in the text, one engraved general map and 56 regional maps by William Kip or William Hole after Christopher Saxton or John Norden, all but 2 double-page, one or two engraved illustrations in the text, including one of Stonehenge, woodcut ornaments, illustrations and initials throughout THE MAPS, PLATES, ADDITIONAL TITLE-PAGE, ORNAMENTS AND INITIALS ALL FINELY COLORED IN A EARLY HAND (some minor mostly marginal dampstaining and soiling, one or two small repairs). Late 18th-century diced Russia, all edges gilt (rebacked preserving the original compartments by Margaret Suffolk). Provenance: Near contemporary ownership inscription of Alexander Dallway, dated Saturday 26th January 1694/5 at the head of the letterpress title-page, and signed manuscript list of contents on verso of **4; early 19th-century bookplate of the Earl of Roden on the front paste-down, and by descent to; the Rt. Hon. The Earl of Roden, R.N., his sale Sotheby's 8th April 1957, purchased by; Charles W. Traylen for; Christopher Henry Beaumont Pease, Lord Wardington (1924-2005), Library of Important Atlases and Geographies. AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE LARGE-PAPER COPY, THE FIRST EDITION WITH COUNTY MAPS and the last edition to be published by Camden himself. "If Camden was not the first English historian (in the modern sense of the word), topographer and antiquarian, he was certainly the first to relate the three studies, and his "Britannia", primarily topographical, is the first book which shows. the need to evaluate sources" ("Printing and the Mind of Man" 10). The first survey of Great Britain county by county and the first study of Roman Britain as perceived in the landscape of 16th-century Britain. First published in Latin in 1586, the first edition in English in 1610. "If Camden was not the first English historian (in the modern sense of the word), topographer and antiquarian, he was certainly the first to relate the three studies, and his "Britannia", primarily topographical, is the first book which shows. the need to evaluate sources" ("Printing and the Mind of Man" 10). The first survey of Great Britain county by county and the first study of Roman Britain as perceived in the landscape of 16th-century Britain. At twenty Camden left Oxford with no degree "no known financial resources, patron, or position. For four years the record is silent on how this young man with no publications and no degree occupied himself. Unsubstantiated tradition has him travelling Britain, perhaps under the patronage of Gabriel Goodman, dean of Westminster, in search of antiquities and topographical and historical material that found its way into the 'Britannia'. The economic and social realities of his time were such as to make Camden in large measure the product of cultural institutions, and his disappearance during these years between known institutional affiliations is in itself interesting. Camden's appointment in 1575 as second master at Westminster School returns him to the public landscape. He spent twenty-two years at the school that was emerging as academically one of the most prestigious in the kingdom.not only was he an effective educator and administrator, but he also travelled, collected material for and wrote the 'Britannia', brought it through its first four enlarged editions, and compiled a Greek grammar. In 1576 he inherited his father's property in Staffordshire which provided him with additional financial security. As early as 1577 he came to the attention of the great geographer Abraham Ortelius, then travelling in England, who encouraged Camden in his national enterprise, and whose work provided him with a model for topographical and historical writing. Further encouraged and supported by Dean Gabriel Goodman and his nephew Godfrey Goodman, Camden travelled extensively in pursuit of top.
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