1667 / 1668 STENT, Peter and HOLLAR, Wenceslaus
Wenceslas Hollar and Peter Stent, according to the contributor
to British Printed Images to 1700, were two of the most important
figures in the middle years of the 17th century
in the history of British printmaking. The first was the Bohemian artist,
Wenceslaus Hollar, born in 1607. He served the Earl of Arundel during his
European tour in the 1630s, returning with him to England where he remained for
much of his life. Hollar was not only an exquisitely talented artist but also
an extraordinarily prolific one, and our view of Britain in his period arguably
owes more to him than to anyone else. He produced topographical prints,
including the famous Long View of London and many related scenes and maps. He
also produced prints of virtually every other type that was by now established
in this country, from portraits and allegories to natural history prints and
satires.[1]
As
indicated in the title, this appears to be the first map of England and Wales
to include roads - Contayning ... the highways and Principall Roads thorough
the Kingdome, never before expresd in any such map. The date is given as
1667 (date of engraving) or 1668 (date in imprint) indicating publishing in the
early part of 1668. The name of the publisher, William Place, is only found on
this single map but he seems to have been a bookseller and occasional
publisher. His name is found on a number of books as bookseller or joint
distributor and works are known to have been printed for him.
The
map is highly detailed with hills, rivers and towns and quite a large portion
of Ireland is shown with towns and features but, despite its title, relatively
few roads are shown; only one main road is depicted in the southwest - Exeter,
Plymouth and Land's End.
A
New Mapp of the Kingdome of England And Principalitie of Wales By W.H.
Contayning ... the highways and Principall Roads thorough the Kingdome, never
before expresd in any such map ... Are to be sould by William Place 1668. Title in large cartouche top right surmounted by the
royal coat of arms and surrounded by a multitude of flags. A Catalogue
of the shires fills the space between this and the right border. Map is signed Wenceslaus
Holllar fecit bottom left.
Published in London. William Place. 1667. (Royal Library, Windsor). Size: 625 x 790 mm and printed on three sheets.
A further state[2] was issued by William Berry in 1673. Map as above but earlier dates are erased and Place's imprint replaced by Berry's. Sold by William Berry at the Signe of the Globe between Yorke House and the New Exchang, in the Strand.[3] (BL, P illustrated[4]).
1667 /1668 STENT,
Peter and HOLLAR, Wenceslaus A
New Mapp of the Kingdome of England And Principalitie of Wales By W.H.
To return to the map overview Road Maps to 1700 CLICK Here
[1] https://bpi1700.org.uk/resources/history_theageofhollarandstent.html. Hollar’s work is
well represented in the bpi1700 corpus, but there is Wenceslaus Hollar Digital Collection
at the University of Toronto.
[2] Clive A Burden reports up to 10 states are presently
known.
[3] Francis Bennett thought this might be the map discovered by David Bannister
(on 6 six sheets) mentioned in The Map Collector
No 21; Dec 1982.
[4] Sold by C A Burden Rare Maps.
British Printed Images to 1700 has a wide variety of prints at good resolution, including 25 pages of Hollar´s work ranging from portraits to a print of the skin of a dead mole! https://bpi1700.org.uk/search
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