Britannia (atlas)

Britannia is the title of each of three atlases created in England the late 16th and mid 18th centuries, describing some or all of the British Isles. These are the books published by William Camden (in 1586, reprinted 1693) and Richard Blome (in 1673) and John Ogilby (in 1675). Of the three, Ogilby's is probably best known because it was the first to use measured distances.

Ogilby's Britannia, frontispiece. A surveyor and assistants are shown at the lower right. This illustration, like the others in the book, was etched by Wenceslaus Hollar.

Camden's Britannia
Main article: William Camden § Britannia

In 1577, William Camden (1551–1623) began his great work Britannia, a topographical and historical survey of all of Great Britain and Ireland. His stated intention was to "restore antiquity to Britaine, and Britain to his antiquity".[1] The first edition, written in Latin, was published in 1586. It proved very popular, and ran through five further Latin editions, of 1587, 1590, 1594, 1600 and 1607, each greatly enlarged from its predecessor in both textual content and illustrations.[2][3] The 1607 edition included for the first time a full set of English county maps, based on the surveys of Christopher Saxton and John Norden, and engraved by William Kip and William Hole (who also engraved the fine frontispiece). The first English-language edition, translated by Philemon Holland, appeared in 1610, again with some additional content supplied by Camden.[4]

Britannia is a county-by-county description of Great Britain and Ireland. It is a work of chorography: a study that relates landscape, geography, antiquarianism, and history. Rather than write a history, Camden wanted to describe in detail the Great Britain of his time, and to show how the traces of the past could be discerned in the existing landscape. By this method, he produced the first coherent picture of Roman Britain.

Blome's Britannia

Richard Blome (1635-1705) published his Britannia, or a Geographical Description of the Kingdom of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1673.

Ogilby's Britannia
A trundle wheel in use (detail from the frontispiece of Ogilby's Britannia (1675)).

In 1675, John Ogilby (1600–1676) issued his Britannia (also Itinerarium Angliæ), a road atlas depicting in strip form of most of the major routes in England and Wales.[5] The atlas included such details as the configurations of hills, bridges, ferries and the relative size of towns. One hundred strip road maps are shown, accompanied by a double-sided page of text giving additional advice for the map's use, notes on the towns shown and the alternative pronunciations of their name.[6] Another innovation was Ogilby's scale of one inch to the mile (1:63360).[7] These are marked and numbered on each map, the miles further being divided into furlongs.[8] At that period, the measurement of many minor roads had used a locally defined mile rather than the standard mile of 1760 standard yards which Ogilby adopted in his atlas, thus setting the standard for road maps in future.[9]

The most obvious omission from Ogilby's atlas is the route to Liverpool.[10]

The volume includes a panoramic frontispiece plate that includes a surveyor's wheel being used to measure distances.

Editions

It appears that two editions were released, one tinted and one monochrome, under different titles. The tinted edition was called

BRITANNIA Volume the First OR, AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE KINGDOM OF ENGLAND AND Dominion of Wales: By a Geographical and Historical DESCRIPTION OF THE Principal Roads thereof. Actually Admeasured and Delineated in a Century of Whole-Sheet Copper-Sculpt.

— Fulltable.[11]

and the monochrome edition was

Itinerarium Angliæ or, a Book of ROADS Wherein are Contain'd The Principal Road-Ways of His Majesty's Kingdom of ENGLAND and Dominion of Wales: Actually Admeasured and Delineated in a Century of Whole Sheet Copper-Sculps

— British Library[12]

The book was sold at £5 (the equivalent of about £757 in 2019), was in a large format,[lower-alpha 1] and weighed about 8 kg (18 lb).[13]

Successors

A version of the book, "The traveller's guide or, a most exact description of the roads of England", in a smaller format and without any maps, was published in 1699 by Abel Swall.[14]

Ogilby's Britannia inspired and provided the model for Britannia Depicta or Ogilby improv'd published by Emanuel Bowen and John Owen in 1720.[15]

List of the 100 strip maps
Image from John Ogilby's 1675 "Britannia" atlas, showing two routes from Newmarket, Suffolk: to Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk and to Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
  1. (City of) London, Acton, Uxbridge, Beaconsfield, High Wycombe, Tetsworth, Oxford, Islip
  2. Islip, Moreton-in-Marsh, Broadway, Pershore, Bromyard, Worcester
  3. Bromyard, Leominster, Presteign, Aberystwyth
  4. London, Ewell, Dorking, Billingshurst, Amberley, Arundel, Chichester
  5. London, Waltham, Hoddesdon, Ware, Royston, Huntingdon, Stilton
  6. Stilton, Stamford, Grantham, Newark, Tuxford
  7. Tuxford, Doncaster, Wentbridge, Tadcaster, York
  8. York, Boroughbridge, Northallerton, Darlington, Durham, Chester-le-Street
  9. Chester-le-Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth, Alnwick, Belford, Berwick
  10. London, Hounslow, Maidenhead, Reading, Newbury, Hungerford, Marlborough
  11. Marlborough, Calne, Chippenham, Bristol, Axbridge, Huntspill
  12. London, Acton, Uxbridge, Amersham, Aylesbury, Buckingham, Banbury
  13. Banbury, Stratford, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster, Bridgnorth, Banbury, Camden
  14. London, Brentford, Hounslow, Colnbrook, Slough, Maidenhead, Abingdon
  15. Abingdon, Faringdon, Fairford, Barnsley, Gloucester, Monmouth
  16. Monmouth, Newport, Cardiff, Cowbridge, Aberavon, Burton
  17. Burton, Kidwelly, Haverfordwest, St Davids
  18. London, Southwark, Rochester, Canterbury, Dover
  19. London, Romford, Brentford, Chelmsford, Colchester, Harwich
  20. London, Farningham, Maidstone, Ashford, Hythe
  21. London, High Barnet, St Albans, Dunstable, Stony Stratford, Towcester
  22. Towcester, Daventry, Coventry, Lichfield
  23. Lichfield, Rugeley, Stone, Stableford, Nantwich, Tarporley, Chester
  24. Chester, Denbigh, Conway, Beaumaris, Holyhead
  25. London, Hounslow, Staines, Basingstoke, Andover
  26. Andover, Salisbury, Shaftsbury, Sherborne, Crewkerne
  27. Crewkerne, Honiton, Exeter, Ashburton, Plymouth
  28. Plymouth, Fowey, Tregony, Penzance, Land's End
  29. London, Croydon, East Grinstead, Lewes, Newhaven, Brighton, Shoreham
  30. London, Wandsworth, Cobham, Godalming, Petersfield, Portsmouth
  31. London, Bromley, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Rye
  32. Andover, Warminster, Bruton, Bridgwater
  33. Bridgwater, Dulverton, Barnstaple, Torrington, Hatherleigh
  34. Hatherleigh, Camelford, Padstow, St Columb, Truro
  35. Chippenham, Bath, Wells, Marlborough, Devizes, Trowbridge, Wells
  36. Stilton, Peterborough, Spalding, Boston, Sleaford, Lincoln
  37. Darleston, Brewerton, Warrington, Wigan, Preston, Garstang
  38. Garstang, Lancaster, Bolton, Kendal, Penrith, Carlisle
  39. Guildford, Midhurst, Chichester, Midhurst, Petersfield, Winchester
  40. Stony Stratford, Northampton, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Derby
  41. Temsford, Stilton, Peterborough, Market Deeping, Sleaford, Lincoln
  42. Lincoln, Redbourne, Brigg, Barton, Hull, Beverley, Flamborough
  43. Puckeridge, Cambridge, Ely, Downham, King's Lynn
  44. Four Shire Stone, Chipping Campden, Worcester, Ludlow, Montgomery
  45. High Barnet, Hatfield, Baldock, Biggleswade, St Neots, Oakham
  46. Puckeridge, Newmarket, Thetford, Attleborough, Windham, Norwich
  47. St Albans, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Oakham
  48. Oakham, Melton Mowbray, Nottingham, Mansfield, Rotherham, Barnsley
  49. Barnsley, Halifax, Skipton, Middleham, Richmond
  50. Meriden, Birmingham, Bridgnorth, Shrewsbury, Welshpool
  51. Bagshot, Farnham, Alton, Alresford, Southampton, Romsey, Salisbury
  52. Newmarket, Swaffham, Wells; plus Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds
  53. Basingstoke, Stockbridge, Cranborne, Blandford, Dorchester, Weymouth
  54. Colchester, Ipswich, Saxmundham, Beccles, Yarmouth
  55. Bristol, Chipping Sodbury, Tetbury, Cirencester, Burford, Banbury
  56. Bristol, Chepstow, Monmouth, Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow
  57. Ludlow, Shrewsbury, Whitchurch, Chester
  58. Bristol, Wells, Glastonbury, Taunton, Exeter
  59. Bristol, Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Worcester
  60. Bristol, Wells, Crewkerne, Frampton, Weymouth
  61. Cambridge, St Neots, Northampton, Rugby, Coventry
  62. Carlisle, Jedburgh, Kelso, Berwick
  63. Chester, Wrexham, Newtown, Llanbadarn Fynydd ("Vunneth Llanbader"); thence to Cardiff.
  64. Llanbadarn Fynydd ("Llanbader Vunneth"), Brecon ("Breckknock"), Cardiff
  65. Dartmouth, Exeter, Tiverton, Minehead
  66. St Davids, Fishguard, Cardigan, Talybont
  67. Talybont, Bala, Ruthin, Holywell
  68. Exeter, Chulmleigh, Ilfracombe, Bideford, Torrington
  69. Exeter, Tavistock, Liskeard, Truro
  70. Gloucester, Cheltenham, Chipping Campden, Warwick, Coventry
  71. Gloucester, Ross-on-Wye, Hereford, Knighton, Montgomery
  72. Hereford, Worcester, Droitwich, Bromsgrove, Coventry, Leicester
  73. Huntingdon, Ely, Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich
  74. Ipswich, Thwaite, Norwich, Cromer
  75. King's Lynn, Thetford, Stowmarket, Harwich
  76. King's Lynn, Gayton, Billingford, Norwich, Yarmouth
  77. Monmouth, Abergavenny, Brecon, Lampeter
  78. Nottingham, Lincoln, Market Rasen, Grimsby
  79. Oxford, Faringdon, Malmesbury, Bristol
  80. Oxford, Buckingham, Bedford, Cambridge
  81. Oxford, Newbury, Basingstoke, Petersfield, Chichester
  82. Oxford, Banbury, Coventry, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Derby
  83. Oxford, Hungerford, Salisbury, Cranborne, Poole
  84. Presteign, Builth Wells, Llandovery, Carmarthen
  85. Salisbury, Marlborough, Lechlade, Chipping Campden
  86. Tynemouth, Newcastle, Hexham, Haltwhistle, Carlisle
  87. Welshpool, Dolgellau, Caernarvon
  88. York, Ripley, Skipton, Settle, Lancaster
  89. York, Leeds, Rochdale, Manchester, Warrington
  90. Warrington, Chester, Manchester, Stockport, Derby
  91. Carmarthen, Cardigan, Lampeter, Aberystwyth
  92. Chelmsford, Sudbury, Bury St Edmunds
  93. Chelmsford, Maldon, Rayleigh, Ingatestone, Billericay, Gravesend, Dover
  94. Exeter, Colyford, Lyme Regis, Bridport, Dorchester, Plymouth, Dartmouth
  95. Ferrybridge, Boroughbridge, Ripon, Barnard Castle; plus Ferrybridge to Wakefield
  96. Kendal, Ambleside, Cockermouth, Egremont, Cockermouth, Carlisle
  97. Alresford, Winchester, Poole, Christchurch, Southampton, Winchester
  98. Shrewsbury, Wrexham, Holywell, Chester, Flint, Holywell
  99. Whitby, Guisborough, Stockton, Durham, Sunderland, Tynemouth
  100. York, Pickering, Whitby, New Malton, Sherburn, Scarborough

Notes
  1. folio, about 12 in × 18 in (300 mm × 460 mm)

References
  1. Camden, William (1610). "The Author to the Reader". Britain, or a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the Ilands adjoyning, out of the depth of Antiquitie. Translated by Holland, Philemon. London.
  2. Levy, F. J. (1964). "The Making of Camden's Britannia". Bibliothèque d'humanisme et Renaissance. 26: 70–97.
  3. Piggott, Stuart (1976). "William Camden and the Britannia". Ruins in a Landscape: essays in antiquarianism. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 33–53. ISBN 0852243030.
  4. Harris, Oliver D. (2015). "William Camden, Philemon Holland and the 1610 translation of Britannia". Antiquaries Journal. 95: 279–303. doi:10.1017/s0003581515000189. S2CID 163181232.
  5. Ogilby, John (1675). Britannia – via fulltable.com.
  6. Ogilby, John (1675). "A catalogue of the several ROADS as they follow successively in the ensuing volume". Britannia – via fulltable.com.
  7. Ogilby, John (1675). "Preface: In the delineation or decyphering these roads upon copper sculptures". Britannia – via fulltable.com.
  8. "The First Road Maps: John Ogilby". The Revolutionary Players. West Midlands History Ltd. September 2015.
  9. Meredith Donaldson Clark (2013). "'Now Through You Made Public for Everyone', John Ogilby's Britannia". In Vanhaelen, Angela; Ward, Joseph P. (eds.). Making Space Public in Early Modern Europe: Performance, Geography, Privacy. Taylor & Francis. pp. 129-30. ISBN 9781135104672.
  10. Ereira, Alan (2019). The nine lives of John Ogilby : Britain's master map maker and his secrets. London: Duckworth. p. 270–271. ISBN 9780715652268. OCLC 1113456435.
  11. Ogilby, John (1675). "Title page". Britannia – via fulltable.com. (provenance needed)
  12. "Itinerarium Angliæ: or, a book of roads of ... England and ... Wales. MS. Index". 1675. (Provenance: "Formerly owned by Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753), whose library became one of the founding collections of the British Museum and the British Library".("Itinerarium Angliæ (main catalogue entry)". British Library.)
  13. Ackerman, James R., ed. (2006). Cartographies of Travel and Navigation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 51. ISBN 9780226010786.
  14. Swall, Abel (1699). The traveller's guide or, a most exact description of the roads of England. London.
  15. Bowen, Emanuel (1720). BRITANNIA DEPICTA or Ogilby improv'd; being a correct coppy of Mr: Ogilby's Actual survey of all ye direct & principal cross roads in England and Wales. London: Tho: Bowles print & map seller.
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