The third available map of the county of Hertfordshire, based on John Norden’s 1598 map but here reduced by William Kip for Camden’s 1637 edition of the “Britannia.”

William Camden first published his venerable geo-historical compendium of Great Britain and Ireland, “Britannia” in 1586 and it proved extremely popular. By 1589, encouraged by the success of Christopher Saxton’s atlas, Camden began preparations to illustrate his work with a set of county maps. Despite this lengthy lead time, the first time the work contained a set of county maps was in the 1607 sixth edition of the work. The maps injected a new lease of life into the publication and it became such a library staple that further editions were issued into the early 19th century, albeit with different maps.

The Saxton Kip or Saxton Hole maps, as they are generally known, provide an almost unique opportunity for the collector to acquire either the first available or second available map of a particular English county. These maps were only present in the sixth, seventh and eighth edition of the Britannia published 1607, 1610 and 1637 before the maps were revised and updated by other cartographers. They were usually issued in black and white but on very rare occasions, bespoke colouring was added at the time of publishing.

Middlesex as a county no longer exists as much of the area which it covers is now part of London or Greater London. This include parts such “Tottencort”, “Pancras”, “Chelsey”, “Brompton”, “Knightsbridge” and “Fulham” among others. These are all shown as villages around the city at this time. Saxton never published a map of just Middlesex and this map is based on the smaller map issued by John Norden in his “Speculum Britanniae” in 1593.

The example offered here is from the 1637 edition of the work and is distinguished by particularly fine original colouring from the same year. [MIDDX496]