William Faden's magnificent folding wall map of Hampshire, published at a remarkable scale of one-inch-to-the-mile, and rarely seen on the open market. At the time of publication, this would have been the most detailed map of the county available to purchase. Ordnance Survey maps of Hampshire would not appear for another 20 years, and the only other map of Hampshire ever published at this scale, Isaac Taylor's map of 1759, was less accurate than this masterpiece. Instead of copying and adapting Taylor's map, William Faden instead chose to commission a completely new survey, undertaken by Thomas Milne in the years 1788-1790. The length of time dedicated to the survey is a testament to the quality of the work and the finished product.

The New Forest is specifically delineated on this map with a dark purple line and light purple shading. Private property within the boundaries of the New Forest is shaded in yellow. Just two year earlier, in 1789, William Faden had published the first detailed survey of the New Forest based on a report by the Commissioners of Land Revenue. This enormous plan, printed at a scale of four inches to the mile, had to be reduced to fit on this map of the entire county, but the detail remains excellent. Faden credits the surveyors - Sir Charles Middleton, Sir John Call, and Sir John Fordyce in a panel of text to the left of the map. He also includes a table listing nine bailiwicks within the New Forest, the Master-Keeper responsible for each bailiwick, the amount of forest land held by each Master Keeper, and a total of the encroachment on forest lands.

Roads, windmills, and watermills are noted on the map, as are even the tiniest villages. In many cases, individual buildings and structures are marked, though this is not the case for the larger towns or cities where only the general layout of the town is given. Two large inset maps provide greater detail for Southampton and Winchester. A decorative cartouche in the lower-right corner shows the old West Gate at Winchester. Depth soundings are marked within the Solent and around the coast of the Isle of Wight. Other maritime hazards and buoys are also noted, including the wreck of HMS Royal George, the largest warship in the world when it sank at Spithead in 1782. The loss of over 800 lives, including over 300 women and children who happened to visiting the ship at anchor that day, made this one of the deadliest losses of life in British territorial waters. The size of the ship made its wreck a substantial hazard to ships entering and leaving Portsmouth Harbour until it was finally demolished by a controlled underwater explosion in 1840.

Original hand-colour. Folded. [HANTS710]