Saxton's map of Cornwall as revised by Philip Lea

SAXTON, Christopher.

Cornwall Described by C. Saxton Corrected and many Additions as the Roads &c. by P. Lea.
London: George Willdey, c.1732. Old colour. 380 x 490mm.

Evidence of a crack in the printing plate, affecting armorials.

The first map of the county of Cornwall, here published one and a half centuries after its original publication.

Over the years a number of changes had been made to the plate: the original title was replaced by the view of Launceston c.1665; the arms of Elizabeth I were replaced by those of Charles I then Charles II; the panel of armorials were added c.1665 by an unknown publisher; Lea added his name and Ogilby's roads in 1689 and changed the title for the second time in 1694; and Willdey added his address c.1732. Willdey seems to have been a jack-of-all-trades: his address reads 'the Great Toy, Spectacle, China Ware, and Print Shop, the corner of Ludgate Street near St Pauls London'.

Still this was not the end of the Saxton plates: they were issued again by Thomas Jefferys and Cluer Dicey into the 1770s.

Despite the number of editions any example of Saxton's map of Cornwall is uncommon.


Stock ID : 20074