Fine Books, Maps & Manuscripts (SEP18) Wed, 12th Sep 2018 Lot 136

Estimate: £8000 - £12000 + Fees Lily (George), Lily (George), Britanniae insulae quae nunc Angliae et Scotiae regna continet cum Bibernia adiacente nova descriptio, Rome, 1558, uncoloured engraved map with the Sebastiano de Re da Chioggia imprint, orientated to the west with Ireland in the north, two panels with Latin text describe Ireland and Britain with a third containing the title, borders trimmed with new margins added, 400 x 550 mm R. W. Shirley. Early Printed Maps of the , 1477 - 1650, 63. This map is a close copy of the first separately printed map of the whole of the British Isles produced twelve years earlier by George Lily. Its overall scale is reduced by about a third from the 1546 state. The outline of and is based on a map of 1540 by Sebastian Munster. Many more place names and distinct topographical features are included. Ireland is still largely shapeless but is depicted with remarkable accuracy. This precise geographical depiction of Scotland is possible because Lily was able to consult a map of Scotland drawn by John Elden and presented to Henry VIII in 1538. Elden is known to have been in Rome in 1538. It is also possible that Lily had access to Hector Boece's Scotorium Historiae and a map thought to have been made by Alexander Lindsay while accompanying James V of Scotland of a tour of the kingdom. A striking feature of this map is that it uses distinctive and conventional signs to show county capitals and towns and the status of archepiscopal and episcopal sees. Oddly neither Oxford, Gloucester or Peterborough are marked as an episcopal see even though they were made so between 1541 and 1542. Shirley speculates that this omission could suggest that a pre 1541 map was used as a source, but could also betray the author's reluctance to acknowledge the newly created sees in light of the recent conflict between Rome and the English Crown. A rare map in remarkably good condition. Qty: 1