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- An Unusual Collection of Maps in a pre-Overton Atlas
An Unusual Collection of Maps in a pre-Overton Atlas
- By Shirley, Rodney
- Published 1 June 1979
- Maps
- Unrated
Shirley, Rodney
RODNEY SHIRLEY was educated at Stowe School and at the Universities of Cambridge (MA) and Harvard (MBA). His main career has been in business but for many years he has been a collector and historian of early maps and associated decorative titlepages. He is past president and a current council member of the International Map Collectors' Society. His book The Mapping of the World: Early Printed World Maps 1472-1700 is a standard reference work, as are his two books on the early maps of the British Isles.
In 2004 he published a two-volume work Maps in the Atlases of the British Library c.850 – 1800 AD, and in 2009 a book with many colour plates titled Courtiers and Cannibals, Angels and Amazons: the Art of the Decorative Cartographic Titlepage. Rodney lives in Buckingham and is married with three grown-up children.
Rodney Shirley, who is a well known map collector and author of 'Early Printed Maps of the British Isles, 1477-1650,' found an unusual composite atlas several years ago. Here he describes how his atlas 'find' came about, his reasons for believing it to have been initiated by Peter Stent and a detailed analysis of the maps it contains. There are still some unanswered questions on the atlas and he would be interested to hear from any reader who owns or knows of anything similar.
IN HIS BOOK County Atlases of the British Isles, R.A. Skelton describes a collection of maps bound into a composite atlas of circa 1670 and published by John Overton. Similar collections were later published by John Overton and his son Henry, partly based on the family's stock plates but also drawing on maps from other sources.
Overton's predecessor was Peter Stent, who flourished from about 1642-1665, and who had acquired George Humble's stock of plates together with a number of earlier plates originating from the turn of the century. To these and other engravings published by him he added his imprint which can be seen on several of the maps in the collection described here. This, and other evidence, suggest that this atlas of 122 maps was possibly initiated by Peter Stent in the late 1650s. Subsequently other loose maps were added, cither by Stent or Overton who acquired Stent's stock and shop after his death from plague in 1665.
Only a few other atlas collections like this by English publishers are recorded whereas they were common in Italy in the sixteenth century under the general name Lafreri. Composite atlases by Dutch publishers or mapmakers in the later seventeenth and early eighteenth century are also relatively common. The known Overton atlases mainly contain county maps of the British Isles plus only a few maps of other parts of the world or the continents. The present collection includes many more foreign maps.
The atlas consists of a bound collection of thirty-eight maps without title page. Also bound with the maps are thirty-four blank leaves and interleaved into the pages were a further eighty- four loose maps, including a few plans and views. The binding is old calf, very worn and cracked, and there is no trace of any covers or end papers.
This mixed collection of bound and loose maps does not tally with any recorded listing and the reasons for gathering together such a heterogeneous lot remain obscure. The collection contains maps by several cartographers including John Speed, Willem Blaeu, Claes Janszoon Visscher, Christopher Saxton, William Smith and John Norden.
Before giving a detailed description of the maps, it may be worth interjecting a brief reminiscence relating how this collection was found shortly after the second world war. At that time I was starting my map collection and this new hobby was being encouraged by my mother with her own enthusiasm. One day in the early summer of 1947 she and a friend went over from Banbury, where we then lived, to Stratford-upon-Avon to see a Shakespeare play.
After lunch they walked down Sheep Street and happened to look in at Jaggards — the Shakespeare Press where there was a sale. Inside, rummaging around among piles of old books and prints, my mother came across a grubby bound folio bulging with engravings which appeared to contain some kinds of old maps which she knew interested me — although at that time she had no idea whether they were genuine or had any significance. On enquiry, the woman in charge of the shop said the maps were a shilling each. So, thumbing through the folder of maps, some bound and some loose, my mother counted 48, 49, 50, .. 58, 59, 60 .. and then, looking in her wallet, decided she could not pay any more and offered £3 for the set. With very little demurring, it was settled for that sum and so with the bulky dusty folder under her arm, my mother and her friend hastened off to the theatre.
John Overton (1640-1713), map-maker, print seller and publisher. Overton acquired the stock of Peter Stent and later the copper-plates of John Speed. He made up sets of county and other maps and was active between the mid-1660s and 1707 when he sold his stock to his son Henry. By courtesy of the British Museum.
Later, at home, we were at first very disheartened to have a disparaging opinion from a print-collector neighbour who commented 'just late reprints or fakes'. But, undaunted, we visited the local library, the Bodleian Library, a keen map collector Mr Hugh Gledhill of Oxford, Mr R.V. Tooley of Francis Edwards in London and then the British Museum. Dr Lynam, the Superintendent of the Map Room at that time, could not have been more helpful as the unusual nature of our find began to be appreciated, particularly the examples of textless Speed maps which were unclassified by Chubb and others at the time. In due course, all the maps were identified (Dr Lynam on one occasion bicycling out into the Cotswolds to stay with us) aided by a whole series of letters from Dr Eric Gardner, the eminent pathologist and map collector, who sadly was seriously ill in hospital in Switzerland.
In the light of present day research and interest it seems worthwhile to describe the collection more fully and suggest answers to some of the questions concerning the origins of the atlas which are still unresolved.
Description of Maps
It consists of abound collection of thirty-eight maps without title page. Also bound with the maps are thirty-four blank leaves interleaved by a further eighty-four loose maps. The atlas size is approximately 410 x 530mm although several maps are larger than this and have been folded to conform to the bound dimensions. All the maps except one are bound by their left hand margins rather than centrally as in most atlases and as a result no centre creases are evident. The atlas has obviously been handled a great deal and the right hand edge of many of the maps is frayed and missing.
Italy by Cornelis Danckerts, 1640. (Collation no. 6). By courtesy of Rodney W. Shirley.
The initials G.M.A.L. on this map of 1599 are those of Willem Lodewijcksz who accompanied Cornelis Houtman's expedition in 1595-97. Note the shoal of flying fish on one of the vignettes of local scenes. (Collation no. 35). By courtesy of Rodney W. Shirley.
The purpose of the blank leaves, which are of contemporary watermarked paper, is unclear. In only one case has a leaf been used to back an otherwise unbound map. A further unanswered question arises in that nearly all the leaves and maps are inconsistently numbered on both sides in an early manuscript hand. There are erasures and duplications: for instance 'p.153' appears three times. The numbers go up at least to 'p.239'; the pagination is missing from the last few leaves as they have lost their top right hand corner margins where the numbers would normally appear. With numbers on both sides, this would imply that at least 120 leaves were intended for the atlas. If so, why do only seventy-three pages remain, half of them blank? Apart from the first map, which is missing, there is no evidence that maps or sheets have been removed completely from the atlas although conceivably this could have occurred. A few of the loose maps are numbered and so would seem to be part of the atlas collation. Others might have lost their original numbers (including all the loose Speed maps) as unfortunately their margins have been cropped to just outside the printed border.
IN HIS BOOK County Atlases of the British Isles, R.A. Skelton describes a collection of maps bound into a composite atlas of circa 1670 and published by John Overton. Similar collections were later published by John Overton and his son Henry, partly based on the family's stock plates but also drawing on maps from other sources.
Overton's predecessor was Peter Stent, who flourished from about 1642-1665, and who had acquired George Humble's stock of plates together with a number of earlier plates originating from the turn of the century. To these and other engravings published by him he added his imprint which can be seen on several of the maps in the collection described here. This, and other evidence, suggest that this atlas of 122 maps was possibly initiated by Peter Stent in the late 1650s. Subsequently other loose maps were added, cither by Stent or Overton who acquired Stent's stock and shop after his death from plague in 1665.
Only a few other atlas collections like this by English publishers are recorded whereas they were common in Italy in the sixteenth century under the general name Lafreri. Composite atlases by Dutch publishers or mapmakers in the later seventeenth and early eighteenth century are also relatively common. The known Overton atlases mainly contain county maps of the British Isles plus only a few maps of other parts of the world or the continents. The present collection includes many more foreign maps.
The atlas consists of a bound collection of thirty-eight maps without title page. Also bound with the maps are thirty-four blank leaves and interleaved into the pages were a further eighty- four loose maps, including a few plans and views. The binding is old calf, very worn and cracked, and there is no trace of any covers or end papers.
This mixed collection of bound and loose maps does not tally with any recorded listing and the reasons for gathering together such a heterogeneous lot remain obscure. The collection contains maps by several cartographers including John Speed, Willem Blaeu, Claes Janszoon Visscher, Christopher Saxton, William Smith and John Norden.
Before giving a detailed description of the maps, it may be worth interjecting a brief reminiscence relating how this collection was found shortly after the second world war. At that time I was starting my map collection and this new hobby was being encouraged by my mother with her own enthusiasm. One day in the early summer of 1947 she and a friend went over from Banbury, where we then lived, to Stratford-upon-Avon to see a Shakespeare play.
After lunch they walked down Sheep Street and happened to look in at Jaggards — the Shakespeare Press where there was a sale. Inside, rummaging around among piles of old books and prints, my mother came across a grubby bound folio bulging with engravings which appeared to contain some kinds of old maps which she knew interested me — although at that time she had no idea whether they were genuine or had any significance. On enquiry, the woman in charge of the shop said the maps were a shilling each. So, thumbing through the folder of maps, some bound and some loose, my mother counted 48, 49, 50, .. 58, 59, 60 .. and then, looking in her wallet, decided she could not pay any more and offered £3 for the set. With very little demurring, it was settled for that sum and so with the bulky dusty folder under her arm, my mother and her friend hastened off to the theatre.
John Overton (1640-1713), map-maker, print seller and publisher. Overton acquired the stock of Peter Stent and later the copper-plates of John Speed. He made up sets of county and other maps and was active between the mid-1660s and 1707 when he sold his stock to his son Henry. By courtesy of the British Museum.
Later, at home, we were at first very disheartened to have a disparaging opinion from a print-collector neighbour who commented 'just late reprints or fakes'. But, undaunted, we visited the local library, the Bodleian Library, a keen map collector Mr Hugh Gledhill of Oxford, Mr R.V. Tooley of Francis Edwards in London and then the British Museum. Dr Lynam, the Superintendent of the Map Room at that time, could not have been more helpful as the unusual nature of our find began to be appreciated, particularly the examples of textless Speed maps which were unclassified by Chubb and others at the time. In due course, all the maps were identified (Dr Lynam on one occasion bicycling out into the Cotswolds to stay with us) aided by a whole series of letters from Dr Eric Gardner, the eminent pathologist and map collector, who sadly was seriously ill in hospital in Switzerland.
In the light of present day research and interest it seems worthwhile to describe the collection more fully and suggest answers to some of the questions concerning the origins of the atlas which are still unresolved.
Description of Maps
It consists of abound collection of thirty-eight maps without title page. Also bound with the maps are thirty-four blank leaves interleaved by a further eighty-four loose maps. The atlas size is approximately 410 x 530mm although several maps are larger than this and have been folded to conform to the bound dimensions. All the maps except one are bound by their left hand margins rather than centrally as in most atlases and as a result no centre creases are evident. The atlas has obviously been handled a great deal and the right hand edge of many of the maps is frayed and missing.
Italy by Cornelis Danckerts, 1640. (Collation no. 6). By courtesy of Rodney W. Shirley.
The initials G.M.A.L. on this map of 1599 are those of Willem Lodewijcksz who accompanied Cornelis Houtman's expedition in 1595-97. Note the shoal of flying fish on one of the vignettes of local scenes. (Collation no. 35). By courtesy of Rodney W. Shirley.
The purpose of the blank leaves, which are of contemporary watermarked paper, is unclear. In only one case has a leaf been used to back an otherwise unbound map. A further unanswered question arises in that nearly all the leaves and maps are inconsistently numbered on both sides in an early manuscript hand. There are erasures and duplications: for instance 'p.153' appears three times. The numbers go up at least to 'p.239'; the pagination is missing from the last few leaves as they have lost their top right hand corner margins where the numbers would normally appear. With numbers on both sides, this would imply that at least 120 leaves were intended for the atlas. If so, why do only seventy-three pages remain, half of them blank? Apart from the first map, which is missing, there is no evidence that maps or sheets have been removed completely from the atlas although conceivably this could have occurred. A few of the loose maps are numbered and so would seem to be part of the atlas collation. Others might have lost their original numbers (including all the loose Speed maps) as unfortunately their margins have been cropped to just outside the printed border.
