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First English Edition of Camden's Britannia

Early Female Ownership

First edition in English, translated by Philemonn Holland, of Camden's monumental topographical treatise. Published in London by George Bishop

This edition of Camden's Britannia is notable for its English translation by Philemon Holland, making it the first to be accessible to an English-speaking audience. It is the second of only three editions featuring county maps engraved by William Kip and William Hole the majority of which are drawn from Christopher Saxton's foundational survey of England and Wales. 

In addition to the Saxton's maps, three maps in this edition, all engraved by William Hole, are of note. The map of England and Wales, titled Englalond Anglia Anglosaxonum Heptarchia, presents the conventional divisions of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and features a detailed compass rose, nautical elements, and an elaborate title cartouche displaying the seven-scepter symbol of the Heptarchy. The map of Scotland, Scotia Regnum, derives from Mercator's 1595 map, extending to capture portions of the Hebrides and Orkney Islands and exhibiting strong topographical detailing. Like its counterpart, the map of Ireland, Hiberniae Ireland Anglis, is also influenced by Mercator's 1595 cartography, offering a detailed county-by-county depiction that includes geographical features like mountains, forests, rivers, and lakes.  

Britannia, a topographical and historical survey written by William Camden (1551-1623), was the first chorographical survey of the British Isles. First published in 1586, the sixth edition was the first folio edition and the first to contain maps. The seventh edition, 1610, was the first to be translated into English.

The engraved maps are mostly signed by Hole or William Kip. No plate numbers on the maps (which appear on later states of the maps); Skelton singles out 10 maps which had compass roses added:

Two successive alterations were made to the plates before 1622, while the text in the setting of 1610 was still unexhausted; and the maps may be found in states I, II, or III with the 1610 text. In the first alteration (state II), a compass rose was inserted on ten maps...In the second alteration (state III), plate numbers 1 to [57] were added to all [but 14 of the maps] - Skelton

The main sources are Christopher Saxton and John Norden. The map of Pembrokeshire is from George Owen.

Contains the following maps:

1. England
2. Cornwall. No compass rose.
3. Devonshire
4. Dorsetshire
5. Somersetshire
6. Wilshire
7. Hamshire
8. Barkshire
9. Surrey
10. Sussex. No compass rose.
11. Kent
12. Glocestershire
13. Oxfordshire
14. Buckinghamshire
15. Bedfordshire
16. Hertfordshire
17. Middlesex. With compass rose.
18. Essex
19. Suffolk. No compass rose.
20. Norfolk. No compass rose.
21. Cambridgeshire
22. Huntingdonshire
23. Northamptonshire. No compass rose.
24. Leicester. No compass rose.
25. Rutland. No compass rose.
26. Lincolnshire. No compass rose
27. Nottinghamshire
28. Darbyshire
29. Warwick. No compass rose.
30. Worcestershire
31. Shropshire
32. Staffordshire
33. Cheshire
34. Herefordshire
35. Radnoreshire
36. Brechnockshire
37. Monmouthshire
38. Glamorganshire
39. Caermardenshire
40. Penbrokeshire
41. Cardiganshire
42. LACKS: [Mongomery Comitatus]
43. Merionethshire
44. Caernarvonshire
45. Anglesey
46. Denbighshire
47. Flintshire
48. Yorkshire, West Riding
49. East riding
50. North riding
51. Durham
52. Lancashire
53. Westmorland
54. Cumberland
55. Northumberland
56. Scotland
57. Ireland