| Method | Copper engraved with hand colour |
| Artist | Kitchin, Thomas |
| Published | Printed for Carington Bowles in St. Paul's Church Yard, John Bowles in Cornhil, and Robt. Sayer, in Fleet Street [c.1759] |
| Dimensions | 705 x 520 mm |
| Notes |
A map of Oxfordshire from the Large English Atlas. The owner of a distinctive style, Kitchin's maps often display a title cartouche, a vignette of the area, and a wealth of historical description which acts to fill the blank spaces. In the case of this map, the cartouches include a dedication to Charles Spenser, Duke of Marlborough, and a decorative border for the title featuring various cartographic, scientific, and artistic tools, as well as a vignette of three scholars. In this particular example, the boundaries of the Hundreds are outlined in hand colour, and towns and larger villages are picked out in red. Roads, parks, and hills are also hand coloured. The full title of the map reads: 'A New Improved Map of Oxfordshire from the Best Surveys and Intelligences, Divided into its Hundreds; Shewing the several Roads and true Measured Distances between Town and Town; Also, the Rectories and Vicarages, the Parks and Seats of the Nobility & Gentry, with other useful Particulars, Regulated by Astronomical Observations.' Thomas Kitchin (1718-1784) was one of the best known and most prolific engravers of the eighteenth century. He issued The General Atlas, Describing the Whole Universe, first published in 1773, and regularly reissued thereafter. His work also included a large number of maps of the English counties, particularly for the London Magazine (1747-1760), the Universal Magazine (1747-1766), and for Dodsley's England Illustrated (1764). Other maps were published in conjunction with Emanuel Bowen in the Large English Atlas and the Royal English Atlas (1763). Condition: Central horizontal fold, as issued. Minor creasing to edges of sheet. Printer's ink smudges to top left corner of plate. Blank on verso. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £700.00 |
| Stock ID | 49870 |