Maps in Tudor England

Public Record Office and the British Library, London, first edition, 1993. Cloth, 4to, 29 cm,. 120 pp maps. Includes reduced-size reproductions of maps produced during the period 1485-1603. From the blurb: "In 1500 maps were rare objects, little used and understood, but less than a century later the production and usage of maps of all kinds had been transformed. Not only were they created and consulted by men of affairs for a host of practical purposes, they were also a familiar part of everyday life, printed on playing cards, woven into tapestries, engraved on medals and included as illustrations in bibles. The map, as we understand it today - a plan drawn accurately to a defined scale, constructed by triangulation, and showing features by a range of conventional signs - was effectively an invention of the sixteenth century. So too was the printed map, most strikingly exemplified by the outstanding county maps of England and Wales produced by the great pioneer, Christopher Saxton. The spread of printing contributed more than anything else to the widespread acceptance of the use of maps among the public at large. Professor Harvey draws on the extensive collections of The British Library and the Public Record Office to discuss the maps themselves and their impact on the political and social life of England in the spheres of the military, government, towns, landed estates, buildings, and the law. Superbly illustrated throughout in colour and black and white, his account is an informative and accessible introduction to this revolutionary period in the history of cartography. Fine in Very Good dustwrapper.