A Map of Kent

A Map of Kent 1769

A Survey of the County, first published in 1769

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The London bookseller Andrew Dury and the engraver John Andrews set out in 1750 to record a fine new survey of Kent, and published the resulting map on twenty-five sheets as a large folio volume in 1769. The generous scale of two inches to the mile enabled them to boast that their extraordinary map showed every road, lane, church, town and village, as well as ‘Noblemen and Gentlemen’s seats, Houses, Gardens, Cottages, and everything remarkable in the County’.

The geographical position of Kent has given it an extraordinary strategic and economic importance since the earliest times. The particular importance of Canterbury, the seat of the Primate of England, was highlighted by the cartographers of our 1769 map by the inclusion of an entire additional plate dedicated to the city, showing its streets and houses in unprecedented detail.

This mapping of ‘The Garden of England’ is also a survey of a county of supreme maritime importance. When the map was created, the Kent ports of Chatham and Sheerness in the Medway and Woolwich in Deptford on the Thames shared the burden of housing the Royal Navy. This is perhaps the reason why the map, unusually, depicts all the sandbanks and charted depths of the coastal waters.

Dury and Andrews surveyed great houses as well as farms and cottages, rivers and coastline as well as gardens and the name of individual home-owners. The scale of two inches to one mile shows, in fascinating detail, the land, the coast and the social fabric of the time. A glimpse at any of the map sheets is to step back in time and be absorbed into an exploration of 18c Kent.

Original copies of A Map of Kent are rare. King George III was one of the original subscribers, and a copy is kept in The Royal Collection. A few more are in private libraries and collections.

The set of coloured maps  are presented in a Solander case , and the edition is limited to 500 hand-numbered copies.

“... the most skilfully engraved and beautiful of all the historic maps of Kent”

Peter Barber

A Map of Kent is a limited-edition publication of 500 hand-numbered copies.

Solander case size: 55 x 39 x 6 cm

Map sheets open to 53 x74 cm printed on Chagall Bianco paper by Cordenon.

28 double-page spreads including index map, map of Canterbury and Subscribers’ page

Presented in a buckram-bound solander case with embossed front board and spine, with 25 x19 cm commentary volume by Peter Barber, former Map Librarian of The British Library.

The purchase includes a loose unbound map sheet of your area of choice, and a frame which will be dispatched separately.

Kent Map Enquiry Form

Name
If you require more information please use the space below to submit your question.
5 Solander smaller co