A very rare example of the first state of Johannes Janssounius’ map of the county of Lancashire. The atlas was not published until 1646 but some plates were prepared at an earlier date. By the 1630’s the publication houses of Blaeu and Hondius were in a race to produce ever more new maps of the world. Hondius in partnership with Jansson began collecting plates of Britain and in the 1636 edition of the ‘Atlas’ he included 17, two of which were general maps. Unfortunately they were not ready in time for the English edition published in that year and are only found in the German edition. This marks the beginning of the race between the two houses to produce a separate volume devoted to England and Wales which Blaeu would win in 1645. Of the remaining 15 one was a map of Lancashire. Examples of maps from this early issue are very rare and highly desirable. They are often extensively altered for their ultimate issue in the completed work of 1646. The most notable feature of this early state of Lancashire is the large image of Neptune and a monster in the Irish Sea. Koeman II Me 44 no. 415; Map Collectors Circle ‘Notes and Addenda’ pp. 16-18; Saunders p. 36; Skelton p. 225-6; Van der Krogt, P. (Atlantes) 5375:1.1.