It is believed that Herman Moll emigrated from Holland in the late 1680s and soon established himself as a geographer and engraver of note. Subsequently he made the move into publishing. The ‘Daily Journal’ of 31 July 1724 announced that ‘this day is publish’d, in folio, ‘A New Description of England and Wales”. It contained 50 maps complete with descriptive text. It is considered his finest English work being noted for its depiction’s of antiquities along the margins of each map. Also in 1724 Moll published the work offered here, although it is believed to have been issued later than the ‘New Description’. The earliest advert known is dated 27 March 1725, this being the pre-Gregorian calendar early March would still have been considered 1724. The earliest issues of both works contain the maps without plate numbers. It was when the second work was issued, without text, that the need for numbers to aid binding was created as here. The title describes how all the maps named in the index are present ‘except two, composed and done by Herman Moll’. These two are Stukeley’s map of ‘Britanniam’ and the map of Denbigh and Flint, both however present here. The provenance of this example is an interesting library. It comes from St. Mary’s College, Blairs, a Catholic Seminary on the banks of the river Dee about five miles from Aberdeen. It was closed down in 1986 but the college has roots reaching far back into Scottish history. Its library was linked with the oldest of all Scottish educational establishments, the Scots College, Paris, which was founded under the auspices of King Robert the Bruce. Provenance: Clive A. Burden Ltd 1996; private English collection. Beresiner (1983) pp. 156-7; Hodson (1984-97) no. 174; Shirley (2004) T.Moll 6b.