Surveyed in 1575 by Christopher Saxton this map of Devon remains a classic to this day. It was engraved by Remigius Hogenberg whose imprint is found lower right below the scale of miles. Hogenberg was a native of Mechelen and brother to the famous Frans Hogenberg who co-published the “Civitates Orbis Terrarum”. This is one of the earliest he produced, two were made in 1574 and according to Evans and Lawrence he worked westwards along the south coast from Devon during 1575. Progress was still slow at this stage operating as he was without an official licence for support. These early issued plates are known in ‘proof’ states lacking his name. As might be expected this example is in the finished ‘second’ state with his imprint. It is however an early issue bearing as it does the ‘bunch of grapes’ watermark here with the initials ‘AP’ rather than the ‘AF’ cited in Batten and Bennett.

Christopher Saxton produced one of the earliest national surveys of any kind and the first uniformly conceived cartographic survey of England and Wales. It was begun in about 1574 and completed by 1579: ‘in the long list of British atlases the first name is also the greatest, the name of Christopher Saxton’ (Chubb). Saxton (c.1542–c.1610) was born in the Dunningley, West Riding of Yorkshire. While the details of his early life are sketchy, it is known that he attended Cambridge University, and in 1570 he was apprenticed as a map maker to John Rudd, vicar of Dewsbury. Saxton began work on his county maps in about 1574. In 1577 he received letters patent from Elizabeth I protecting his maps against plagiarism for the next ten years. As well as the Queen’s protection, Saxton also enjoyed the patronage of Thomas Seckford, Master of the Queen’s Requests, whose mottoes are found on the maps.

Evans and Lawrence wrote that he “left a legacy of maps of the counties of England and Wales from which succeeding generations of map-makers drew extensively … amazingly accurate in detail, [the atlas] survives as testimony to his expertise when surveying techniques and comprehension of the mathematical sciences were still limited.” They are arguably the most highly prized by collectors of county maps. Provenance: Bonhams, London 7 June 2002 lot 172; Dr. Adrian Almond collection. Barber (2007) pp. 1623-31; Batten & Bennett (1996) no. 1 st. 2; Chubb (1927) I; Evans & Lawrence (1979) pp. 9–43; Harley, Brian ‘The Map Collector’ no. 8 pp. 2-11; Hind (1952-55) vol. 1 p. 73; Lawrence, Heather ‘Christopher Saxton’ in ‘The Map Collector’ 27 pp. 16-18; Shirley (1991) no. 128; Shirley (2004) T.Sax 1b-e; Skelton (1970) 1; Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).