A VERY RARE MAP by Robert Walton (1618-88) who was one of the more active London dealers in maps and prints although he is more known for the latter. His career began following the English Civil War. His maps are rarely issued in any formal book, where they might be preserved and as a consequence are very rare and desirable. This map was issued in 1679 in response to the growing interest in the road network brought about by the publication of John Ogilby’s ‘Britannia’ in 1675. It is derived more accurately from John Adam’s own wall map which relayed the information onto a general map of England and Wales for the first time. Indeed apart from Adam’s own two-sheet reduction issued in the same year 1679, Walton’s is one of the earliest of this school. The Term Catalogues confirm publication in November of that year. Walton does not however use the same distances as Adams, his computations differ. Also the manner in which he displays the data allows him greater detail of nomenclature. Three compass roses fill each main body of water, a dedication in the Bristol Channel with the Royal Arms upper left balancing the ornate title cartouche upper right. The map is co-published with Robert Morden (fl.1669-1703) at a time when Morden’s career was yet to grow. Bennett (1996) p. 17; Shirley (1983) Walton 3; Tyacke (1978); Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).