AN UNRECORDED FIRST EDITION. A magnificent large-scale plan of London published by the firm of Bowles and Carver. Very few of their publications survive to this day and this is indicated by the fact that the reference work on London plans even in the revised second edition was not aware of an edition before 1796. Keys on the map include ones to the ‘Great Offices of State’, the districts into which Westminster is divided, lists of Parishes. The map extends from Chelsea and Paddington in the west to Stepney in the east. Lambeth in the south and Islington in the north. The site of the old Lord’s Cricket Ground is just below the title. Within the borders are measurements of miles and furlongs from the meridian and parallel of St. Pauls Church. The scale depicted is at 270 yards to an inch, to the right of that is a list of items just published by the firm. The verso of the slipcase features another advert offering a series of four-sheet maps.

Carington Bowles died in 1793 and the old family business was continued by his son Henry Carington Bowles (1763-1830) and Samuel Carver, both members of the Joiners’ Company. Carver was apprenticed to Carington Bowles in 1770 and freed 1777. The Bowles family were wealthy and there was little incentive to compete with the likes of John Cary so many of their publications are scarce. Henry himself died in 1830 leaving a fortune worth £70,000. Refer Howgego (1978) 206 (listing 13 editions but not this first one); Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).