Robert Morden is arguably best known for the series of maps he produced for the first edition of Dr. Edmund Gibson’s translation of William Camden’s ‘Britannia’. Gibson (1669-1748) had first projected the work in 1692 when a Fellow of Queen’s College, Oxford. He turned to Morden (d.1703) to provide the maps. His sources are varied and are analysed by Skelton. This second edition of Edmund Gibson’s version of William Camden’s ‘Britannia’ was some years in the making as evidenced by the Preface where he states that ‘about twelve Years since, I turn’d my Thoughts in earnest, towards the farther Improvement and Perfecting of this Work’. This included new information received from a variety of correspondents he goes on to name. It appears the delays were largely due to the pressure of his diocesan career. He became Bishop of Lincoln (1716-20) and of London (1720-48).

The Churchill brothers Awnsham and John had become in the interim one of the most successful booksellers in London. Indeed, Awnsham having made his fortune bought an estate in Dorset and became M.P. for Dorchester 1705-10. John Churchill died in 1716 as indeed had Robert Morden in 1703. The third partner Abel Swale was out of business having fallen on desperate times. Despite closing his shop in 1719 and selling most of his stock to William Taylor it appears Churchill had retained the rights to the ‘Britannia’. For this edition, he arranged for Taylor to be the distributor.

In answer to some of the original criticism about the accuracy of the maps Churchill had all but eleven of the plates amended. Hodson in his remarkable bibliography details some of the alterations to each plate. On the county map this was possibly due to there being no suitable correspondent to supply the necessary information. That of the smaller Islands was altered during the issue of this edition and provides a later variant. In this example, the map is in the earlier state. Of the original fifty plates two were replaced, that of North Wales is one. That of Scotland is replaced by two separate maps of North and South Scotland derived from that by John Senex published in the New General Atlas, 1721. The text underwent a large printing, enough to supply the following edition c.1730. Provenance: private English collection. Carroll (1996) no. 19; Chubb (1927) 115; ESTC T144701; Hodson (1984-97) 169; Shirley ‘Atlases in the British Library’ T.Camb 5c.