EXTREMELY RARE, ONLY ONE OTHER RECORDED EXAMPLE. The first publication of these plates as a card game by Joseph Allen was completely unrecorded until 1983. Published in 1811 and again in 1813 there are only four known examples surviving. is map was originally issued as part of a set of similarly rare cards published by Joseph Allen in 1811. This is their first incarnation as an atlas issued ten years later. Only the one other example is recorded at the Bodleian Library (Map C.17.f.10). It was ‘Printed for the Proprietor, J. Thomson’ And Sold By All Booksellers.’ The ‘The New English Atlas’ however only survives in two known examples. Thomson’s first name has not been identified but a search on the British Book Trade Index suggests it was John. There are however a couple of different candidates with that name. For this issue the plates have been altered, the names of neighbouring counties are added as are dotted lines to mark their boundaries. All previous imprints have been removed. Each map contains in a panel below the acreage of the county, number of parishes, market towns, cities, inhabitants and Members of Parliament.

This example is bound with a world atlas lacking title. It has been identified as the ‘Juvenile Atlas, comprehending the principal countries throughout the world form the latest authorities’ by W. R. McPhun published in Glasgow, 1836. Only one example is recorded, in the National Library of Scotland (EMW.b.2.103). The atlas consists of lithographic maps by Allan and Ferguson. David Allan (fl.1825-75) and William Ferguson (fl.1835-75) began their partnership in 1835. The plates were first published in Robert Scott’s ‘Pocket Guide to Modern Geography’ c.1830. These engraved plates are believed to be the source for Allan and Ferguson’s lithographic maps which appear here. The National Library example is accompanied by 64 pages of text written by Robert Wallace. The contents are otherwise believed to be identical.

Batten IMCoS Journal no. 58 pp. 25-7; Beresiner ‘A New Source for Orlando Hodgson’s County Maps’ in MC 30 pp. 40-1; Carroll 67 (incorrectly using John Allen); not in Chubb; COPAC; Keller ‘A Catalogue of The Cary Collection of Playing Cards in the Yale University Library’ Eng 53 p. 108; Tooley’s Dictionary; Worms & Baynton-Williams.