This two-sheet map by Herman Moll (1654?-1732) is one of the most attractive early eighteenth century maps of England and Wales published. Due to its size and the publishers’ folds, it is not often found in good condition. The map denotes all the main post roads, crossroads, and ‘Roads not to be found in Mr. Ogilby’s Book’ as stated in the Explanation. Moll’s Advertisement claims that this map rectifies a common error of other map makers who in focusing on the roads and data from Ogilby have omitted other pertinant information from the map such as ‘the Names of Hills, Moors, Forrests, and hardly any Rivers’. Either side contains alphabetical tables of the towns on either side.

As with the other two-sheet maps published by Herman Moll at the time, the maps for ‘The World Describ’d’ were all published separately first. Indeed, early issues of the atlas lack any title at all. The earliest collection appears to date from 1710 and resides in the Royal Geographical Society, London. This clean example bears the imprints of Moll, John Bowles, Thomas Bowles, Philip Overton, and John King. This is state 5 according to Shirley’s book however, since published we can now state this is state 7. Provenance JAL Franks 1994. Koyoumjian (2010); Reinhartz (1997); Shirley (1988) Moll 6 state 5; Shirley (2004) ‘Atlases in the British Library’ T.Moll 4a no. 11; Worms & Baynton-Williams (2011).