 | Wiltshire County Maps
13 13 : Blome, Richard 1668 |
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Richard Blome was a prolific publisher, producing numerous and diverse books from about 1660 to his death in 1705. He produced two series of county maps, this being the smaller. The engraver of the Wiltshire map was Richard Palmer. Some of the other maps in the series were engraved by Wenceslas Hollar. Nearly all of Blome's engravings have prominent dedications to person's who were pursuaded to sponsor the production of the plates. Such dedicatations are seldom found on maps but Blome's are a notable exception. Blome developed something of a reputation for being a plagiarist, but, in his map, he is no more guilty of this than many of his contemporaries. His maps tend to have a sketchy, manuscript like appearance but this gives them a certain charm.
This map appeared first appeared without any dedication and with Blome's imprint dated 1668. In this state it was sold in loose sheets.
In 1681 the map appeared in Blome's "Speed's maps epitomiz'd" with a dedication to Thomas Thinn of Longleat accompanied by his arms.
In the next edition of the same work in 1685, the dedication and arms were erased and replaced by those of John Hall of Bradford.
In 1693, in Blome's "Cosmography and Geography", the dedication and arms were again changed - to Thomas Mompesson of Salisbury. These remained as the map appeared in editions of Thomas Taylor's England Exactly Described up to 1750.
In 1715 a plate number (39) was added in the top right corner
In 1717 roads were added.
Copies of this map are usually found in the last state, with the Mompesson dedication, plate number and and roads. The earlier states are much rarer. Chubb failed to record the 1685 edition and thus made no mention of the John Hall dedication.
| Examples can be found in the following English County Atlases. |
104 : Blome (smaller) Speed's Maps Epitomiz'd 1681 in state 2
105 : Blome (smaller) Speed's Maps Epitomiz'd 1685 in state 3
114 : Blome (smaller) Cosmography and Geography 1693 in state 4
139 : Blome (smaller) England Exactly Described 1715 in state 5
140 : Blome (smaller) England Exactly Described 1717 in state 6
141 : Blome (smaller) England Exactly Described 1731 in state 6 |
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Examples (7)
 | Ref: 29019
State: 1
Title: A Mapp of Wiltshire with its Hundreds
Date: 1668
Wanted |
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| Ref: 29018
State: 2
Title: A Mapp of Wiltshire with its Hundreds
Date: 1681
Wanted |
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| Ref: 2710
State: 3
Title: A Mapp of Wiltshire with its Hundreds
Date: 1685
Not for sale |
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| Ref: 23330
State: 4
Title: A Mapp of Wiltshire with its Hundreds
Date: 1693
Not for sale |
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| Ref: 15197
State: 5
Title: A Mapp of Wiltshire with its Hundreds
Date: 1715
Not for sale |
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| Ref: 1065
State: 6
Title: A Mapp of Wiltshire with its Hundreds
Date: 1715
 |
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| Ref: 8010
State: 6
Title: A Mapp of Wiltshire with its Hundreds
Date: 1717
Not for sale |
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