Ogilby America Atlas

Ogilby, John (1600-1676). America: being the latest, and most accurate
description of the New World. London: Printed by the Author 1671.
The first Engligh atlas of America.
Folio (16 x 10 4/8 inches). Engraved frontispiece of “America†before letters, title-page printed in red and black, double-page folding maps of America and Jamaica, 46 double-page maps or views (some browning, particularly that of St. Martin), 2 folding double-page views, 6 portraits, and 65 engraved vignettes in the text, engraved vignette head-piece, engraved head- and tail-pieces and initials. Contemporary paneled calf, each cover decorated with an outer border of gilt fillets and an elaborately tooled inner border, the spine in seven compartments with six raised bands, morocco lettering-piece in one, the others elaborately decorated with very small gilt tools (rebacked preserving the original spine, extremities scuffed with minor loss).
Provenance: Armorial bookplate of John Brownlow, 1st Viscount Tyrconne 1690 - 1754), known as Sir John Brownlow, 5th Baronet, British Member of Parliament (1701 to 1718); 19th-century armorial bookplate of Belton House, the family seat of the Brownlow Cust families. “Ogilby’s finest foreign work. written with a freshness and realism that the others could not elicit†(Burden) First edition with the celebrated rare view of “Arx Carolina†and rare map “Virginia pars Australis & Floridaâ€, and the engraving on page 200. The other fine maps include a general map to the Americas “Novissima et Accuratissima
Totius Americae Descriptio†engraved by Francis Lamb and honoring Ogilby’s patron Anthony Ashley, Baron of Wimburne, a Proprietor of Carolina; New Netherlands and New England; Maryland “Nova Terrae-Mariae tabula†which accompanies the first extensive account of Maryland colony; Virginia “Nova Virginiae Tabul†(annotated in a contemporary hand to read “Terrae-Mariae et.â€); the Carolinas; Central America; New Spain; Bermuda; Jamaica and Barbados; plus a large number of maps relating to South America. “America†began as a translation of Montanus’s “De Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereldâ€: “It was Ogilby’s finest foreign work; over 150 authors are credited although it is notable that Montanus is lacking. When it came to North America, particularly, he abandoned Montanus entirely for his own closer sources. His work used superior type and larger and finer paper than Montanus. It improved the Dutch issue by adding a “Table of Contentsâ€. [and] was written with a freshness and realism that the others could not elicit†(Burden). John Ogilby had led a full and interesting life even before began printing the famous series of travel books that bear his name, of which “America†is the second (preceded by “Africa†in.). Burden 416, 417; Papenfuse and Coale, “Atlas of Historical Maps of Marylandâ€, 1608-1908, p. 11; Sabin 50089; Wing O-165.
Comparable: Christie’s, Frank S. Streeter Libray, 4/16/2007 - $54,000.